Karawang (ANTARA) - The waters off Karawang, West Java, have, again, been polluted by oil spilled from Pertamina's Offshore North West Java (ONWJ) Block after the state-run oil firm vouched plugging a leaky oil well there in September.

"We have received a report that the Karawang waters have been polluted again," Wawan Setiawan, head of the local Environment Office, stated here on Friday.

Setiawan noted that the office had contacted Pertamina to address the problem.

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Vice President Relations of the upstream energy company Pertamina Hulu Energi (PHE) Ifki Sukarya has given confirmation on the report.

"Owing to the extreme weather at sea, oil chunks collected from the platform and rig slipped out of the oil boom," he explained.

The company has been prompt in taking requisite measures to clean up the oil spill, he remarked.

"Our team is still on the field to clean up the oil spill," Sukarya stated.

In July, an oil spill from the PHE-ONWJ Block had polluted the Karawang waters.

The oil spill was caused by a gas well kick -- the release of gas by low pressure in a wellbore -- on July 12 that worsened two days later.

The kick occurred beneath the ONWJ Block platform, located two kilometers north of Karawang.

The company deployed oil booms spread over an area spanning 8,605 meters to mitigate the oil spill.

Related news: Karawang's salt farmers suffer losses from Pertamina's oil spill



Translator: M Ali Khumaini, Sri Haryati
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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