Environmental disaster in Maceió completes five years – 02/03/2023 – Daily life

“How much is the story of a lifetime worth?” The question in black ink is stamped on the white wall of a house that was condemned amid cracks and sinking that spread across five neighborhoods and reached around 60,000 people in Maceió.

The biggest ongoing urban environmental disaster in the country completes five years this Friday (3) with an impact on an area equivalent to 20% of the capital of Alagoas without a definitive solution on the horizon.

The first warnings about damage to the ground came through earthquakes on March 3, 2018. The earthquake caused stretches of asphalt to sag and caused cracks in the floors and walls of properties, reaching around 14,500 homes, apartments and commercial establishments in the Pinheiro, Mutange, Bebedouro, Bom Parto and Farol districts.

After 14 months of studies, the Geological Survey of Brazil, a federal government agency, concluded that mining activities by the company Braskem in a geological fault area caused the sinking.

Braskem had 35 rock salt extraction wells in Maceió, a material used to produce PVC and caustic soda. Ore exploration began in 1979 and continued until May 2019, when it was suspended one day after the publication of the report by the Geological Survey.

Mining activity left a trail of geological and environmental impacts that are still ongoing —new tremors and sinkings in the future are not ruled out.

“The environmental impacts, as well as the social ones, are inexpressible. There is still no stability in the phenomenon, which means that the damage has not ceased”, assesses the Federal Public Ministry, in a note sent to Sheet.

This is one of the reasons why the socio-environmental agreement signed with Braskem does not provide for fixed values ​​in relation to the mitigation, repair and compensation of environmental damage, which are still being calculated.

There are also impacts from the sinking in the Mundaú lagoon, an estuary located in the affected region and which has great economic and cultural importance with the work of shellfish gatherers in the collection of sururu.

In the opinion of the general coordinator of Maceió’s Civil Defense, Abelardo Nobre, the geological phenomenon resulting from Braskem’s mining activity was the result of a succession of errors.

“It was a mistake to do this type of mining inside the urban area without a more effective monitoring network. It was a glaring mistake by the competent authorities”, he says.

Four mines are being filled in by Braskem and there are plans to stabilize another five. According to the Civil Defense, there was a slowdown in the geological movement, but part of the cavities still show an upward movement, which could generate new sinkings.

The affected neighborhoods were emptied after the first tremors and, little by little, they gained the appearance of a ghost town.

Resident of the Bebedouro neighborhood, one of those affected by the sinking, civil servant Maurício Sarmento, 45, saw most of his neighbors leave their homes — he has stayed in the same property where he has lived since he was a child.

“It was a neighborhood where everyone knew each other. There was Mr. Alonso’s shop, there was Rogildo’s restaurant, there was even the Tobias Barreto football team, which was named after our street. We lost all of that”, regrets Maurício, who is a member of the Unified Movement of Braskem Victims.

An agreement signed in January 2020 between the company and the task force formed by the Federal and State Public Ministries and State and Union Defenders determined the compensation of the owners of 14,500 homes.

Braskem’s Unified Movement of Victims alleges a lack of speed in payments and says that, in many cases, the amount of compensation was not fair and that there was a devaluation of real estate.

Braskem, in turn, informed that around 99% of the residents of the vacant areas defined by the Civil Defense have already been relocated. And he says, by the end of January, 16,005 compensations had been paid to residents, which is equivalent to 83% of the agreed total.

In addition to the residents of the five affected neighborhoods, people living in the surrounding neighborhoods were also affected with difficulty in accessing public services and the exodus of traders. Several of them have left their properties, but are unable to sell them due to the devaluation.

According to calculations by Braskem’s Unified Movement of Victims, there are around 4,000 families living in areas surrounding the five neighborhoods affected, with emphasis on the Flexal region.

“There is no longer a healthy coexistence of people in these areas. They have become isolated socially and economically. There are no more schools, churches and health centers, urban mobility has been affected”, says Maurício Sarmento, from the Unified Movement of Victims at Braskem.

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 Municipality of Maceió is negotiating with the mining company an agreement to compensate for the damage caused by the mining activity and says it does not rule out a lawsuit.

Any resources collected with compensation will be allocated to the city hall, which will be able to use them to improve the conditions of the affected localities and other areas of the municipality.

The agreement with the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office 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.

So far, a value of R$ 1.28 billion has been set for social and urban reparation measures.

In a statement, Braskem says it has adopted measures to ensure people’s safety, seek solutions to the effects of the geological phenomenon and think about the future of unoccupied areas and surroundings.

On the environmental front, the mining company informed that it hired a specialized company that suggested an action plan delivered to the authorities after carrying out the diagnostic and listening phases of the community.

Regarding soil stabilization and monitoring, Braskem says it has installed seismographs and high-precision equipment to detect land movements in the region. Finally, he pointed out, he is executing structural works in Maceió with an expected investment of R$ 360 million.