Indonesian Govt. Officially Ends Attempts To Cap Java Mud Volcano - Flowing At 100K M3/Day - AFP

[hatrack]

JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia's vice president said on Friday the government had given up all hope of halting a mud volcano in East Java which has displaced thousands of people, hurt businesses, and destroyed the local environment. The disastrous mud volcano, which started erupting in May 2006 near Indonesia's second-biggest city of Surabaya, has proved a huge problem for the government.

The hot, noxious mud has displaced more than 50,000 people, submerged homes, factories and schools and is now flowing at a rate of more than 100,000 cubic meters a day. Various attempts to halt the flow have all failed.

"The government has given up in terms of efforts to stop the mudflow, but will never give up when it comes to taking care of the people," Vice President Jusuf Kalla told reporters. "There have always been people that said stopping the mudflow is not an easy task," he said, adding the government had spent "trillions of rupiah every year" trying to solve the problem.

Some scientists have said that energy firm PT Lapindo Brantas' drilling for a gas exploration well set off the mud volcano, but Lapindo has denied it is to blame, saying the mud disaster was triggered by tectonic activity.

EDIT

http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/38166

[phantom power]

1. Tectonic activity?

[Nihil]

4. That's their flag of denial of liability that they've been busily waving since it happened ...

... regardless of the fact that it has been disproved by several
independent scientific teams ...

I suspect they've adopted the Exxon "of course we'll pay for our
mistakes" strategy.

[kurth_]

2. When they're done, they can come here and stop hurricanes

[GliderGuider]

3. There's a message in there.

We can't stop one lousy mud volcano, but we expect to be able to stop global warming?

On the AGW front recommendations of giving up are always met with cries of "defeatism", but sometimes you just have to accept reality.

[depakid]

5. Making the most of it... the mud lake is becoming a tourist attraction!

Mud tourism is about the only thing that is flourishing in Porong, an East Java suburb that two years ago became a disaster zone when hot volcanic mud began spewing from the site of a gas exploration well.

Today, the inland sea of mud is twice the size of Central Park in New York. Enough mud to fill 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools spews out every day and has already displaced 50,000 people, submerged homes, factories and schools.

The local economy has been devastated by the disaster, although, there are a few minor exceptions such as a local pharmacy that has seen sales soar as people seek treatment for allergies. The stench of sulphur hangs in the air from the grey, watery mud, although authorities deny it is a health hazard.

"Business is good," said a cashier at Porong Pharmacy. Nearby, motorbike taxis charge high prices to drive curious tourists to the towering levees of rock and earth that hold back the mud. Others hawk DVDs of the disaster.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/news/mud-lake-draws-tourists-to-disaster-zone/2008/09/09/1220857512027.html