Minister: Java mudflow 'natural' (re: the flows near oil wells)

[donsu]

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/6DC8AC15-5282-47F9-BA9E-4B3EF741279C.htm


Hot mud gushing from the ground near an oil well in East Java causing an environmental disaster is a natural phenomenon, a minister linked to the company blamed for the disaster has said.

Some experts say the drilling activities of Lapindo Brantas, a firm with family ties to Aburizal Bakrie, the welfare minister, triggered the mudflow in May.

-snip-

"According to the experts, it is truly a natural disaster nothing can prevent," he told foreign correspondents.

-snip-

The minister added that "it happens in a lot of places of the world", citing Uzbekistan and other parts of Java.

He said that one million barrels of mud were spewing from a hole in the earth each day in the Sidoarjo area near Indonesia's second largest city, Surabaya, but said "that hole is not the hole drilled by Lapindo".

-snip-

The minister denied that attempts to channel the mud into the sea were hurting the area's valuable shrimp industry by polluting the water.

"There is nothing that can cause the shrimps to die."

Anger has been mounting in the area over the hot mud, which has continued to pour out despite several government attempts to plug the leak that has inundated entire villages.

The leak has also been blamed for a gas pipeline explosion in the area that killed 13 people.
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oi vey


wonder how much longer america's seafood chain restaurants will stay in business?

[Orsino]

1. As natural as ministers in the pay of oil barons. Sure. n/t

[malaise]

2. He's beyond sick

Bought, sold and paid for.