Court orders Braskem to compensate Alagoas for sinking – 10/11/2023 – Daily life

Judge José Cavalcanti Manso Neto, from the Alagoas Court, ordered Braskem to compensate the state for damages caused by the sinking of five neighborhoods in Maceió. The sinking occurred as a result of rock salt mining activities.

Started in March 2018, the largest urban environmental disaster underway in the country completed five years with an impact on an area equivalent to 20% of the territory of the capital of Alagoas.

The decision handed down this Tuesday (10) responds to a request from the Government of Alagoas and defines that the values ​​will still be calculated in an expert opinion.

The magistrate of the 16th Civil Court of Maceió overturned the blockage of R$1.1 billion in Braskem’s accounts after the petrochemical company presented guarantees that it would comply with an eventual sentence. The blockade had previously been authorized by preliminary decision.

The sentence determines that Braskem compensates the state of Alagoas “for real estate and public works carried out, even in properties that are not owned by the state of Alagoas, located in neighborhoods affected by subsidence and with forced evacuation of the population, as for all existing public facilities in the same area, as well as payment for lost tax revenue”.

“The amounts will be determined by an expert opinion in settlement of the sentence, taking into account the responsibility of the state of Alagoas in indicating the affected assets to be compensated and Braskem’s responsibility for paying for the expert opinions to be carried out”, wrote judge José Cavalcanti Manso Neto.

Around 15 thousand properties were affected and had to be vacated by 60 thousand people after the ground subsided. The case happened in March 2018. Five neighborhoods in the capital of Alagoas were impacted: Pinheiro, Mutange, Bebedouro, Bom Parto and Farol.

Studies by the Brazilian Geological Survey, a federal government agency, concluded that Braskem’s mining activities in a geological fault area caused the subsidence. The company had 35 wells in Maceió to extract rock salt, a material used to produce PVC and caustic soda.

The Government of Alagoas, author of the lawsuit, claimed that the problem also “substantially affected the economic and urban dynamics of the capital of Alagoas”. The state administration further argued that, “in parallel with the necessary evacuation of entire neighborhoods, several public facilities – schools, hospitals, public agency headquarters – were rendered unusable.”

“There was also the loss of countless other public assets, such as squares, streets and avenues, or their destruction due to the phenomenon,” said the Alagoas government.

The state argues that there was also damage to public works that were rendered unusable as a result of the sinking. This would have caused losses of R$11.6 million, in addition to R$3.1 million spent on expropriation of properties to enable the construction of an avenue.

Braskem defended that the Alagoas Government’s request be judged by the Federal Court, claiming that actions on mining rights are federal in nature.

The company also stated that it does not refuse to compensate affected parties, including the state government.

The judge in the case rebutted the company’s claim. “It is not acceptable for a private company to decide to compensate individuals and legal entities, in addition to public entities, in the amount of billions of dollars, if it were not responsible for the subsidence of the soil in Maceió.”

The governor of Alagoas, Paulo Dantas (MDB), said he is awaiting judicial expertise in relation to the amounts to be paid by Braskem. “This decision by the Court strengthens the fight we are waging to repair the damage caused to the State, the municipalities and, mainly, the victims. The tragedy caused by Braskem mining accumulates losses to the State in the order of R$ 35 billion, according to our study, but let’s wait for the judicial expertise.”

In a relevant fact disclosed to the financial market, Braskem said that it “learned about the decision through the media.” The petrochemical company claimed that it was not notified, “but will evaluate and take the relevant measures within the applicable legal deadlines”.

In January 2020, the company signed an agreement with a task force, formed by the Federal and State Public Ministries and State and Union Public Defender’s Offices, which determined compensation for the owners of 14,500 homes.

In October last year, MPF and Braskem signed a specific agreement for the Flexal region to reverse the socioeconomic isolation of residents with the construction of a new school, health center, road improvements and compensation for families.

The agreement with the Federal Public Ministry provides that Braskem will work to stabilize and monitor the geological phenomenon, repair environmental damage resulting from mining and compensate for social, moral and urban damage. To date, a value of R$1.28 billion has been defined for social and urban repair measures.