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TIMELINE
- August 1995 – A report in the local paper, the Manado Post quoted fishermen as saying tailings had caused a great reduction in fish catches and quoted NGOs as condemning pollution caused by tailings. Remarkably, this was nearly half a year before the mine opened and before any tailings had been placed in the sea.
- March 1996 – Newmont begins mining operations having completed construction of the $234 million Minahasa gold mine. During its peak, the mine employed 700 workers.
- 1996-2004 – Allegations from NGOs alleging disease from Newmont’s operations continued. Each allegation investigated by appropriate authorities and found to be baseless.
- 2000 – Villagers were paid to travel to Berkeley, CA, for NGO-sponsored training on anti-mining activities.
- 2001 – Local NGOs published booklet entitled, "From Minahasa to Minamata," accusing Newmont of causing Minamata disease (later debunked by Minamata Institute of Japan).
- Early 2004 – A film by WALHI was released which showed a woman with breast cancer attributed to tailings, fish with lumps, and some people with skin bumps—all blaming Newmont as the cause of these illnesses.
- July 3, 2004 – A baby in Buyat Pantai dies from malnutrition. Fueled by anti-mining individuals and groups, mother blames Newmont and says baby Andini was poisoned by heavy metals. Story exploded into local and national media and took on a life of its own.
- July 20, 2004 – Dr. Jane Pangemanan and four Buyat Pantai villagers file a police complaint against PTNMR accusing the company of negligence and causing death. Police launched investigation, declaring Newmont employees "suspects," took water samples with assistance from Newmont (Newmont, simultaneously, took duplicate samples).
- July 26, 2004 – Three villagers file a civil claim that they have health problems from mine waste. They asked for $543 million in damages.
- July 2004 – A local NGO accused Newmont of causing over a hundred local residents to suffer from Minamata disease, which is caused by mercury contamination.
- July 2004 – Following the initial accusations and a public campaign against the company, the Indonesian Ministry of Health said there was no Minamata disease, based on on-site testing and assessment by the Minamata Institute of Japan. The Indonesian State Minister of Environment said the water and fish in Buyat Bay were not polluted with either mercury or arsenic.
- August 2004 – The Indonesian National Police announced their water tests, conducted by their own uncertified laboratory, showed Buyat Bay had been polluted with high levels of mercury and arsenic. Newmont had an independent laboratory test duplicate samples (simultaneously collected) which disagree with police lab results and found all levels of heavy metals within all international clean water standards. Indonesian Police have never explained why their tests results are the only tests to find levels vastly different from all other scientific studies to date. It should be noted that the police lab results show all soil and water samples, even from areas far outside of the operational impact area of NMR, are polluted.
- August 2004 – The then incumbent Indonesian Minster of Environment convenes a team of selected experts (Integrated Team) to study the existing data on Buyat Bay, collect addition data where needed and issue a report concerning the allegations of environmental pollution. During August and September, the Integrated Team conducts field sampling and analyses on various environmental parameters.
- September 8, 2004 – The New York Times published a front page story implicating Newmont in death of baby Andini and causing fish stocks to disappear. Story leapt onto international scene. NYT ombudsmen would later criticize this story in his report.
- September 2004 – PTNMR, Rick Ness, and five other Newmont employees were arrested and detained by police. Five of the six were put in jail for 32 days and were never questioned. Due to health reasons, Newmont’s President Director, Rick Ness, was not incarcerated but was prohibited from leaving Indonesia (even for the funeral of his only granddaughter). Police refuse to follow Indonesian law -- which requires that investigators speak both sides, including experts who could have exonerated Newmont employees. To learn more about Rick Ness’s son’s perspective on the case, go to www.richardness.org.
- October 2004 – The World Health Organization and the Japanese Minamata Disease Institute release a study that says mercury levels in villagers are within normal range, thus there is no Minamata disease. Two additional studies [Indonesian Ministry for Environmental Affairs and the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)] confirm Newmont’s own studies – Buyat Bay is not polluted. [Charts available to show scientific data gathered on Buyat Bay arsenic and mercury levels in both seawater and fish.]
