Indonesian and Australian environmental NGOs are protesting against the project to dismantle, announced by the Australian government, the floating oil production, storage and offloading unit, North Endeavor, located in the Timor Sea, just 155 kilometers from the coasts of Indonesia and East Timor.
The oil and gas company that owns Northern Endeavor, which the Australian government describes on its website as a building 274 metresAnd moored about 550 kilometers northwest of Darwin in the Timor Sea”. in 2020.
“Radioactive materials”
the Jakarta Post indonesian specific This disassembly includes activities such as: Filter liquids containing residue “Naturally Occurring Radioactive Substances”, As well as towing the ship to a “international destination” not disclosed.”
I called him dailyAnd Fanny Tree Gambore, campaign director for mining and energy issues at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), noted that despite the short distance from the Indonesian and Timorese coasts, islanders in this offshore area were not consulted or informed.
“The Australian government must not repeat the environmental tragedy that occurred east of the Lesser Sunda Islands,” For his part, Ambu Wulang Tanamahu, regional manager of Walhi insisted.
In 2009, a massive oil spill occurred due to the explosion of the Montara oil well in the Timor Sea, operated by the Australian subsidiary of Thai PTTEP, and for two and a half months the equivalent of more than 2,500 barrels of oil was spilled. per day over a marine area of more than 90,000 square kilometres2, affecting thousands of Indonesian fishermen and seaweed producers. Fourteen years later, the victims have still not been compensated.
On the Australian side, the NGO Friends of the Earth has voiced the same criticism. In a statement it quoted jakarta post, Her campaign manager, Jeff Waters, said that the dismantling of an offshore drilling rig such as the North Reactor should have taken place ashore in order to properly dispose of its hazardous waste: “But since the process is in the hands of the Federal Environment Ministry, all of these safety instructions seem to have gone out the window.”
