Three people are feared dead and hundreds more are at risk of negative health impacts after multiple tailings dams, which store toxic mine waste, collapsed inside an industrial park in Indonesia. According to media and worker testimony, on March 16, the PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt tailings storage facility was breached, and liquified tailings flowed into the Bahadopi River.
The breach flooded facilities at the Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) and the village of Labota with a wave of red water, putting the health of workers and 341 families at risk through exposure to heavy metals.
On March 21, another tailings facility inside IMIP, owned by PT Qing Mei Bang (QMB) New Energy Materials, collapsed, killing three workers. According to testimony from workers represented by SPIM-KPBI, the second largest union at IMIP, the tailings facility was constructed on top of an infilled pond, a highly questionable practice that likely resulted in a high water table within the facility.
For the rest of this article: https://earthworks.org/blog/multiple-dams-fail-at-indonesian-nickel-mining-facilities/