Indonesia mud volcano still spewing sludge four years later

Indonesia mud volcano still spewing sludge four years later

news.yahoo.com

PORONG, Indonesia (AFP) – Four years after it erupted from the well of a gas company linked to one of Indonesia's richest men, the mud volcano known as "Lusi" is still spewing its toxic sludge over Java's countryside.

All attempts to plug the geyser have failed and new spouts are opening up, threatening to destroy more villages, homes and livelihoods in the East Java district of Sidoarjo.

The mud lake is so huge -- seven square kilometres (almost three square miles) and 20 metres (66 feet) thick -- it is now visible from space, and geologists say "Lusi" could continue gushing slu

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I remember this when it first happened just on four years ago, as I used to live in Surabaya, Indonesia in the early 1990's to have continued to follow the story.

I followed with interest this manmade disaster and the number of local villagers displaced as their homes were swallowed by a spewing volcano of mud setoff by foreign drilling interests, including the large Australian Gas company SANTOS, a minoroty shareholder in the project.

I thought at the time, that due to the way things in Indonesia tend to be covered up, that is was not widely reported in the MSM. I belive that the Australian 60 minutes team did file a story but it was around the involvement of SANTOS.

Seeing this article reminds me of the current man made drilling disaster in the Gulf, whilst this one in Indonesia has been unable to be stopped or stemmed in 4 years, I really how grave fears for the planet, if the BP well cannot be stopped its volcanic activity in the next 4 years, the planet will be one big toxic soup.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Wow...its still going now?
I would have thought the mud pool would have been bigger by now,hopefully they managed to keep in in one area.
Last I read they wanted to build a wall,to protect a nearby town/city.

Its a shame that the mud is described as "toxic sludge,"-I was hoping it would be nutrient rich,and so good for planting on.

The second comment in your link has the idea of making bricks out of the mud,which at least they could sell to raise funds for the cleanup.
Or build a big wall around it with the bricks.
If the mud does continue to leak out of the earth for centuries(like it says in your link)It could threaten a massive area.

Hope the Aussie gas company responsible is trying to sort it out-they should be held accountable.

Bad situation.

This story simply leaves me speechless.

reply to post by Silcone Synapse


Yes it is still going, 24 x 7 x 365 days. The reason it has not spread further is they have built massive dykes / dam walls to contain it within the dam. The risk of the dam wall breaking is always there and is of major concern to the local indonesians who have this in their backyard.

Nobody can say how long it will continue to spew from the ground, but scientists suggest it could be centuries. If that is the case, then it will continue in ever expanding circles and gradually consume more and more of the surrounding villages.

The javanese effected by this are really poor villagers, they have no one to turn to seek help and compensation, the corruption in Indonesia makes it relatively easy for the companies behind this to avoid paying what they really should be paying to the families.

I understand that SANTOS as a minority shareholder / investor in the well / project seems to have created themselves some wriggle room to escape a significant portion of any cleanup costs

reply to post by pause4thought


Thanks, I hope we can get more awareness of this out their in the global community. The poor people effected by this are the ones suffering daily and not much support comes their way.

reply to post by searchforknowledge


Thank you for posting this. It's certainly very topical — it just goes to show how difficult it is to plug natural forces once you've unplugged them.

Four years!

It reminds me of this:

Shameless testament to greed.

Strange how the rich people who cause these things are never brought to account, yet the ordinary people have to suffer the effects.