Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Wind, hydro and other renewables · Indonesia · 2021

Hydrogen sulphide leak at Indonesian geothermal field kills five

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
People
  • 5 people died.
    Killed by the gas, per the ministry
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured See the gaps

A hydrogen sulphide leak while a well was being discharged at the Sorik Marapi geothermal field in North Sumatra killed five people in January 2021, the Indonesian energy ministry said. What is at stake is the safety of communities and farmland near geothermal drilling.

What?
Hydrogen sulphide gas leaked from a geothermal well during discharge, killing five people and hospitalising fifteen. Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Indonesia
Where?
Sorik Marapi geothermal field, North Sumatra, Indonesia. Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Indonesia
When?
25 January 2021. Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Indonesia
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
None on record
Harmed
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Gas escaped while a well was being discharged and reached rice fields 300 to 500 metres away, where workers were killed. Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Indonesia
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

On 25 January 2021 hydrogen sulphide gas leaked while a well was being discharged at the Sorik Marapi geothermal field in North Sumatra, Indonesia.

The gas killed five people working in rice fields 300 to 500 metres away and sent fifteen people to hospital, the ministry said.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry temporarily halted activity at the field.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the environmental group Jatam says at least 214 people have been poisoned since 2021 in repeated leaks at the field, and that the temporary halt was the only known sanction.
    • None on record Not stated: the operator of the field, any criminal or civil case after the deaths, and whether activity has resumed.
    • None on record Not stated: the cause of the leak beyond its occurrence during well discharge.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Press and investigations

    1. ESDM investigation of H2S gas exposure and temporary halt at Sorik Marapi
      Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Indonesia · 26.01.2021
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