Newmont Nusatenggara disposal to damage environtment

Walhi environmental group has warned that the submarine waste disposal system of PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara in Senunu Bay, West Nusatenggara, will in long term cause a major impact to the environment as mos of the tailings dumped into the bay contain arsenic, barium, cadminum, copper and several other hazardouz substances.

The group's mining advocacy department said that the tailings dumped into the bay reached 120,000 metric tons per day or about 1.04 tons after the end of the mining operation would certainly destroy the eco system and kill fish and other marine livelihood.

"We afraid the local people which consume fish from the bay could suffer cancer or mental defective," Yulianto SP, the chairman of the advocacy department told Interaktif on Tuesday.

He said that the company, which operates in Batu Hijau in the province, never consulted with the local communities in making the environmental impact analyses of the company's gold mine operration.

The local government should review the use of the submarine waste disposal system by the company because such a system causes more negative impacts than the conventional dumping ground, he added. (*)