Indonesia court clears Newmont in pollution suit

By Telly Nathalia

JAKARTA (Reuters) - An Indonesian court on Tuesday cleared the local unit of Newmont Mining Corp. over an environmental group's lawsuit accusing it of polluting a bay near a gold mine.

It was Newmont's second win in an Indonesian court over the pollution allegations, closely-watched cases seen as a test of attitudes towards foreign firms and environmental protection in the world's fourth most populous nation.

"The plaintiff could not prove that Newmont polluted the environment, sickening fish and damaging coral reefs," presiding judge I Ketut Manika told the South Jakarta Court.

The environmental group Walhi had accused PT Newmont Minahasa Raya in a lawsuit filed in March of carelessly disposing of mining tailings, causing environmental problems and endangering the health of people around the U.S. firm's now defunct gold mine in North Sulawesi province. In April, a court cleared PT Newmont Minahasa Raya and its president Richard Ness over criminal charges accusing the company of dumping toxic waste into Buyat bay in a 20-month trial.

An appeal was filed in late May to the Supreme Court in a bid to overturn the ruling. Newmont's Indonesian unit and Ness have asked the Supreme Court to reject that appeal.

Indonesia's Environment Ministry said in 2004 that arsenic and mercury content in waste dumped by Newmont had contaminated sediment and entered the food chain.

But other tests failed to find abnormal pollution levels.

Newmont and Ness have denied the charges, pointing to the studies that have found no evidence of pollution.