That freaking mud volcano still going, 2 years later. Gov't gives up.

I can't believe this is still going on! In 2006, I posted about this bad boy a lot. Dang. They tried to "choke it" by dropping in a lot of concrete- one idea, that has, unsurprisingly, failed.

Well, it looks like the Indonesian government is giving up on it.

"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." LINK

See, this is the kind of thing that makes California seem... worrisome, to me.

"A two-acre patch of land north of Fillmore heated up to 800 degrees Friday, and firefighters and geologists are unsure why.
By Joanna Lin, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer August 5, 2008
A patch of land in Ventura County's Los Padres Forest where the ground heated up to 812 degrees Friday continues to puzzle firefighters and geologists after a month and a half of monitoring."It's a thermal anomaly," said Ron Oatman, spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.

...Jeff Kuyper, executive director of Los Padres FireWatch, said he had not heard of hot spots in the Sespe Oil Field, but was concerned about their potential effect on the nearby Sespe Condor Sanctuary and the forest's fire-prone nature."It's just a disaster waiting to happen . . . regardless of what the cause is," he said." LINK

Choke a volcano? Are you sure?

Hm. This sounds like it could end badly. Really badly.

Geophysicists have a plan to shut off the Indonesian mud volcano- the one caused by the drilling company.

"Indonesian geophysicists hope to stem the flow of a destructive mud volcano on East Java by dropping chains of concrete balls into its mouth."

Well then. That sound like a good idea. Now the volcano will just spit out cannon balls.
LINK

Time for another look at disaster central, Indonesia.

Been a week or so since I've posted anything from there, but not because nothing happened- just because the sheer amount of Indonesian news about various disasters, natural and man made is overwhelming, and I didn't set out to make a blog called Lexacat's Guide To The Doom In Indonesia, did I.
Right.

In one of the most mind-bending stories, the mud continues to flow (it's been about a year now) at a site where a mining company drilled right down into what is called a 'mud volcano', setting off epic landslides and mudflows that have killed people and swallowed towns whole. The toxic stew (now mixed right up with mining byproducts- notoriously toxic slagheaps, etc) was headed for the ocean, last time I wrote about it. Biologists, understandably, are worried about what will happen to the ocean's ecosystem when tons of hot, toxic mud pour in, but people really want the mud to stop drowning their villages, and I guess I can see their point to. "Geologists fear the technology may not exist to stop the eruption, saying mud could flow for years or even centuries _ or stop on its own at any time." LINK
Well, anyway, in an update on that nightmare, the nations Welfare minister, a fellow with family ties to the mining company, claims that it was all natural, and that the $425 million in compensation the company has been ordered to pay is wrong, as it wasn't their fault. Right. Fox guarding the freaking henhouse, as usual. LINK

Also, some entrepenerial Indonesians are growing coffee beans in the protected habitats of 3 of the most endangered species in Asia. "Coffee beans exported to the West are being illegally grown inside an Indonesian national park, threatening the habitat of endangered tigers, elephants and rhinos, the WWF said Wednesday.

"If this trend of clearing park land for coffee isn't halted, the rhinos and tigers will be locally extinct in less than a decade," Nazir Foead, WWF-Indonesia's Director of Policy and Corporate Engagement, said in a statement.

"We think even the world's most committed coffee drinkers will find this an unacceptable price to pay for their daily caffeine buzz." LINK

A list of recent disasters in Indonesia. Damn, I'm glad I don't live in Indonesia.

LINK to full list, but some highlights below.

-Jan. 1: An Indonesian plane disappears in stormy weather after issuing a distress signal during a two-hour flight from East Java to Manado.

- Dec. 29, 2006: A crowded Indonesian ferry, carrying nearly 640 passengers, breaks apart and sinks in the Java Sea during a violent storm. At least 400 are still missing.

- Dec. 23, 2006: Days of heavy rain touch off floods that kill more than 100 people and displace over 400,000 on northwestern Sumatra island.

- June 19, 2006: Heavy rains cause floods and mud flows that kill as many as 300 people in southern Sulawesi province.

- May 27, 2006: A 6.3-magnitude earthquake in central Java island kills at least 5,800 people and injures more than 36,000.

- May 2006: A series of explosions spew hot ash down the slopes of Mount Merapi, eventually forcing at least 15,000 villagers to flee their homes.

- May 2006: Mud flows, set off by an accident deep in a drilling shaft operated by a gas exploration company, displace more than 10,000 people and cover over 1,000 acres of land on Java island.