UNOCAL toxic flood, rice fields in Marangkayu contaminated

Due to heavy rains, another flood occurred in Rapak Lama village, Marangkayu subdistrict, East Kalimantan, in early Friday, 11 February 2000. Unfortunately, just like two years ago, the flood has brought not only rainwater, but also toxic tailing and chemicals from UNOCAL’s processing plant. Similar incident two years ago (1998) happened in a much larger scale when a heavier flood caused the company’s tailing pipe to overflow and washed its toxic content into local rice fields, which contaminated over 417.5 hectares (Ha) of the locals’ rice fields and killed the entire crops. In fact, the contamination was so severe that up to now the said rice fields still have not been able to produce anything. This time, although the flood was not as heavy, it managed to cause the exact same tailing pipe to overflow again, destroyed the bunds (dikes between rice fields) nearby, and washed the tailing and chemicals--spilled out of their containers--into the same rice fields which were still left barren since nothing has not been able to grow out of the soil.

In the afternoon, a local noticed milky-white water with foams and brownish blobs on the surface around the plantation, in its irrigation gutters, and the mouth of the pipe close to UNOCAL factory fence. Half an hour later, the local and Buhaira, Coordinator of LMPLH, the local community organization, took water samples and then contacted the company’s PR officer who passed the information to the superintendent. Soon afterwards, company and community representatives gathered and took water samples from five different locations and sealed the bottles--witnessed by all parties involved. Two bottles of samples were taken from each location—one for the company’s laboratory and the other given to the community for independent tests. Meanwhile, water kept coming out of the overflowed pipe. In the evening, UNOCAL workers removed the brownish blobs on the surface of the water, yet the water remained milky white with foams. Later, the head of Marangkayu District Police (Kapolsek Marangkayu) and one of UNOCAL’s security personnel visited the two damaged bunds and the mouth of the pipe where the tailing-carrying water came out and was heard commenting “regretfully”. They were heard to have said, “If only the security have had covered the bunds and the pipe-mouth with sand earlier in the morning, none of the locals would have been able to discover them.”

Later at night, documents for the water samples were put together and signed by both the company and the community representatives involved. One important point of the document stated that the samples must be examined in an independent laboratory in compliance to the previous agreement between the company and the community. The next morning, company personnel removed the chemical containers whose half of its content spilled and washed away by the flood. They also removed the broken pipe, which led to the rice fields and covered and levelled the hole with soil.

At the moment, LKMTL with the help of JATAM KALTIM (JATAM East Kalimantan), is still waiting for the results of the samples from a local trusted laboratory. They hope the results will give the community enough hard evidence to have the dispute between them and the company finally settled—for the community’s advantage.

The dispute between the community and UNOCAL plus two other oil/gas companies, Vico and Total Indonesie, have started early last year. The community of three subdistricts (Marangkayu, Anggana, and North Samarinda) living on the coast of East Kalimantan have reported that the companies’ operations have severely contaminated their environment. Hectares of rice fields, fish/shrimp embankments, and plantations were severely contaminated by the waste of their oil-processing plants. Tailing is dumped in a 100-metre distance from the beach causing the local fisher folks to lose their livelihood since their daily catch smell of oil and unfit for human consumption. Their previously white-sand beach is now brown and the air is filled with the suffocating stench of crude oil.

The community through their local organization, LMPLH (Institute for the Environmentally Concerned Community), and the assistance of JATAM KALTIM (JATAM of East Kalimantan) is currently carrying legal action against the three companies.

Meanwhile, in Jakarta, in a hearing session on February 15, 2000 with the Commission VIII of the Peoples’ Representatives Council, Pertamina’s Managing Director, Martino Hadianto, revealed the founding of the auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) of 159 collusion, corruption, and nepotism projects in Pertamina. He also confirmed that family members of the former president, Suharto, were also involved, yet he refused to give out their names to the press.

SOURCE “Kronologis Jebol dan Meluapnya Air Limbah di Rapak Lama, Marangkayu” by JATAM KALTIM; Kompas Daily (February 16, 2000)

For further information: Contact JATAM
(Indonesian Mining Advocacy Network)

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