Newmont Mining Corporation’s Minahasa Mine has released dangerously high levels of arsenic and mercury into the bay through its practice of submarine tailings disposal, poisoning fish and the local people who rely on these fish as a major component of their diet. Last month, despite many years of hard work by grassroots groups and non-governmental organizations, an Indonesian Court acquitted Newmont of all pollution charges.
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Setback for environmental accountability
In a setback for environmental accountability in Indonesia, Newmont Mining Corporation was acquitted last month by an Indonesian court of pollution charges and endangering peoples’ health in Buyat Bay. Despite extensive community organizing and local health and environmental assessments, Newmont was acquitted of all charges of pollution stemming from a now-defunct gold mine it ran in the area. To read The New York Times’ article on the case, click here.
Newmont Mining Corporation’s Minahasa Mine has released dangerously high levels of arsenic and mercury into the bay through its practice of submarine tailings disposal, poisoning fish and the local people who rely on these fish as a major component of their diet. Contamination was documented in several studies, although none of them were presented in court. To read more about Newmont’s impacts in the area in a Greengrants profile, click here.
Grassroots groups got the case to court, a big step
While the acquittal was a blow for environmental organizations, the very fact that this case was brought to court was a big step for the environmental sector in Indonesia.
Global Greengrants Fund has supported many of the groups that worked so hard to get the case to trial:
·KELOLA, which received a grant to support community organizing around the issue.
·Jaringan Advokasi Tambang (JATAM), which received 5 grants since 2002 to fund a documentary film about the struggle of Buyat Bay residents against pollution, to fund travel of an Indonesian activist to Newmont Mining’s shareholders meeting and meetings for representatives from communities around the world that have been affected by Newmont’s operations, and to defray the legal costs of the court case.
·Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI – Friends of the Earth affiliate) which has received numerous grants for work on a variety of extractive and tsunami-reconstruction issues in the region, including the Newmont case, to fund travel for expert witnesses to testify in the lawsuit.
While it is disappointing that all of the hard work these groups put into this case did not lead to a victory, it serves as a reminder that environmental struggles are never guaranteed a winning outcome. It also highlights the need for even more support of grassroots efforts to hold multinational giants accountable for environmental and health damages. The resources that Newmont has to fight this kind of court battle are huge. But the environmental and community groups have to struggle for every dollar of their campaign. One of their key technical witnesses retracted her testimony at the last minute – and we will mostly likely never know the full story behind that decision. With additional resources, perhaps these organizations could have recruited new witnesses.
What is for sure is that the battle is not yet over. The Environment Ministry has appealed the decision, and thousands protested outside the courthouse when the acquittal was announced. Environmental organizations, including WALHI, will file complaints of bias against the judges in the case. “It was obvious that the judges were on Newmont’s side. Instead of using witnesses provided by prosecutors, the judges preferred to call on witnesses from Newmont,” said Chali Muhammad of WALHI. For more on this response, click hereand here.
Will ‘social responsibility’ measure make a difference?
In another surprise turn of events, at Newmont’s annual shareholders’ meeting, held at the same time the Indonesian court decision was announced, a resolution was passed that commits Newmont to examine its relationships with communities affected by its mines and report to shareholders at the 2008 meeting. The resolution cites protests, death threats, murders, environmental contamination and human rights abuses reported by local communities in Indonesia, Ghana, Peru, Romania and Nevada USA – the former four all places where Greengrants has made grants to community-based organizations working to hold Newmont to a higher standard of accountability. The resolution calls on the company’s board of directors to involve local communities and non-governmental organizations in the study and to make recommendations to management based on its findings.
Not only was this resolution passed by the shareholders, it was also endorsed by Newmont. This is the first time an American mining firm has supported a “social responsibility” resolution put forward by shareholder activists. While it might be a case of “greenwashing”, non-governmental organizations will be pushing hard for transparent implementation of the measure. In far too many cases, this type of social responsibility measure includes clauses that allow companies to continue business as usual. To read more about this decision in The Christian Science Monitor, click here.
We know that grassroots groups on the ground will continue their campaign to hold corporations like Newmont Mining accountable for their actions, no matter how hard the going gets. And Global Greengrants Fund will be there to support them in their efforts.