Lumpur Panas SidoarjoLusi Mud Volcano – Sidoarjo Mud Flow:

Indonesia’s largest ecological disaster, as at August 2013

Lumpur Panas Sidoarjo – Sidoarjo Mud Flow

“Lusi” is an abbreviation for Lumpur (Mud) Sidoarjo (of Sidoarjo). This Mud Volcano is located near Surabaya, which is the capital city of the province of East Java and the second largest city in Indonesia. It is also known as the Sidoarjo Mud Flow, as it is found in the Sidoarjo Regency of East Java. The locals prefer to call it Lumpur Panas Lapindo, or Lapindo Hot Mud Flow.

Lumpur Panas Sidoarjo – Sidoarjo Mud Flow:

The Story Behind the Origins of this Catastrophe

Since the era of Dutch Colonisation of Indonesia, the complex geology of the Regency of Sidoarjo was well known.

Drilling for gas was banned in this area, along with two other areas near Surabaya, due to the fault lines that intersect a highly unstable, earthquake prone and volcanically active region.

The company Lapindo Brantas circumvented planning laws and purchased farmland from locals, under the guise of building a factory, which they promoted on the basis of job creation for locals.

Lapindo Brantas, along with its co-partners BP Migas, PT Medco Energy and Santos then went ahead and drilled on that land without legal authority.

Causes of the Lumpur Panas Sidoarjo – Sidoarjo Mud

Flow

On May 29 May, 2006 a mud volcano started erupting in East Java, Indonesia, in the regency of Sidoarjo.

The majority of Geologists agree that it was caused by the hydraulic fracturing of the rock strata at around 6,000 metres below the surface. The other problem was that there was no well casing below 2,000 metres.

Soon after the deeper stage of drilling at the Banjar Panji I gas exploration well reached a depth of around 6,000 metres, hydrogen sulphide, steam, methane gas and boiling mud & water erupted about 200 metres from the drilling site.

The force of the methane gas coming up from more than 6,000 metres below the surface is pushing the mud to the surface.

Impacts of the Lumpur Panas Sidoarjo – Sidoarjo Mud Flow

Enough mud is flowing out of the volcano to fill at least 50 olympic swimming pools every day.

The mud already covers an area of around 1,500 hectares and has inundated huge areas of fertile farm land, including rice fields and sugar cane and other plantations.

It has destroyed infrastructure including at least four government offices, 30 factories, more than 33 schools, more than 15 Islamic centres, at least 65 mosques and the homes of more than 75,000 people.

As at August 2013, 16 villages and 1,500 hectares of farmland have been buried and more homes are threatened as new mudflows appear in the vicinity.

The mud has already buried a major freeway and a railway line has been destroyed by repeated problems with subsidence .

Scientists think the volcano could continue erupting for more than 100 years. The noxious gases are also venting up everywhere through cracks in the earth.

The mud has created an ecological disaster in the river and sea and a mud island of more than 80 hectares in size is forming near the mouth of the river.

Efforts to Contain the Lusi Mud Volcano- Sidoarjo Mud

FlowMassive earthen walls or dykes have been built to try to contain the mud to an area of fifteen square kilometres, where the mud is more than 20 metres deep in many places. Unfortunately these earthen walls have been repeatedly breached by the mud flows. Other measures to stop the eruption have also failed. These include dropping massive concrete balls into the crater, setting up drainage channels, pumping and dredging systems. Efforts to deal with this disaster have been costing the Indonesian Government at least $60 million per day.

Efforts to Contain the Lumpur Panas Sidoarjo – Sidoarjo Mud

Flow

In 2007, geologists reported that the land around the mud volcano was subsiding.

The mud escaping from beneath the surface was allowing the overlying rock strata to collapse.

It could be the start of a caldera—a large basin-shaped volcanic depression.

So far the ground under the mud has subsided over 60 m and the volcano has risen more than 25 m.

Some geologists believe that, as the land subsides, more cracks could open up that develop into new mud volcanoes, making the mud volcano self-perpetuating.

