Pollution Dispute at Indonesian Bay

[baby_bear]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/09/international/asia/09indonesia.html

long article, a few snips here

<snip>
A government panel presented a bitterly fought-over report on Monday showing that sediment in the equatorial bay where the world's biggest gold producer, Newmont Mining Corporation, deposited mine waste is polluted with significant levels of arsenic and mercury. But the panel found the water quality met Indonesian standards.

The report, written by more than a dozen technical specialists, found that fish from the bay were laced with enough arsenic to make them dangerous for consumption, particularly for children. It recommended that the Health Ministry "look into arsenic poisoning" by conducting more tests on villagers who have complained of rashes, lumps, breathing difficulties and dizziness. It also said the government should consider moving the villagers from an area it "categorized as possessing high risks for human health."
...
Environmentalists point to the case as an example of the weakness in regulating big multinational companies in a nation that has traditionally welcomed foreign companies to exploit its abundant resources. The report recommended that "the government tighten monitoring of future mining activities." The findings come on the heels of an announcement on Friday by Newmont. which posted a 12 percent jump in third-quarter profits, that it would not go ahead with the expansion of its gold mine in Peru, saying it had misunderstood the depth of local opposition.
...
According to Newmont's estimates before the Sumbawa mine opened, the company pumps tens of thousands of tons more a day of treated mine waste into the ocean there than it did at Buyat Bay, though farther out to sea and at a greater depth. Both sites use the same system, known as submarine tailing disposal. According to William Riley, regional director of the Environmental Protection Agency in Seattle, who has written opinions on the system, submarine tailing disposal is effectively banned in the United States under the Clean Water Act.

</snip>

Much more. This is a fascinating article about mining as well as multinationalists taking advantage of developing countries, with no regulations to constrain them. And the Republicans push for voluntary environmental regulations here: market-based pollution. It only goes up, never down.

s_m