Indonesia’s Lapindo mudflows cannot be stopped
It has been estimated that the Lapindo mudflows at Porong Village, Sidoarjo, East Java, cannot be stopped, Tempo Interactive reported. The Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) is reported to sue gas exploration company PT Lapindo Brantas over the mudflow in Sidoarjo, East Java.
The mudflow, which has been gushing since May 29 last year, has killed 13 people and injured scores more. Many blame the disaster on exploration by Lapindo Brantas Inc.
Around 7,000 residents from the complex have been living in shelters at Baru Porong market since the area was inundated by the mudflow.
According to a geology expert, the mudflows will only stop if there were a hydrostatic equilibrium.
James Mori, a geology expert from Kyoto University, Japan, stated he could not be certain when the mudflows would end.
“It could be ten years, or even more. We do not know,” he said after an international conference on the Lapindo mudflows at the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology yesterday.
According to him, the mud volcano that exists in Sidoarjo is the first in the world.
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[…] I was so surprised to read The Jakarta Post’s headline this morning. The Post reported that scientists concluded that the mud volcano in Sidoarjo, East Java, was caused by natural tectonic activity and nothing to do with drilling activities of Lapindo Brantas Inc. The conclusion was reached after a two-day International Geological Workshop organized by the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology (BPPT), in which global experts shared their research into what triggered the eruption. […]
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One should be careful with such a meeting on a subject which is already stressed by the fact that there are >20.000 people homeless looking for a new life to build up. Statistics and mathematics would confirm statements, expressed by 90% of the people, that oil drilling activities triggered the flow, however this mtg was probably organized to prove the opposite, in order, to enable a rediscussion on the liability issue. Irrespective of what, or who triggered the disastrous mudflow, many victims (and the number is growing everyday) are angry not to be compensated. On the other hand, the compensation requested, sometimes, is disproportional, and it is important for the victims to show evidence of possession of the properties affected, which many times they cant. Its a difficult situation, for both the victims and the authorities. Scientists however, should merely express there analysis based on confirmed facts, not influenced by any other matter, like a liability issue in this case.