Morowali under environmental threat from nickel industry tailings: Tanah Merdeka
The Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) is facing a growing environmental crisis due to hazardous tailings produced by the nickel industry, says environmental and mining watchdog the Tanah Merdeka Foundation (YTM).
The Palu-based organization highlights the significant risks associated with the High Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) process used to produce Mixed Hydroxide Precipitate (MHP) − a key component in electric vehicle batteries, electronic devices, and military equipment.
Currently, IMIP generates 11.5 million tons of tailings each year, a figure projected to rise to 47 million tons annually by 2026. These tailings, the byproducts of nickel processing, contain harmful substances such as sulfuric acid and hexavalent chromium − a toxic, cancer-causing chemical associated with respiratory illnesses.
Under Government Regulation No. 22/2021, tailings are classified as Hazardous and Toxic Waste (B3) due to their persistent environmental and health dangers.
“The government and companies must prioritize safety over cost-cutting and ensure that tailings do not endanger lives and the environment,” Richard Labiro, Executive Director of YTM, said in a statement as quoted on Wednesday, April 9, 2025.
“The repeated disasters at IMIP show the urgent need for stricter oversight and better environmental management,” he added.
YTM has also raised alarms about the limited number of tailings storage facilities (TSF) at IMIP. To date, only three TSF sites have been identified: those operated by PT Qing Mei Bang (QMB) New Energy Materials, PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt, and one unnamed company. These facilities occupy only a fraction of the 600-hectare zone allocated for tailings management. A collapse at any of these sites could release toxic waste into the Bahodopi River, threatening both local ecosystems and nearby communities.
Recent environmental incidents have underscored these risks, YTM said. On March 16, 2025, intense flooding caused the tailings containment structure at PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt to fail, impacting 341 households (1,092 people) in Labota Village and exposing them to hazardous waste. Just days later, a landslide on March 22 killed three workers, highlighting the vulnerability of tailings facilities in this rain-prone region.
Seismic threats further compound the danger. IMIP is located near the Matano Fault, which is connected to the active Palu-Koro Fault. The region has experienced multiple significant earthquakes, including a magnitude 5.1 tremor on May 31, 2024, which damaged worker accommodations and company infrastructure. Geological studies suggest that a powerful 7.4-magnitude quake last struck the Matano Fault roughly 200 years ago, raising concerns about the area’s preparedness for another major event.
YTM asks the government to take swift action by halting the expansion of tailings storage in high-risk areas, enforcing strict environmental and occupational safety standards, and conducting comprehensive safety audits. The foundation also demands better protections for workers and greater corporate accountability, especially from PT IMIP, PT QMB New Energy Materials, and PT Huayue Nickel Cobalt.
These companies, YTM argues, must be transparent about the risks posed by tailings, provide restitution to affected communities, and invest in advanced waste treatment technologies to prevent future disasters.
IMIP response
Dedy Kurniawan, spokesperson for PT IMIP, denied that aacuation that the March 22 landslide was caused by a failed tailings dam.
“The landslide that occurred on March 22 at around midnight was the result of intense rainfall for over four consecutive hours in the southern part of the IMIP area. In the days leading up to the incident, Bahodopi District and the IMIP complex experienced heavy rainfall almost daily. It is incorrect and misleading to link the landslide to a dam failure, as the two incidents − flooding and the landslide − happened at different times, in different locations, and for entirely different reasons,” Dedy said.
He emphasized that YTM may have relied on imprecise or inaccurate information.
“While the flooding event reported by YTM did occur, it should not be confused with the landslide, which was unrelated to any tailings infrastructure,” he said.
