Oil pollutes Balikpapan waters: Kompas daily

The country's leading newspaper Kompas reported on Friday that the pollution caused by oil sludge in the Balikpapan waters of East Kalimantan province has worsened as oil tankers continued to throw sludge into the sea while filling oil into refinery facility.

The paper said that the heavy pollution has damaged the ecosystem in the coastal area, killing small fish, clamps and others.

The paper added that efforts to clean up the waters in the beach area have become meaningless as tankers continued to unload sludge.

Hadi Purnomo of the local police said that investigation process is still underway. The East Kalimantan Governor Suwarna AF called for strong action against the bad oil tankers.(*)