Unease when the neighbour goes toxic
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Toxic waste plants may end incidents of dumping like on Pangkor Island recently, but they do not ease fears of leaks and contamination. Dominic Nathan visits the region’s only centralized plant, in Java, which sits next to a village.
SOUTH-EAST ASIA’S only toxic waste treatment plant ii~ the Bogor regency, Indonesia, squats just metres from a padi field.
And into this field empties a stream which runs right throug the US$20 Million (about S$28 million) plant, 40 km south-west of Jakarta.
The plant processes most f the toxic waste from industrialized West Java.
It is a scene which would hardly occur in a developed country, but in Java the plant has been built right next to the village of Nambo which has 6,000 inhabitants and scattered padi fields.
Asked if there had been any moves to relocate the villagers, Mr Patrick Hem-lager, president director of ikr Waste Management Indonesia, answers confidently: "There was really no need for it."
He says the technology is proven and safe. Moreover, the site is virtually "leak-roof" because the soil consists of clay and shale.
Also, it is sited away from the underground water supply network which could become contaminated if there was a leak.
Plant officials had briefed the villagers about the facility, the safety measures and how they would riot be at any risk, he says.
The plant, which has several silos and two sheds enclosing huge industrial machinery to process the wastes, sits incongruously on a hill overlooking a landscape of padi fields and peasant homes.
An administrative building contains a laboratory and a reception area where the wastes are unloaded.
Technology for the plant was developed by Waste Management International(WMI).
This is an American company with 20 years of experience in building and running 55 landfills and over 90 waste treatment, transfer or recycling facilities. It is one of three partners In the Bogor facility.
Mr Heininger says the plant grew out of a pressing need for a safe and inexpensive way to dispose of the growing amounts of wastes from the chemical, textile and metal-finishing industries in West Java.
About 250,000 tonnes of waste a year emerge from a collection of manufacturing companies, food-processing factories, light and heavy engineering plants, mining operations and the oil industry in the area.
Most of it is merely dumped into rivers, left out in the open in sludge ponds, or placed in rusting, leaking drums.
In other cases, waste is burned to reduce its bulk or as a fuel.
Either way, this releases poisons and toxins into the air.
Or the wastes are washed by rain into the soil or rivers. In crowded Java, it means also that people would live next to waste producers.
So in 1993, the Indonesian government decided to build the Bogor facility and landfill.
It was opened by President Suharto last year and is the first toxic waste treatment centre in South-east Asia.
Phase I, which consists of a waste transport system, buildings and machinery to 3tabilise the wastes and a Landfill to store it, is now running.
Phases II and III which ~rill include additional equipment to treat wastes and industrial discharges and an incinerator is expected to cost another US$75 million to US$100 million.
The facility, built on a ~3-ha site, can store 3.5 million tonnes of waste.
While the impermeable ground under the landfill is L natural barrier against leaks, the landfill itself is designed to prevent contamination.
It has a one-metre thick layer of compacted clay which is again lined with several layers of synthetic materials, acting like a waterproof collar.
Mr Heininger says it would take a drop of water 3 years to get from the top of that clay layer to the bottom. And even then it would have to contend with the natural impermeable nature of the soil.
His confidence is not shared by some villagers who say that although there has been no open protest, they are worried about the plant.
Mr Puring Saingin, 62, who lives just metres from the plant’s fence, says many villagers realized it would be handling toxic wastes only months after building started.
He has, however, not heard of contamination or other problems from the plant so far.
Another villager, Mr Nen Encin, 43, says that villagers were more concerned about dust coming from the cement factory a few kilo-metres away than the waste plant next door to them.
But a spokesman for Wahi!, Indonesia’s leading
environmental group, sounded worries that in the long run the landfill would contaminate the area.
In response, Mr Heininger says that his company is responsible for the site up to 30 years after the landfill is filled and closed.
The company does not merely pack up and leave after it has made its money, he asserts.
Another concern is the risk of contamination during an earthquake.
But, says Mr Heininger:
"You can site the facility anywhere in Indonesia and it would still be In an earthquake-prone zone."
He adds that since the waste is neutralized before it reaches the landfill, the threat of leakage or spillage is not a pressing one.
Also, the special polyethylene lining can stretch more than four times its length without breaking, making it a further barrier against leaks.
He says the plant now takes in 1,500 tonnes of waste a year from 100 cornpanies and can handle up to 90,000 tonnes a year.
Depending on the type of waste, companies are charged a minimum of:
• US$150 a tonne for wastes which can go straight into the landfill,
• US$200 a tonne for toxic wastes which have to be treated first, and
• US$300 a tonne for certain types of hazardous wastes which can be blended with waste oil to become a fuel used in a nearby cement kiln.
He declines to reveal other financial details, but merely points out that if they do not keep charges down, their customers would find a less expensive, and less-than-legal optio1~.
"Our principal competitor is the river," he says.
The writer is with the Newsdesk. Additional reporting by Simon Sinaga from Jakarta.
Source : The Straits Times, 12th May 1995
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