- November 8, 2004 – A sub-group of the Integrated Team issues a "Technical Team Report" which uses the same data as the original October report, but, although the data show that the water is not impacted and the fish are safe, concludes the Buyat Bay is polluted. Dissenting members of the Integrated Team issue letters claiming that the Technical Team’s conclusions are political and not scientific.
- December 22, 2004 – Villagers withdrew civil lawsuit against Newmont stating their accusations against the company were "baseless."
- December 23, 2004 – Newmont won Habeas Corpus appeal; Jakarta District Court ruled that police investigation was illegal. Police refuse to follow Habeas Corpus decision.
- February 14, 2005 – Dr. Jane Pangemanan retracted police complaint with formal letter. Said accusations against Newmont were never based on any evidence. All accusations against Newmont now dropped, but police continued their investigation which resulted in criminal indictment of Newmont and Rick Ness.
- March 9, 2005 – Indonesian Ministry of Environment filed a $133 million dollar civil suit against company. Later, Government announced it will settle suit out of court.
- March 15, 2005 – Supreme Court reviewed and overturned Habeas Corpus decision on appeal by the police despite Indonesian law that says it cannot be appealed. The Supreme Court Chief Justice said: "Sometimes when handing down judgments we must refer only to the law. However, other times we must evaluate the law based on social interests."
- May 6, 2005 – Ministry of Health released comprehensive testing of Buyat Pantai villagers and concluded there was no evidence to find health problems in village caused by heavy metals.
- August 2005 – Newmont won a defamation suit against a local NGO leader. The court fines the NGO leader $750,000 for falsely claiming Newmont polluted Buyat Bay and killed villagers.
- September 20, 2005 – A panel of five Manado District Court judges rejected Newmont’s separate set of legal "exceptions" to the criminal case against Newmont President Director, Rick Ness and the company. In The Manado Post, the day before the hearing, the article stated that 3 of the 5 judges had decided the case should have been sent back to the prosecutor. After the decision, news coverage from Agence France Presse, Reuters, and Bloomberg News questioned whether the judges’ decision was further evidence of a weak Indonesian legal system.
- October 7, 2005 – Criminal trial against President Director Rick Ness and Newmont is scheduled to continue.
- November 15, 2005 – A panel of judges in South Jakarta District Court ruled favorably for Newmont in the civil case brought by the Indonesian government. The ruling stated that the Court did not have jurisdiction to rule on the dispute and the dispute should be addressed through conciliation or arbitration as stipulated in the Contract or Work between Newmont and the Government.
- February 16, 2006 –The Government of Indonesia and Newmont jointly announce they have signed a goodwill agreement regarding post-mining scientific monitoring and sustainable development initiatives in North Sulawesi.
- March 15, 2006 – The Wall Street Journal published an editorial titled, "Welcome to Indonesia." The article stated that "Most importantly, the scientific evidence does not support the core allegation against Newmont. A number of reputed groups -- including the World Health Organization, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization of Australia and the Minamata Institute of Japan -- have investigated the waters of Buyat Bay and found no mercury or arsenic contamination."
- May 5, 2006 – The criminal case trial against Newmont and Rick Ness entered another stage in which Newmont presented its defense witnesses.
- June 2, 2006 – Three expert witnesses testified that there were no diseases in the community caused by heavy metals in Buyat Bay.
- June 16, 2006 – Two environmental experts testified and once again underlined the fact that the marine ecosystem in Buyat Bay is in no way polluted.
- June 23, 2006 – Two experts and fact witnesses in the toxicology and marine biology fields from the Centre for Environmental Health of Australia and University of Sam Ratulangi Manado said that none of the fish commonly consumed in Buyat Bay containing arsenic and mercury levels exceed the threshold value.
- July 7, 2006 –There was testimony from experts in medical forensic and quantification of environmental performance who confirmed that there is no pollution from heavy metals in Buyat Bay and the fish are safe for consumption.
