JABAR EKSPRES – Environmental activists from the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL) said the case of hundreds of tons of coal spill that have occurred in the Meulaboh Sea, the capital of West Aceh Regency, Aceh Province is pollution to the environment and is dangerous.
“The incident of coal falling into the sea is not light in its impact,” said Head of ICEL’s Pollution and Environmental Damage Control Division, Fajri Fadilah, who was contacted by ANTARA from Banda Aceh on Thursday, quoted by Jabar Ekpsres.
He said that the compounds contained in the coal that fell into the sea in West Aceh Regency are feared to interact with compounds in the marine environment.
The compounds contained in coal that can interact with the marine environment include mercury which contains heavy metals.
Fajri said the mercury content in coal when it falls into the sea, it can potentially release heavy metals, thus affecting the life of marine biota.
In addition, the heavy metal content derived from mercury in coal can also have an impact on human health.
Because if fish in the sea are contaminated with heavy metals, he said, then someone who consumes fish in the sea that has been contaminated with mercury content from coal spills, it can cause health problems such as nerve attacks and various adverse effects on human health.
While the impact on children, he said, is that it can affect children’s intelligence or IQ, as well as other dangerous health impacts.
Can’t be finished
Fajri Fadilah added that currently his party does not know how to standardize the settlement of coal spill cases into the sea as has happened in West Aceh Regency so far.
According to him, the case of coal spills cannot be resolved simply by picking up chunks of coal stranded on the coast, which are then sold to coal mining companies.
