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Company admits emitting mercury in Indonesia

Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2004 | 9:12 a.m.

JAKARTA, Indonesia -- A U.S. mining company admitted Wednesday that it released mercury into the environment at one of its Indonesian gold mines but denied that it had any health impact on people.

Newmont Mining Corp., which has been accused by Indonesian police of polluting a bay near its gold mine and sickening residents, insisted in its statement today that it had adhered to all "appropriate standards."

The Denver, Colo.-based company said that at no time "did any test or monitoring data show that there were health impacts to employees or the community as a result of operations."

Newmont was responding to an article in The New York Times saying that an internal company report in 2001 warned that the mine in Buyat Bay on Sulawesi island was putting tons of toxic mercury into the environment. The internal report also said that the company wasn't abiding by its public claims to be upholding U.S. environmental standards, the Times said.

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