Lumpur Panas Sidoarjo – Sidoarjo Mud FlowSBS Dateline Report on the Lumpur Panas Sidoarjo - Sidoarjo

Mud Flow

More Recent Impacts of the Lumpur Panas Sidoarjo – Sidoarjo Mud

Flow

New mudflows began in April 2010, with new vents opening up near the original mud flow.

These new mudflows cut the main highway that links Surabaya with Probolinggo, and the islands to the east including Bali.

When the main gas pipeline from Madura to Surabaya exploded, 40 people were killed and flames shot up 750 metres into the air.

The whole area is hazardous, and heavily contaminated with mercury, methane gas, hydrogen sulphide gas and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

The health of the people who still live in the impacted area has declined sharply since May 2006, with 75% of people tested showing abnormal haemotology and 50% showing abnormal respiration results.

Humanitarian & Legal Issues

Lumpur Panas Sidoarjo – Sidoarjo Mud Flow

In 2009, the Indonesian Supreme Court (Mahkamah Agung) cleared Lapindo Brantas of any wrongdoing, the company was still ordered to pay the victims of the mudflow compensation.

As of June 2009, the residents of Sidoarjo Regency had received less than 20% of the suggested compensation.

By mid-2010, reimbursement payments for victims had not been fully settled, and legal actions against the company had stalled, due to the financial difficulties of the company Lapindo Brantas, not long after he spent massive amounts of money on a very lavish wedding for his son.

The owner of the main stakeholder energy company, Lapindo Brantas is Aburizal Bakrie. He is currently the chairman of the GOLKAR Party and a presidential candidate for the 2014 elections. GOLKAR (Golongan Karya) is one of the most influential political parties in Indonesia.

Humanitarian & Legal Issues Lumpur Panas Sidoarjo – Sidoarjo Mud

Flow

Australia’s third-largest energy company Santos was an 18% stakeholder in this development.

In December 2008, Santos agreed to pay $US22.5 million to offload its stake in the Brantas Block venture in Sidoarjo Regency to try to reduce its exposure to damages claims.

The 18% interest in the Brantas Block contract was transferred to Indonesian Company Minarak Labuan.

While the transaction with Minarak did not remove possible third-party claims against Santos, the company said it believed it would be able to successfully defend any claims that arose.

The mudflow incident has "been of considerable concern", Santos chief executive David Knox said in the statement.

Even so, he made it clear that Santos would continue to seek to expand exploration and production in Indonesia.

Humanitarian & Legal Issues Lumpur Panas Sidoarjo – Sidoarjo Mud

Flow

In August 2012, the Indonesian Human Rights Commission KOMNAS HAM ruled that the Lapindo mudflow is a corporate crime, not a disaster.

Since the Lapindo mudflow was ruled a corporate crime, not a disaster, the Indonesian Government no longer has any obligation to bear the payment of compensation to the victims.

This means that the original owners of the Lapindo Project at Brantas Block in the Sidoarjo Regency , East Java are required to bear the payment of the compensation to the victims of this crime.

These companies include: The upstream oil and gas regulator BP Migas Lapindo Brantas PT Medco Energy E&P Santos

This ruling is yet to be enforced by the Indonesian Supreme Court or Makamah Agung

Bibliography - Lusi Mud Volcano

Indonesia’s Largest Ecological Disaster

1) http://indahnesia.com/indonesia/event/43/sidoarjo_mudflow.php

2) http://indoprogress.com/pelanggaran-ham-berat-kasus-lumpur-lapindo/

3) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7699672.stm

4) http://www.erisk.net/erisk7/article/539701/indonesian_mud_volcano

5) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidoarjo_mud_flow

6) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7uNotZTp7A

7) http://www.hsf.humanitus.org/index.php?option=displaypage&Itemid=94&op=page&SubMenu=

8) http://www.theage.com.au/business/santos-exits-indonesian-mudflow-well-20081211-6wix.html#ixzz2QUJeDv3L

9) http://gngakhamdairi.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/komnas-ham-lapindo-mudflow-violates.html

10) Interviews with the people of Besuki village in July 2013.

Besuki Village Visit Photos July 2013

Kami mengucapkan terima kasih atas keramah-tamahan umat Desa Besuki.