According to a report in the Jakarta Post, the walls of one of the numerous containment ponds burst early Tuesday morning, which resulted in the closure of one of the main roads in the vicinity of the Banjar Panji-1 exploration well that has been spewing hot, toxic mud since May 29 following a well-control incident.
Indrasurya Mochtar, head of the nearby Surabaya Institute of Technology’s civil engineering school, told the paper he believed the worst was yet to come.
“In view of the current situation, I predict that within two weeks to one month, the ponds will break apart and millions of cubic meters of mudflow will spill out, inundating more areas.
“That’s why the government should immediately evacuate residents and be certain it’s doing all it can to deal with the problem,” Mochtar told the Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Given the proximity to the ocean, it is feared that if the walls burst, the mud would reach waterways and flow into the sea. The walls have been continually reinforced and are now said to be almost 6m high.
Former Indonesian Geologists Association chairman Andang Bachtiar told the paper he believed there was now little chance the mudflows could be stopped, as they had exhibited the “mud volcanoes” phenomenon. Permanent evacuation from the area is now reportedly being considered as an option.
Lapindo Brantas, operator of the well, has started to compensate thousands of people affected by the mud, with villagers reportedly receiving $US30 a month each, while almost 2000 workers from the now-defunct factories enveloped by the mud have each been offered $70/month.
Last month, a Financial Times report suggested the sluggish response to the disaster is a result of an Indonesian Government link to the operator of the well.
The Bakrie Group owns a majority stake in the Banjar Panji-1 well through subsidiary Lapindo Brantas. According to the report, the family-owned conglomerate with links to coal mining and telecommunications industries is headed by Indonesia’s Chief Welfare Minister Aburizal Bakrie.
Australian oil and gas major Santos holds an 18% stake in the well and has previously informed the Australian Stock Exchange that it holds “appropriate insurance coverage for these types of occurrences”.
