Court clears US mining giant in Indonesian environmental suit

0 Comments | AFP, December, 2007

JAKARTA (AFP) — An Indonesian court Tuesday cleared a local subsidiary of US mining giant Newmont of allegations it polluted a bay, saying the green groups that brought the civil action could not prove environmental damage.

The suit was filed by a coalition of activist groups led by the country's top environmental watchdog, Walhi, in March. It accused Newmont Minahasa Raya of violating Indonesia's environmental law at its now defunct North Sulawesi mine between 1986 and 2003 by causing ecological damage and harming villagers.

"The plaintiff could not prove its accusations that there was environmental pollution caused by PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in Buyat Bay," Judge I Ketut Manika told the South Jakarta district court.

Newmont, the world's largest gold miner,...