The oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil has again denied that quarry operations used in its LNG gas project in Papua New Guinea played a role in a massive landslide which killed 27 people.
A PNG disaster committee report found that the landslide on January 24th, 2012 in Tumbi, Hela Province, was caused by heavy rainfall.
However the magazine The Nation last week revisited claims by people linked to the project that the quarry was unsafe and that the project's managers did not take heed of warnings about this.
The landslide disrupted the LNG Project by taking out the main road link in the area.
However while a road was swiftly built on top of the huge debris field, bodies were never recovered and a full independent inquiry never conducted into the disaster.
In a response to the latest claims, Exxon says the project's limited quarry operations were conducted in a safe and prudent manner and consistent with governmental approval.
