Highway also gone with the wind....ee mud !

A Greenpeace team went to Sidoarjo to independently verify the extent of damage caused by the mud flow that is coming out of Lapindo’s well. They witnessed that the dikes created to contain the mud flow are being quickly filled with mud and that the threat to communities and to the environment around the disaster area is growing by the day. Greenpeace believes that this disaster is already slipping beyond control as temporary dikes constructed to contain the mud flow are likely to succumb to pressure from the boiling mud continuously coming out of the crater source.”

Greenpeace is concerned that attempts to mitigate the flow of the mud will inevitably lead to long-term and irreversible impacts on the environment in the area, specifically on the nearby river and marine ecosystems. The dumping of untreated mud and water into the aquatic environment is truly a regrettable outcome arising from a very desperate situation. We also fear that given the nature and extent of this disaster, the underground water tables in and around the area of the mudflow , face the risk of toxic contamination.

Greenpeace is calling on Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to hold Lapindo accountable for one of the worst industrial disasters in Indonesia. Specifically President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must impose the following terms on Lapindo, its affiliates and owners:

1.Just Compensation for the 10,000 people who have lost their homes, lands, livelihoods and who suffer from health problems caused by the mud flow. At the moment, the displaced live under appalling conditions in evacuation areas. There are reports that Lapindo is paying displaced residents a measly amount of $35 a month for living expenses, while offering about $550 to families to cover two years' rent.

2) Public access to real information. Lapindo never revealed company data used during the drilling operation nor the area’s geological composition and the risks involved in this particular operation. In the same manner, there was an obvious failure of government oversight and regulation in ensuring that such drilling operations do not result in disasters like the one we are witnessing now. Instead of downplaying the impacts of this disaster, concerned government agencies should be made to account for this tragic regulatory failure.

3) Containment and Mitigation measures should be established. The Indonesian government must force Lapindo and the large conglomerates who own it (Bakrie Group, Santos of Australia and Medco Group) to get the best available expertise and develop the best mitigating solutions to limit the impacts of this disaster to human life and the environment. Furthermore, warning systems and response scenarios must be developed immediately in anticipation of the coming rainy season, which is likely to aggravate the current situation

4) Rehabilitation Fund should be established by the large conglomerates who own Lapindo. They would have raked in massive amounts of money had they not bungled this oil drilling operations. This disaster will have long-term impacts to people’s livelihood and the environment. This rehabilitation fund should also cover remediation and restoration costs of the mud flow’s impacts on the river, marine and water ecosystems in the area which are now likely to be affected as well. Of course, in the end no money can ever compensate for this irreversible damage to the environment.

5) Demand Full Accountability and Liability from Lapindo and Minister Bakrie. It is utterly shameless for the minister to distance himself from the disaster when his corporate group owns the controlling shares of this operation. Mr Bakrie, who heads the Social Welfare ministry, did not even ensure proper evacuation and care for the 10,000 affected people. The government must force Mr Bakrie and Lapindo (and shareholders) to shoulder all costs concerning evacuation, compensation, containment and rehabilitation. Ultimately, taxpayers’ money must not be used to deal with the disaster caused by one of the largest industrial conglomerates in Indonesia. Otherwise, the Indonesian public is forced to shoulder the burden for a calamity brought about by the irresponsible actions of the company.

“The Lapindo mudflow disaster stands out as an iconic example of a corporate crime, demonstrating how irresponsible activities by big business continue to wreak havoc on the environment and people’s lives. Corporations are rewarded with overgenerous opportunities and rights to profit from the exploitation of the environment. At the first sign of trouble, they tend to take flight leaving their legacies of suffering and degradation behind. The Lapindo disaster is a classic example of this trend,” Hidayati added.

Who will be responsible....?

factory, resident and anything already sink

The central spurt mud volcano of DISASTER of LAPINDO

LAPINDO IS DISASTER MY COUNTRY

A TOXIC mud spill spurting from gas well in eastern Java has been declared a national disaster by the Indonesian President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

As thousands of residents living in the Sidoarjo area of East Java province were forced to abandon their homes, there are fears of a greater catastrophe with the imminent arrival of monsoonal rains.

The estimated damage bill from the mud spill already exceeds $200 million, and experts warn they may not be able to stem the torrent of mud, which has increased to more than 100,000 cubic metres a day.

Already more than 10,000 residents have been forced to evacuate and highways and rail links to Java's main port, Surabaya, have been cut.

An emergency cabinet meeting this week reneged on a commitment not to pump the poisonous mud into rivers, saying it is the only way to prevent more villages being inundated. It determined that about 400 hectares of land covered by the mud would remain uninhabitable.

The meeting also ordered the well operator, Lapindo Brantas, to cover clean-up costs.

The incident is deeply embarrassing for Indonesia's Welfare Minister, Aburizal Bakrie, whose family owns Lapindo. A Bakrie company also owns the well itself, in partnership with Australian mining giant Santos.

The mud began flowing after a blowout at the well drilled by Lapindo on May 29 2007.

A police investigation has charged several Lapindo employees with negligence.

The Minister for Public Works, Djoko Kirmanto, reading from orders issued by Dr Yudhoyono, said "around 400 hectares of the affected area flooded with mud is now declared a 'disaster area' and not fit for habitation".

Mr Kirmanto said that a key road linking Surabaya to the rest of Java, gas pipes under the road, and train tracks, would be shifted as a result of the disaster. Some of the mud would be channelled into a nearby river and the sea for later use as reclaimed land, and some would be used by the construction industry, he said.

Earlier this month the Government rejected a recommendation from its national disaster team to pump the mud into rivers and the sea because of concerns that it would damage the environment.

"People have to realise that this is already an emergency," said Rudi Rubiandini, a member of the Government team. "Channelling the mud through the river is the only way."

The team and Lapindo will install three pumps with a total capacity of 45,000 cubic metres a day to channel the untreated mud into the river, he said.

One of the main dams broke on Monday, causing the mud to overflow on to roads and inundate parts of Kedungbendo village.

Before this incident, segments of the dams that circle 79.5 hectares of ponds containing the mud, covering four submerged villages, have broken at least three times.

Villagers are concerned that once the wet season begins, more dams will break. The wet season starts this month and lasts for six months.