Steel dam plan to plug Indonesia's "mud volcano" - AFP [View All]

[Eugene]

Source: Agence France-Presse

Steel dam plan to plug Indonesia's "mud volcano"

Mon May 28, 12:44 PM ET

JAKARTA (AFP) - A massive concrete dam 15 storeys high would
be built around Indonesia's disastrous "mud volcano" under the
latest proposal to stop toxic sludge spewing from its core, a
report said Monday.

Indonesian and Japanese engineers have pitched the ambitious
plan to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono as the nation marks
one year on Tuesday since the mudspill started, forcing
thousands to flee their homes.

The plan, estimated to cost 70 million dollars, is the latest
attempt to try to stem the steaming mud that started pouring
from the earth after an exploratory gas drilling team pierced a
layer of strata.

-snip-

Under the plan, the mud building up in the dam would eventually
be so heavy that it could act as a counterweight to the sludge
trying to emerge from the crater, blocking off the flow, said
Tempo magazine, which has a copy of the proposal.

-snip-

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070528/sc_afp/indonesiaenvironment_070528164401