Ipatinga (MG) suffers from ‘black dust’ from Usiminas – 12/14/2023 – Environment

“Our hearts hurt when we go to visit our grandmas, and they ask us to call Usiminas and ask them to cut down on the dust.” This is how Maria das Graças Ribeiro, 72, a retired civil servant, summarizes the reports she hears when doing voluntary work in the area of ​​social assistance in the Bela Vista neighborhood, in Ipatinga, eastern region of Minas Gerais.

The city’s neighborhood in Vale do Aço is the same one he has lived in for 45 years. The complaints of the “grandmas” she talks to during her journey as a volunteer are also her own.

The complaint is made by residents of at least four neighborhoods surrounding Usiminas, one of the main steel mills in Minas Gerais, opened in Ipatinga 67 years ago.

The company states that it has been following all the commitments made with the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais and the community of Ipatinga to reduce emissions of sedimentable particles.

The material that residents refer to — and the company calls settleable particles — is better known in the city as “black dust”. It leaves the steel mill during the steel production process. Residents of nearby neighborhoods associate emissions with lung cancer, allergies and rhinitis.

Maria das Graças’ husband died of lung cancer. There are also complaints about the impossibility of keeping houses open and excessive cleaning costs.

After 45 years, in the case of Maria da Graças, as she reports, there is still a feeling that nothing will change. The vice-president of the Residents Association of the Iguaçu neighborhood, Adílson Marcelino da Cunha, 56, also thinks so.

“People no longer believe that it will get better. There is a feeling of ‘throwing in the towel'”, he says.

The residents’ statements, given to prosecutor Rafael Pureza, appear in an action filed by the MP-MG (Public Ministry of Minas Gerais) against Usiminas in March this year with a request for payment of compensation for almost seven decades of pollutants being released into the air. Ipatinga.

The Public Ministry’s action is not part of negotiations between the Public Prosecutor’s Office and Usiminas to reduce pollution, which are carried out simultaneously.

In September 2023, within the action, the Justice in Minas Gerais ordered the blocking of R$ 346 million from Usiminas, a position that was reversed after the company’s appeal.

In the negotiations to reduce pollution in the city, according to prosecutor Rafael Pureza, it was agreed to hire, with the process already started, an independent consultancy to show the relationship between the so-called “black dust” and diseases.

“The impact on quality of life and well-being has already been proven. Health is a state of complete physical and mental well-being. ‘Black powder’ alters people’s well-being, both physical and mental, and even the way in which people interact socially”, says the prosecutor.

Photos attached to the Public Ministry’s action show, for example, dirty hands and feet of residents and a shovel full of dust removed after sweeping the house.

Maria Inês da Silva Oliveira, 56, widow, property manager, has lived in the Cariru neighborhood for 15 years. She claims that when she moved there, the problem wasn’t like it is now.

“It is possible to slip on the dust that accumulates in the garage,” he says. “Once I came back from a walk and, when I entered the house, there was so much dust that I started crying,” she says. “The community has a feeling of anger, sadness and disappointment.”

The property management company states that the community is afraid and insecure because of the possible correlation of dust with health problems.

Professor Maristania de Sousa Resende Soares, 63, resident of the Cariru neighborhood since 1981, in her statement to the Public Prosecutor’s Office, says that her children’s allergic problems only disappeared after they both moved. “People live to clean up ‘black dust,’” she says.

Ipatinga City Hall did not respond to the report’s question about the effects of “black powder” specifically on the population’s health.

In a statement, he said that he works to reduce the impacts caused by the activities carried out by the company Usiminas, especially with regard to atmospheric pollution.

“This has been done through urban planning actions, with an emphasis on afforestation and preservation of green areas”, he says.

“The Executive has carried out extensive tree planting in urban areas, creating green belts. These belts play a fundamental role in absorbing gaseous pollutants and filtering particulate matter by trees”, the city hall also states.

Also in a note, Usiminas, in addition to saying that it fulfills commitments made with the Public Ministry, installed a monitoring center and an automatic network for monitoring particles released into the atmosphere.

Usiminas also cites financial contributions made in the city. “In 2023 alone, the company is investing R$500 million in projects to improve environmental performance,” says the steel company.