- August 4, 2006 – In court, Newmont submitted a complete dossier of written evidence consisting of 126 documents, letters, and statements. These documents provide clear and irrefutable evidence to counter the prosecution’s allegations and claims that Newmont and Rick Ness are guilty of environmental pollution.
- September 1, 2006 – Rick Ness took the witness stand and proclaimed his and Newmont’s innocence.
- September 22, 2006 – The court adjourned until October because the prosecutors asked for more time to prepare their case.
- November 10, 2006 – The prosecution asked for Rick Ness to serve a three-year jail term and pay a 500 million rupiah or serve an additional six months in prison. They also asked that Newmont pay a one billion rupiah (US$110,800) fine.
- January 11, 2007 – Rick Ness defended himself again in court. He said that "legal facts show that I as the president director of NMR had done proper action to conserve the environment and processed industrial waste with the newest detoxification technology to avoid environmental damage and pollution in Buyat Bay."
- January 9-11, 2007 – Newmont lawyers presented the defense arguments to the judges in three separate documents titled Pledoi I, which defends PTNMR and Pledoi II & III, which defends Rick Ness. The Pledoi is a written document that refutes the charges being presented by the Prosecution.
- January 23-24, 2007 – Rick Ness reads in court his written arguments that appeared in Pledoi I & II.
- February 23, 2007 – Indonesian prosecutors presented their Replik. The Replik is the prosecutions counterplea to the defense legal arguments (Pledoi).
- March 14, 2007 – PTNMR and Rick Ness presented their final arguments to the judges.
- March 22, 2007 – Indonesia’s largest environmental non-governmental organization Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia (WALHI) launched a civil suit against PTNMR over alleged pollution from the disposal of mine tailings into Buyat Bay.
- April 24, 2007 – Concluding the 21-month long trial, Rick Ness and PTNMR were acquitted of all charges in Manado's District Court. The court ruled that there was insufficient evidence that the Minahasa mine failed to comply with government regulations or the waste dumped near Buyat Bay caused any health problems or pollution. Judges release 500+ page verdict detailing in painstaking detail their investigation and conclusions to the case.
- May 7, 2007 – Indonesian prosecutors submitted an appeal document in a bid to overturn the ruling acquitting Rick Ness and PTNMR even though Indonesian law does not allow for an appeal in the case of a full acquittal as was received by Ness and the company.
- June 21, 2007 – Indonesian activists submitted a complaint against judges who presided over the trial alleging they had "snoozed" their way through parts of the trial.
- June 27, 2007 – PTNMR filed a counter-motion against an appeal by Indonesian prosecutors. The motion contended that the appeal to the Supreme Court was unlawful as the original court hearing was in compliance with applicable laws.
- July 12, 2007 – Buyat Bay fishermen testified, in the civil suit against PTNMR, that their catches had plunged, allegedly because PTNMR polluted the bay.
- September 7, 2007 – A Buyat Bay fisherman testified as a defense witness during the civil case against PTNMR. He testified that he did not believe there was any pollution in the bay, but admitted to having received a new engine for his fishing boat as part of a community program enacted Newmont.
- November 26, 2007 – The Government of Indonesia and PTNMR form the Independent Scientific Panel that was created as part of the Good Will Agreement signed by both parties in February of 2006.
- December 18, 2007 – Indonesia district court acquitted PTNMR of all pollution charges in the civil suit filed by Indonesia environmental group WALHI. This was the second court to issue a favorable ruling and clear Newmont of any wrongdoing.
- July 24, 2008 – The Independent Scientific panel submitted their first year monitoring study. At this stage, the ISP has not been able to draw a conclusion if the tailings placement has caused impacts; however, the data obtained to date showed the consistency with the results of the previous studies undertaken by various domestic and international institutions and organizations between 1996 and 2006. The second stage monitoring is currently in progress and expected to complete at the end of October 2008.
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