Richard Ness : Trial Log : Court Hearing #16 on 17 February 2006
Court Hearing #16 on 17 February 2006 - 17 Feb 2006
by Eric
Sulistyowati
Note: In sworn testimony, Sulistowati stated that she is NOT a relative of Masnellyarti Hilman (Deputy III Kementrian LIngkungan Hidup RI)
- 1. I reject that this witness is an expert in B-3 much of her testimony was even outside her area of study.
- 2. It is illogical that the Minister of Environment would issue a permit to discharge tailings into the sea if tailing is a B-3 waste.
- 3. My understanding is tailings can only be classified by the government only after toxicology tests – BAPEDAL has never done so and Newmont was never notified by BAPEDAL that its tailing were B-3.
- 4. The North Sulawesi Government as a responsible regulator did do toxicology tests and classed NMR tailings AS NOT TOXIC – my understand this testimony was reported to BAPEDAL by SU Government
- 5. As a responsible company Newmont conducted over 60 TCLP testing prior to the law coming into effect.
- 6. Other qualified institutions have also conducted TCLP testing and there results are similar to that of PTNMR – that tailings are not B-3.
- 7. NMR submitted an application for storage and disposal of B3 wastes from NMR sites (e.g.: waste batteries, mercury, laboratory waste etc). In this application NMR had to classify all wastes, including tailings, which based on NMR testing, tailings were not classified as toxic.
- 8. BAPEDAL accepted application and issued that permit for B-3 to NMR and did not include tailings as a B-3 waste.
IG Ilahude
- 1. I reject this witness testimony in the BAP as it is irrelevant, his area of expertise is research in the Molucca sea, (in 1992 – 100’s of kilometers to the East of Buyat) not Buyat Bay.
- 2. Second, thermoclines do not keep tailings on the bottom of the sea, gravity does, as tailings are heavier than water.
- 3. Third, NMR as a respective operator, over the years, has almost a 1000 CTD profiles of the temperature, salinity, density from all seasons in Buyat Bay (not Mollucca sea) along with hundreds of water samples that show that tailings are not being suspended in the water column – therefore I will leave it up to our experts in defence to counter this testimony.
- 4. Accept the witness testimony that if sediments or solids were off the sea bed they could be measured as turbidity or suspended solids.
- 5. Accept witness testimony that a study should be done prior to discharging tailings in the sea – NMR did.