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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. is urging Newmont Mining Corporation shareholders to vote for a New York City Pension Funds’ proposal calling for a review of environmental and public health damage resulting from its mining operations in Indonesia.

“Newmont Mining has been the subject of numerous reports alleging callous disregard for the public health of Indonesian citizens, as well as the cause of environmental damage to the country itself,” Thompson said. “Given the number of negative reports and allegations lodged against Newmont Mining, at the very least, it owes its shareholders a review of potential environmental and public health risks due to its operations.”

Newmont Mining Corporation is holding its annual shareholder meeting today in Wilmington, DE.

In August 2004, the Indonesian government accused Newmont Mining of Denver, CO, of illegally disposing of toxic waste containing arsenic and mercury into the waters off Sulawesi. In September 2004, The New York Times collaborated those accusations with its reports that Newmont Mining employed waste disposal in Indonesia, which had effectively been banned in the United States.

In August 2005, the Indonesian government filed criminal charges against Newmont Mining on the grounds that its Sulawesi operations violated Indonesia’s toxic dumping laws and that the marine environment adjacent to those operations was contaminated with unnatural levels of arsenic and mercury that posed significant health risks to the local residents. Newmont Mining has just been acquitted of those criminal charges.

Newmont Mining also has faced a number of lawsuits brought forth by citizens who allege that their health has been negatively impacted due to its operations.

In light of these reports, the Funds’ proposal calls for a review of Newmont Mining’s mining and waste disposal operations in Indonesia and a report on the potential environmental and public health damage that may result from those operations.

The proposal was submitted on behalf of the New York City Employees’ Retirement System (NYCERS), Teachers’ Retirement System for the City of New York (TRS), New York City Police Pension Fund, New York City Fire Department Pension Fund and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System (BERS). The Funds currently hold 1,394,641 shares in Newmont Mining, which are valued at $62,214,935.

The trustees for the Pension Funds are:

NYCERS: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Borough Presidents Scott Stringer (Manhattan), Helen Marshall (Queens), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn), Adolfo Carrion (Bronx), and James Molinaro (Staten Island); Lillian Roberts, Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME; Roger Toussaint, President Transport Workers Union Local 100; and, Gregory Floyd, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.

TRS: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, New York City Department of Education; and, Sandra March, Melvyn Aaronson and Mona Romain, all of the United Federation of Teachers.

Fire Department Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta (Chair); New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; Stephen Cassidy, President, James Slevin, Vice President, Robert Straub, Treasurer, and John Kelly, Brooklyn Representative and Chair, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York; Peter Gorman, President and Captains’ Rep., Nicholas J. Visconti, Chiefs’ Rep., and Stephen J. Carbone, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Joseph Gagliardi, Marine Engineers Association.

Police Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (Chair); Patrick Lynch, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; Michael Palladino, Detectives Endowment Association; Edwin Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Anthony Garvey, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, John Driscoll, Captains Endowment Association.

BERS: Mayoral appointees Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein, Alan D. Aviles, Philip A. Berry, David C. Chang, Tino Hernandez, Edison O. Jackson, Richard L. Menschel and Marita Regan; Borough President appointees Luis Peguero (Bronx), Martine G. Guerrier (Brooklyn), Vivian Farmery (Manhattan), Michael Flowers (Queens), and Joan Correale (Staten Island); and employee members Thomas J. Malanga of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 891, and Milagros Rodriguez of District Council 37, Local 372.

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