Brunei Bay pollution concerns mount

The once state-owned SFI is now in the hands of India’s Ballarpur Industries Ltd.

Brunei Bay is shared by Sabah, Sarawak and Brunei.

Sepa’s terse message to SFI follows the completion of a Detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (DEIA) by Chemsain Konsultant Sdn Bhd for SFI’s proposed pulp and paper mill expansion at the company’s complex in the Sipitang district border neighbouring Sarawak.

“Firstly, we are upset that Sepa and other NGOs were not included in the study which we suddenly learnt is already done and we would like to register our concern on the lack of inclusiveness,” said Sepa president Wong Tack.

He also sketched out what lies ahead for SFI in meeting the challenge of the mounting concerns on the level of pollution in Brunei Bay. “Our position is: Clean up your act before you start talking about expansion.”

Wong urged the federal and state governments to set up an independent EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) team including stakeholders and NGOs like Sepa, WWF Malaysia and the Malayan Nature Society, among others, to study SFI’s proposed expansion plans.

Sepa is particularly opposed to the fact that the expansion plans include a coal-fired plant in Sipitang when abundant natural gas is available locally, and besides, the proposed upper Ulu Padas hydro-electric power plant would be built right inside SFI’s timber concessions areas and the transmission lines pass by its doorsteps.

Riverine communities asked to relocate

“Sabah’s economy and its future depend on a clean environment and a green image especially as ecotourism is expanding,” said Wong. “Industries in Sabah must play their part to make sure the state’s environment is protected, safeguarded and preserved.”

Among other concerns, Wong says that riverine communities in the Sipitang area have already been asked to relocate following serious erosion problems.

He also fears the situation can only worsen given SFI’s announced plans to clear-cut an additional 168,797 hectares of its Ulu Padas concession forests (which was granted to it in 2006) on top of its original concession of 107, 826 hectares. (Ballarpur only took over SFI from the Lion Group in mid-March 2007.)

Under its expansion plans, SFI will raise its plant capacity from the current 144,000 tonnes per annum output to 210,000 tonnes per annum of bleached pulp but total expansion would reach 273,000 tonnes per annum when both total saleable paper and pulp are included.

“This means letting a foreign company strip bare 700,000 acres of forest the size of Malacca,” said Wong in remarks which are not likely to go down well with Chief Minister Musa Aman who has in the past warned local groups against scaring away badly-needed foreign investments. ”

“The expansion plan means deforestation will be speeded up, clear-cutting will double, environmental degradation will be accelerated and the suffering of the river-bound communities will increase.

“Recent flooding overwhelmed the Padas River, forcing the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd to shut down its Pangi hydro-power plant and there were blackouts along the west coast. The authorities are yet to investigate complaints that this was the result of the clear-cutting (timber) process,” Wong said.

Brunei Bay coral reefs dying

Citing from the Chemsain study, the Sepa chief noted that most of the 11 coral reefs in the Brunei Bay were 70-95 per cent dead while “dead shells” alongside mud and wood chips were found in all 18 sampling points within a 1.5 km radius of the SFI mill effluent in the bay.

“Our concern is based on the DEIA report,” echoes Sepa activist Gary Yap of Tawau. “SFI should defer all action until the facts are verified because these are studies done by consultants.”

“What concerns us also are the mitigation recommendations which say that the volume of water in Brunei Bay is large enough to dilute pollutants. In short, they treat the bay and the seas of Sabah as rubbish dumps, i.e. in the case of accidents, the bay can handle it.

“It is irresponsible to comment like that whereas mitigation should be zero discharge or should not happen at all. Even in the case of the most serious spillage, SFI should be able to take care of it, not rely on Mother Nature to absorb it,” stressed Yap.

Brunei Bay is a deeply indented bay with an area of about 250,000 hectares and a mean depth of 20m. A chain of coral islands including the large island of Labuan forms the boundary between the bay and the South China Sea.

Extensive mangrove forests with mudflats and sandflats at the mouths of the major estuaries can be found in most of the east and south shores of the bay. Freshwater flows into the bay via a labyrinth of interconnecting channels and waterways. The existing jetty for the mill is built on the eastern shore of the bay.

Yap also pointed out that the DEIA makes reference to contamination of underground water by heavy metals which is continuing “and this should be verified and action be taken before SFI talks about expansion”.

Project area covers 400ha

Stakeholders had until just before Christmas last month to send in their written comments on the project to the director-general of the Department of Environment in Putrajaya.

Copies of the report, which can be purchased at RM 1,500 per copy, were displayed at all state environment offices including the Sipitang branch, the Sipitang police station, the Sipitang District Office and three libraries viz the National Library, the Sipitang Library and the library at the Department of Environment in PutraJaya.

The proposed SFI expansion will be integrated with the existing mill (referred to as the “Project Site” in the Chemsain study) within the SFI complex in Sipitang district, Sabah without reclamation of new land area.

Accessible via the main Sipitang-Sindumin Highway, the mill is located approximately 5.5km southwest of the township of Sipitang and 151km from the state capital Kota Kinabalu. The project area size covers about 400 hectares within the 1,161.05 hectares SFI Complex and is about 1.2 km to the east of the Brunei Bay coastline.

The Chemsain study notes that the proposed pulp and paper mill and its associated ancillary facilities including the coal-fired plant and onsite secure landfill are categorised as proscribed activities under the Schedule Environmental Quality (Prescribed Activities) (Environmental Impact Assessment) Order, 1987 made under Section 34A of the Environmental Quality Act, 1974

“The findings from the DEIA are also supplemented by a Quantitative Risk Assessment (QRA) study in order to predict the risk to those who may be affected in the event of an accident,” states the executive summary of the Chemsain study.

“The DEIA report shall form the basis on which the environmental concerns related to the project implementation shall be adequately addressed so that all potential impacts brought about by the project can be monitored and controlled effectively, to ensure a safe, healthy, working and living environment for the surrounding community.”