Pertamina promises to stop dumping oil waste into river

The production unit of state oil company Pertamina in Prabumulih, South Sumatera has promised to totally stop dumping oil waste into the Keleker River by the end of November, this year, following massive protests from the local residents and non-governmental organizations, Sriwijaya Pos reported on Saturday.

Hasyim Ali, the spokesman for Pertamina's Prabumulih production unit, told the press on Friday that the oil company would soon install two large pipelines to enable the company to reinject the oil waste resulting from the crude oil processing into the ground.

According to him, the installation of the pipelines would be part of the intensive program to settle the pollution in the Keleker River. After the installation of the pipelines, Pertamina would develop a water treatment plant and carry out a rehabilitation project, which will cost the company around Rp 5 billion.

Hasyim admitted that the company had dumped the oil waste, technically called zero charge, or salty water, into the river since 1997 due to the lack of water treatment facilities. The company produces about 5,200 cubic meters of oil waste a day but it has so far been able only to reinject a half of them into ground and letting the remainder flowing into the river.

He hoped that with the installation of new pipelines by the end of next month, all the oil waste could be reinjected into the ground through unused oil wells.

Asked to comment on the leakage of some 10 tons of crude oil in the Segayam Village in Gelumbung district, Hasyim said Pertamina was in principal willing to pay the compensation to the affected villagers.

"But if the people ask compensation of Rp 97 million per hectare of the affected farming areas, it would be difficult to meet. It is certainly too big," he added, adding that the company had offered the residents a compensation of Rp 2 million for every hectare of farming areas affected by the oil leakage. (*)