Walhi warns of Minamata tragedy in North Sulawesi
Tuesday, January 23 2001 - 04:30 AM WIB
Leading environmental non-governmental organization (NGO) Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) warned on Monday that arsenic and mercury pollution at the Buyat gulf in North Sulawesi had reached an alarming level.
An environmental disaster similar the one which took place in Minamata, Japan could occur in the area, if the problem was not soon tackled, Walhi warned in a discussion with mining executives, governmental officials, academicians in the North Sulawesi province's capital of Manado.
Present at the meeting were among others president of gold mining company PT Newmont Minahasa Raya (NMR) Rich Ness and villagers of Buyat.
Minamata is a fishing area in Japan where Japanese chemical company Chisso Corporation dumped the waste from its acetaldehyde plant from 1925 and 1960. Thousands of local residents were killed or lived miserable lives due to the mercury elements contained in the company's waste.
Walhi's executive director Emmy Hafild said in a statement that sample tests on 20 Buyat villagers, who complained about their deteriorating health conditions over the past three years, showed that 95 percent of their blood contained between 10.10 and 27.10 micrograms per liter of arsenic and 65 percent of their blood contained between 2.6 and 10 micrograms per liter of mercury.
It's not clear who performed the tests.
North Sulawesi-based daily quoted Emmy as saying that the tests were performed by Specialty Laboratories of Santa Monica, the United States. But. Kompas quoted her as saying that the sample study was performed by Walhi and another NGO called Jatam, using the benchmark set by Specialty Laboratories.
According to Emmy, arsenic and mercury accumulations in the blood exceeded the tolerable level of 11 micrograms per liter for arsenic and 5 micrograms per liter for mercury.
The test results indicated that there were arsenic and mercury accumulation at Buyat as the result of the tailings produced by NMR. The chemical accumulation had penetrated local food sources and human bodies, Emmy said.
She further said the test result confirmed the result of the study made by local Sam Ratulangi University and Walhi.
Walhi called on the ministry of health and social welfare to conduct the investigation of the health of the Buyat people.
"To prevent further contamination, NMR should stop disposing of its tailings to Buyat during the investigation process," Emmy was quoted by Kompas as saying.
NMR has repeatedly denied that it had polluted Buyat with its tailing. It acknowledged that its tailing contained mercury, but it said the mercury naturally occurs in ore body and is not soluble in water. Furthermore, the amount of mercury contained in the tailings dumped by the company to Buyat is well below the international standards.
The company blamed the pollution at Buyat on the local illegal miners, who use mercury in their operation.
Telegraaf reported that both Walhi and NMR were involved in a debate during the discussion with each of them defending the veracity of their own study results.
Some discussion participants regretted the fact that both Walhi and NMR quarreled with one another over the issue rather seeking for a solution. (*)