Chevron oil pipe explodes, 2 injured

Antara News, Thursday, October 28, 2010 13:27 WIB

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - A crude oil pipeline of PT Chevron Pacific Indonesia had burst harming two children in Manggala Jonson Village, Tanah Putih sub district, Rokan Hilir District, Riau province on Thursday.

"Two children were badly burned in the explosion," a resident, Andi said.

The pipeline located near the village burst at 7 am at the local time and also caused injuries to Wanda (6) and Rini (16).

The children were badly injured as they covered by oil and their skin had blisters. The two had been taken to the Chevron medical center, Andi said.

"The sound of the explosion was so loud that I thought it was a bomb. The oil spurt 10 meters high," he said.

Three houses of Anto, Sukidi and Yunus were covered with the crude oil.

The dark black oil spilled the walls, roofs and the yards.

A motorcycle was thrown 15 meters away by the force of the explosion, he said.

The chief of Crime and Investigation Unit of Rohil Police, Adjunct Commissioner Arif Hidayat Ritonga said he had sent a number of police personnel to the location to secure the accident site, near the Trans Sumatran road leading to Medan , North Sumatra.

The company had sent a representative to the location to clear up the oil spill on that also hit a number of houses, he said.

Jakarta will (not) submerge?

The Jakarta Post, Firdaus Ali, Jakarta | Sat, 10/09/2010 10:17 AM | Opinion

What are the real ongoing and continuing environmental problems facing Jakarta? The academic answer is the carrying capacity that is no longer able to support the continuing increase of population.

This is because the city with an area of 662 square kilometers is poorly planned and managed so it is not able to accommodate its fast growing population demand for services. Hence, the city contributes pressure to the environment beyond its limited carrying capacity.

One of its essential resources for the city carrying capacity is water resources. What are the problems related with the water resources? First, we view it from water resources stressful aspect that is the increasing capacity of runoff, especially the effect of climate change, which creates climate anomaly and the degradation of water storage capacity, and infiltration of the soil, which extends from the upstream area to the Jakarta area itself.

The real impact of all these phenomenon is the flooding and stagnant water that occurs almost every rainfall (in the upstream area as well as within the city itself). Stagnant water and flooding are the real paralyzing cause for the city’s chaotic and extreme traffic congestion. This situation is exacerbated by the condition of a dilapidated drainage infrastructure system (it was designed some 30-40 years ago).

More ironically, almost all of the drainage canals are no longer properly functioning because they are mostly covered by buildings and piles of sediment and solid waste.

The second issue is the limited resources to meet the city’s water demand, especially clean piped water to meet the city water needs. This creeping problem has been linked to the serious urban ecological issue that is currently receiving public attention, particularly after the collapse of Jl. RE Martadinata in North Jakarta. What are the causal relations of land subsidence and the limited supply of clean piped water?

A very limited piped water service coverage ratio, which is only able to supply about 44 percent of the total Jakarta water demand, along with a very high water tariff (presently averaging Rp 7,400 per cubic meter), excessive groundwater abstraction occurs especially by commercial entities (hotels, apartments, malls, office buildings and industries).

The massive groundwater exploitation exceeding its natural recharge capacity has continually caused the lowering of a deep groundwater table and eventually causing land subsidence in many locations in the city.

On the other hand, the city also has to face the rising sea water level due to global warming. These two phenomena will threaten the city’s livable future, because some part of the urban area will likely submerge permanently if there is no technology, policy as well as social engineering intervention provided to mitigate the causes.

What are the available solutions for this very basic and essential urban problem? First is the need to rehabilitate and improve the whole city’s drainage networks system starting from the micro, collector and macro drainage systems.

Second, is the need to control the runoff by maximizing the water infiltration and retention (storage capacity) on land surface through the construction of ponds, lakes, dams, as well as underground water storage (reservoir), which in turn could also be used as additional raw water sources for the Jakarta-owned water supply company (PAM Jaya).

Third, it is to restrict immediately the deep groundwater exploitation by adequately supplying clean piped water, and of course with affordable water tariffs. Adequately provided clean piped water can only be done by increasing the supply of raw water for processing.

In the condition that none of the rivers can be utilized due to pollution, increase the supply of clean piped water can only be carried out by first, reducing the water leakages, and second, by building a potable water supply provision system at Jatiluhur area, which originally was studied and proposed by the Jakarta Water Supply Regulatory Body.

