Coal company fined 2 billion rupiah for illegal waste dumping in Borneo

Residents of villages in Indonesian Borneo who have long complained that a coal company is polluting local waterways have won their first victory in court, but activists say the sanctions against the company don’t go far enough. On Dec. 4, 2017, the Tenggarong District Court in East Kalimantan ordered PT Indominco Mandiri to pay a fine of 2 billion rupiah ($145,400) after finding it guilty of dumping waste without a permit, a violation of Indonesia’s Environmental Protection and Management Act. The court found Indominco had dumped some 4,000 tons of fly ash and bottom ash, both residues of burning coal and classified as toxic and hazardous waste, in the vicinity of its coal-fired power plant. Indominco operates mines in three districts in East Kalimantan province: Kutai Kartanegara, Bontang and East Kutai. The company also owns a 2X7-megawatt power plant that straddles the villages of Central Santan and Santan Ilir in Kutai Kartanegara. The company is a subsidiary of publicly listed mining holding company PT Indo Tambangraya Megah, which in turn is majority-owned by Bangkok-based Banpu Public Company, Thailand’s largest producer and distributor of coal. An October session of the trial of PT Indominco in the Tenggarong District Court. Photo by Tommy Apriando/Mongabay-Indonesia. Calls for tougher sanctions In response to the verdict, the Mining Advocacy Network (Jatam), a civil society organization focused on supporting communities affected by mining operations, urged the government and the court to impose stiffer penalties on the company and its officials. Under Indonesia’s environmental law, any person…

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