Government will propose measures against Braskem for mine collapse in Maceió

Petrochemical company Braskem is expected to be the target of more reparatory measures from the federal government due to the collapse of part of mine 18 in Maceió, capital of Alagoas, almost a week ago. The company has already had a request from the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) and the Federal Public Defender’s Office (DPU) to block R$1 billion in resources.

Representatives of the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) and other federal and state public bodies met this week to discuss what other measures can be taken to seek social, environmental and economic reparations resulting from the sinking of soil in neighborhoods of the city due to extraction of rock salt.

Actions were also discussed to minimize the impacts caused to affected families and for their relocation.

Junior Fideles, deputy attorney general of the Union, stated that “possible measures to be adopted” were discussed, and that he will now validate them with Minister Jorge Messias so that we can then “build a joint action plan”. These measures were not disclosed by the AGU and a new meeting must be scheduled to present them.

In addition to the AGU, Minister Alexandre Silveira (Mines and Energy) had also commented that the government would apply measures against Braskem, but without mentioning what they would be. The collapse of the mining company’s mine is considered a sensitive issue in the government, as Petrobras holds 47% of the controlling interest and, depending on the actions, could harm the oil company, which is considered the most important Brazilian state-owned company.

The issue is so sensitive to the government that President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) himself had to enter the field to mediate the conflict between the most influential Alagoas politicians in Congress: the president of the Chamber, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), and Senator Renan Calheiros (MDB-AL), who proposed the opening of Braskem’s CPI – which worries the government because it knows how a commission starts, but is unable to control its progress and outcome.

The CPI was also officially installed on Thursday (14) and will be chaired by Senator Omar Aziz (PSD-AM) and will have Senator Jorge Kajuru (PSB-GO) as vice-president.

A People’s GazetteBraskem informed that it “continues to dialogue with the authorities and develop actions focused on people’s safety and the implementation of broad measures to mitigate, compensate or repair impacts arising from the vacancy of affected properties.”

In another recent note, the company stated that it had disbursed more than R$9 billion in actions taken in Alagoas, including compensation and socio-environmental measures. Around 40 thousand people from more than 14 thousand properties were relocated in four years under the Financial Compensation Program.