Fourth, while awaiting completion of the Jatiluhur water supply system project, the business communities should be encouraged and obliged to carry out their domestic wastewater reclaimation measure in order to convert it into clean non-potable water. This measure would reduce the reliance on groundwater utilization as well as clean piped water for their water demand, whereas at the same time also reduce the amount of wastewater discharge into the water bodies.

Fifth, for a long-term perspective, we must revitalize all existing open water bodies such as rivers, streams, ponds and dams in order to make them suitable raw water sources for PAM Jaya and at the same time also provides city ammenities just as in other developed cities in the world provides its quality of life (as also mentioned in the Bible and the Koran that potrays heaven with streams and rives flowing).

All of these, of course, would need considerable investment, but the risks are much more costly when they become disasters, and at that time we would have little opportunity to make the necessary restorations.

The writer, a lecturer and researcher at the Environmental Engineering Department, the University of Indonesia, is founder of the Indonesian Water Institute and a member of Jakarta’s Water Resources Council.

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Expect More Floods as Global Water Cycle Speeds Up

Disaster mitigation ‘neglected in post-quake reconstruction’

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang | Wed, 10/06/2010 10:06 AM

The government is too busy rebuilding damaged facilities and infrastructure from the past earthquake, neglecting precautionary measures for a possible disaster in the future, an official says.

The head of the Provincial Board for Disaster Mitigation (BPBD), Ade Edward, said mitigation efforts should have been included in the rehabilitation program, especially because many houses and other buildings were located in areas prone to earthquakes.

“They need special handling,” he told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

The mitigation measures, he said, should include a policy on how to build quake-resistant buildings.

Ade added that in a number of residential complexes, houses were reconstructed to normal standards.

He criticized the fact that mitigation efforts were not included in the Rp 6.4 trillion-rehabilitation program.

The September 2009 earthquake killed more than a thousand people, destroyed nearly 250,000 houses, more than 400 regional administration offices, almost 5,000 education facilities and 153 hospitals.

Ade stressed the need for high levels of preparedness for similar disasters in the future.

“If an earthquake occurs and triggers a tsunami, the impact could be very serious as it would not just be a problem of buildings but also lack of evacuation lanes because we did not include mitigation aspects in the rehabilitation program,” he said.

Referring to an earthquake-tsunami threat map issued by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry in 2008, Ade said tsunami-triggering earthquakes with a magnitude of more than 9 threatened coastal regions of West Sumatra.

A tsunami caused by such earthquakes, the map states, were predicted to reach between 3 and 6 meters high in Padang and to affect areas up to 2 kilometers inland within 35 to 50 minutes.

“The red zone is 500 meters from the beach,” Ade, who is also coordinator of the West Sumatra branch of the Association of Indonesian Geologists (IAGI) , said.

However, he added, as most of Padang’s residents lived along the coast, a tsunami could threaten 500,000 of the city’s population, or a million people living along the province’s coast.

Patra Rina Dewi, the executive director of Tsunami Alert Community (Kogami), expressed similar concerns, saying that the province had not prioritized disaster preparedness.

“The reconstruction program is not an excuse for neglecting disaster preparedness,” Patra said.

Kogami held a tsunami evacuation simulation in Padang Pariaman and other regencies last month involving 3,000 residents.

Operators claim major upgrade of pipe networks

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 10/06/2010 11:44 AM

The two tap water operators that serve Jakarta, PT PAM Lyonaise Jaya (Palyja) and PT Aetra Air Jakarta (Aetra), have announced they have completed major improvements to their infrastructure since they were established in 1998, claiming improved water quality, coverage and pressure.

Palyja, which serves the west side of Jakarta, says it has built 1,200 kilometers of new pipes and restored 850 kilometers of its existing 5,200 kilometers of pipes at a total cost of Rp 1.35 trillion (US$151.2 million) since 1998.

Palyja public relations manager Meyritha Maryanie said a further 3,000 kilometers of pipes needed to be restored.

The company booked a net profit of Rp 222 billion last year, up from Rp 136 billion in 2008.

“We realize that under such conditions, we won’t be able to supply enough water for the areas on the west side of the city but we have done what we can, especially amid a lack of water resources and also a lack of awareness among residents,” Meyritha told The Jakarta Post.

