JAKARTA (Reuters) -A nickel processing hub managed by PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park has been ordered to rectify a series of "serious" environmental violations, including the construction of plants on unapproved land, Indonesia's Environment Ministry said on Wednesday.
PT IMIP built plants and conducted other activities on 1,800 hectares (4,447.9 acres) of land that were not included in the company's original environmental impact assessment report, the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry found an estimated 12 million metric tons of illegal tailing deposits. Air pollution in the area also exceeded allowed parameters, it added.
"PT IMIP must stop activities that are not covered by its environmental approval," Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said.
PT IMIP spokesperson Dedy Kurniawan said the company submitted its environmental impact assessment report for an additional 1,800-hectare area in 2023 to the ministry that oversees environment and forestry under the previous administration and is now waiting for the new Environment Ministry to sign off on the document.
The original environmental approval for an initial 2,000-hectare area was issued in 2020.
Dedy said the company and its tenants monitor air quality both in real time and periodically through various methods, and ensure the proper technology is installed to reduce emissions from smelting activities.
PT IMIP is the largest nickel-processing hub in resource-rich Indonesia and has over 50 tenants, mainly makers of nickel products for stainless steel and EV battery materials, according to the company website.
Chinese steelmaker Tsingshan Holding Group is among PT IMIP's shareholders.
The ministry said it will impose fines on the company, and police will also investigate the management of hazardous and toxic tailings in the area.
"We will order an environmental audit of the entire IMIP industrial area. On findings of hazardous waste tailings, we will proceed with a criminal and civil legal process," said Rizal Irawan, a senior official at the ministry.
PT IMIP will improve environmental management in the area based on the ministry's requirements, Dedy said.
"We will maximise coordination and supervision of the operations of all tenants in order to carry out all forms of improvement in accordance with the direction of the Indonesian Ministry of Environment," he said.
(Reporting by Bernadette Christina, Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by John Mair, David Stanway and Rod Nickel)
