Java: sea of boiling mud advances
Pastor Dale Morgan
Java: sea of boiling mud advances*
Since the end of May, boiling mud has been oozing endlessly from a
mining well. It has already displaced more than 10,000 people, invaded
homes and is threatening important highways.
Jakarta (AsiaNewsWires) – Boiling mud that has been oozing out of a well
in Java island recently breached a containment dam and invaded another
residential area, threatening to reach an important railway track.
"People have panicked as if a tsunami was coming," said Sidoarjo
district chief, Mochammad Pain. "In a second, my office was flooded as
were other people's houses around here."
The mud has invaded railway lines and threatens to reach the track
linking Surabaya to Jakarta.
Since 27 May, 50,000 cubic metres of mud have been oozing daily out of a
gas well just outside the industrial city of Surabaya in eastern Java.
It has already submerged 25 km sq of land, covered cultivated terrain
and irrigation channels, invaded a major highway and forced more than
10,000 people to leave their homes. All efforts to stop its onset have
failed. Rachmat Witoelar, the environment minister, said he opposed a
plan to channel the mud into the sea because of the high risk that it
could alter the ecosystem and instead he proposed building a larger
embankment to hold the mud.
The ownership of the gas mine is divided among two local companies, PT
Lapindo Brantas (50%) and PT MedcoEnergi Oil&Gas Brantas (32%) and the
Australian leader in the sector, Santos Ltd (18%). The well is 3km deep.
The companies said the disaster was due to “natural causes” so the
government should make good the damages. Lapindo's management claimed
the May 27 earthquake centered in Yogyakarta, had opened up deep faults
underground, thus causing the mud to flow out. Many experts said the
epicenter of the quake was over 300km away and this distance would have
largely diminished the force of the blow.
At first, government experts sent to look into the causes of the mudflow
said it was difficult for firms to "predict" such mishaps because of the
"complex nature of the country's geology". Political analysts have
observed that the Lapindo company belongs to the rich Bakrie family. All
the same, in mid-June, a letter was issued by MedcoEnergi, accusing its
partner, Lapido of “gross negligence” for seriously violating security
measures. In particular, Lapindo allegedly failed to put a nine-inch
(around 23cm) thick protective casing in the well to a depth of 8,500
feet (2,365m). This, according to experts, would have assured that the
well was closed and prevented the outflow of mud, which would not have
been able to escape from the ground – which is what apparently happened.
Shortly afterwards, Indonesia's vice president, Jusuf Kalla, announced
that Lapindo would compensate thousands of people affected by the mud
flows. The company, however, has said it will be able to compensate
affected people in as much as it is insured against similar events.
Meanwhile, the people displaced by the mudflow have been crammed into
sheds and stores.