She said that her company drew the majority of its water from the Jatiluhur resevoir in West Java and another reservoir in Tangerang.

“We are planning to use water from the Pesanggrahan river as it often overflows during the rainy season. However we are still checking the quality of the water and negotiating with the authorities,” she said.

Palyja and Aetra have held the exclusive rights to manage the city’s tap water since 1998.

Aetra, then PT Thames PAM Jaya, has built 1,451 kilometers of new pipes to add to the 4,400 kilometers of pipes that it already had. Aetra serves residents on the east side of Jakarta.

Aetra general manager Agit Pratomo said the company was focused on allocating more money to expand its pipe network and build new pumps to increase water pressure this year.

“We understand that many of our customers have complained about our supply so we are allocating

Rp 300 billion to build 232 kilometers of pipes and two pressure pumps,” he said.

He said his company usually only spent an average of about Rp 120 billion per year on infrastructure

upgrades.

“We hope that private companies will become more aware of the need to use tap water in accordance with the 2007 bylaw,” he added, refering to a bylaw that stipulates that commercial and industrial buildings that tap into the ground water must pay taxes that are more costly than paying for tap water.

The companies do not produce enough tap water to meet demand. They are running at an estimated combined defecit of 4,000 liters of water per second this year, based on the assumption that the population of the city is growing at a rate of up to 0.3 percent per year.

In fact, the Jakarta Statistics Agency (BPS) recently announced that the population growth had reached 1.3 percent per year.

Earlier, experts said that almost all commercial buildings in the city used groundwater because of the lack in supply and coverage of tap water in the city. (rch)

Three reservoirs to anticipate water crisis

Antara News, Sunday, October 3, 2010 18:43 WIB

Bekasi, West Java (ANTARA News) - The Bekasi Tirta Bhagasasi Tap Water Company (PDAM) had built three water reservoirs to anticipate water supply crisis in the region.

"We have constructed three new reservoirs one of which in Pondok Ungu to maximize clean water distribution in the northern region," a public relations staff of the Bekasi PDAM Wawan said here Sunday.

The other two reservoirs had been built in South Cikarang and North Cikarang sub-districts, he said.

The reservoirs having capacity of 2,000 cubic meters and equipped with clean water distribution pipelines and pumps, are to supply clean water to residents in the northern region, he said.

The water reservoir in North Cikarang, however, had a 500 cubic meters capacity to supply clean water to North Cikarang and West Cikarang Sub-districts, he said, adding that the reservoir served the Sukatani Office where water was often polluted.

The water distribution pipelines in North Cikarang had a total length of 3 kilometers and a diameter of 600 millimeters, he said.

The Tap Water Company was also building a reservoir in Tegal Gede village, South Cikarang, he said, adding that will be able to hold 100 cubic meters of water, and fund for building it had been allocated from the Regional Budget.

Public relations chief of Tap Water Company Endang said the company had around 2,000 cubic meters of clean water of reservoirs to supply 147,000 customers in Bekasi.

"We could only supply 30 percent of the need of Bekasi Municipal residents and 20 percent of the needs of Bekasi District residents, he said, adding that Tirta Bhagasasi Tap Water Company was the second best of its kind in West Java after Bandung," he said.

Leaking Pipeline Forces Oil Shutdown

Jakarta Globe, Ririn Radiawati Kusuma | October 01, 2010

A gas pipeline sprung a leak at Chevron Pacific Indonesia’s Duri field in Sumatra, upstream oil and gas authority BPMigas said on Friday, resulting in a drop in production of 200,000 barrels per day. Darwin Zahedy Saleh, left in this file photo, the minister of energy and mineral resources said he was confident that an increase in production could compensate for the losses. (Antara Photo/Widodo S. Jusuf)   

    

Up to 20 percent of the nation’s oil production capacity is offline after a gas pipeline sprung a leak at Chevron Pacific Indonesia’s Duri field in Sumatra, upstream oil and gas authority BPMigas said on Friday.

The regulator said 200,000 barrels per day of production capacity had been shut down due to a leak in a pipeline that supplied natural gas used to power oil-field operations. It said the pipeline should be repaired by Monday, with full production resuming two days later.

“The wells’ recovery will be slow. They have to shut the wells down and reactivate them carefully,” he said.

