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A local
subsidiary of oil giant Chevron could be in legal trouble over toxic leaks at a
former drilling sites in Riau that it has allegedly failed to clean up despite
an agreement with the government.
Test
results on soil samples taken from a site formerly run by Chevron Pacific
Indonesia indicate that prosecutors have a case, the Attorney General’s Office
said on Friday.
Andhi
Nirwanto, the assistant attorney general for special crimes, said sample
results from the Duri site in Riau came back “positive” for traces of
pollutants.
“We’re not
saying that the bioremediation project that CPI was supposed to carry out was
fictitious, but what is clear is that the lab results support the prosecutors’
case,” he said.
The AGO has
accused CPI and its subcontractors of causing $23.4 million in state losses by
appointing unqualified contractors to carry out the work of rehabilitating the
Duri site.
The project
was intended to normalize soil contaminated with toxic substances from CPI’s
oil drilling.
CPI
contracted the project to Green Planet Indonesia and Sumi Gita Jaya.
The work
was to be paid for on a cost-recovery basis, meaning that CPI would be
reimbursed the full $23.4 million cost of the work by upstream oil and gas
regulator BPMigas.
Investigators,
acting on tips from the public, say they believe the work was never completed.
Instead, they allege, someone pocketed the money from BPMigas without first
conducting the agreed-upon work.
CPI says
the design and application of the bioremediation technology used in the project
was evaluated and approved by the regulator and the Environment Ministry.
BPMigas
denies it has paid the recovery cost, saying the project was not finished and
it would be years before it was completed.
Prosecutors,
however, are pursuing the case on the assumption that money has been paid to
CPI for work that was not properly done. Andhi said that investigators from the
AGO were working with auditors to determine the exact losses allegedly suffered
by the state.
The AGO has
named seven people as suspects, including five from CPI and one each from Green
Planet and Sumi Gita.
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| A logo of Chevron Pacific Indonesia. (Antara Photo) |
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