Disaster zone grows in Java toxic mud spill

TOXIC mud spurting from a gas drilling well part-owned by the Australian mining giant Santos threatens to mire East Java in a full-scale disaster.

Experts are unable to prevent millions of tonnes of mud blocking highways and rail links, and propose to divert the flow into the ocean, risking another environmental catastrophe…

For two months mud has flowed from an exploratory well near Porong, inundating 25 square kilometres, putting 1000 people in hospital with breathing difficulties and forcing more than 10,000 from their homes. The mud threatens the rail link between Jakarta and Surabaya, Indonesia’s busiest port.

SMH