Darwin Zahedy Saleh, the minister of energy and mineral resources, on Friday said he was confident that an increase in production — once it was resumed — could compensate for the losses and that the government would still meet its 2010 production target.

However, Rudi Rubiandini, an energy analyst and drilling expert from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), said that the lost production was likely to greatly exceed the government’s forecasts.

He estimated that fixing the underground pipe and returning oil production to normal would likely take more than two weeks, possibly even up to two months, depending on the extent of the damage.

“It will take a long time to fix the problem,” he said. “It depends on the damage to the pipe.”

Rudi added that there was little the government could do to reach its production target for this year.

“This is a huge loss,” he said, noting that CPI was one of the nation’s top oil producers, accounting for about 40 percent of total output.

The halt to production comes with oil companies already struggling to reach the government’s 2010 target of 965,000 bpd, a figure used to make revenue projections in this year’s state budget.

Production averaged 935,000 bpd during the first half of the year, and BPMigas last month said the government would sell three million barrels of crude oil from its stockpile to help meet the revenue target.

About 700 CPI wells and 400 wells operated by Pertamina-Bumi Siak Pusako, a unit of state oil and gas company Pertamina, were also shut down by the failure.

The problem began on Wednesday morning when a leak was discovered in the pipe operated by Transportasi Gas Indonesia. The pipeline, located at Indragiri Hulu in Riau, is used to supply natural gas to the field for drilling works and to generate electricity.

BPMigas first estimated Chevron’s lost production at 32,000 bpd, but that was already raised to 150,000 bpd by Friday afternoon.

CPI’s president director, Abdul Hamid Batubara, declined to set a timeline for a resumption in production.

“We are focused on fixing the pipeline so they [the wells] can function immediately. We are working with TGI to fix this,” he said.

Pri Agung Rakhmanto, an energy analyst with the Reforminer Institute, said he believed the breakdown would not affect the government’s 2010 production target, assuming the problem was fixed within several days. But he added that the target was unlikely to be met anyway.

“The leak is not the reason why the government can’t reach the 2010 oil production target,” he said.

Pri Agung said the incident at the aging Duri oil field should serve as a lesson that more attention was needed to develop new sources for the fuel.

“Optimizing existing blocks is not enough,” he said. “They have to develop more. But this takes time.”

West Sumatra gets first quake-proof building

Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post, Padang | Fri, 10/01/2010 8:25 AM

The West Sumatra administration has begun rebuilding its main office using advanced earthquake resistant technologies, a year after the previous office was decimated by a powerful earthquake.

A cornerstone laying ceremony was held Thursday by West Sumatra Governor Irwan Prayitno and National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Syamsul Maarif, exactly a year after the province was hit by the 7.9-magnitude earthquake.

Head of the West Sumatra Road Infrastructure and Transmigration Settlement Office Dody Ruswandi said the administration would rebuild government facilities damaged in the quake using quake-proof construction technologies to ensure their survival in a quake, and so that they could double as refugee centers in the event of an earthquake.

“Since experts have concluded that Padang and the surrounding coastal areas are prone to quakes and tsunami, we must build vertical buildings as well as escape routes from the coast,” he said.

The four-storey building — dubbed as the country’s first Escape Building — would be completed in November next year.

The first two floors of the Rp 46 billion (US$5.1 million) building will be for offices, and the top two floors will serve as shelters for up to 3,500 people in the event of a tsunami.

The walls at the base of the building are designed to collapse inward in the event of a tsunami, leaving the supporting structure intact.

The building incorporates various quake-proof designs, many of which are used in Japan.

It is specially designed to withstand forces 0.5 times greater than gravity in accordance with building standards in Japan and higher than a new regulation for quake-proof buildings in Indonesia that requires a strength rating of 0.4 times the force of gravity.

“The first refugee building built in Indonesia is actually designed to withstand quakes of over 10 on the Richter Scale,” said Dody.

The technology, which has been used in Japan since 1995, will feature in three other new buildings – the Dr. M. Djamil General Hospital in Padang, the Public Works and Transmigration and Settlement Office and the governor’s main office building.

Last year’s quake destroyed 442 office buildings.

The total reconstruction cost could reach Rp 6.4 trillion, including RP 897.4 billion to rebuild the government offices.