PF targets Braskem and investigates irregularities in the extraction of rock salt in Maceió

This Thursday morning (21), the Federal Police executed 14 search and seizure warrants against the petrochemical company Braskem for alleged irregularities in the extraction of rock salt in Maceió (AL), which led to the sinking of the ground in several neighborhoods and the collapse from one of the mines, just over a week ago.

According to the corporation, Operation Lágrima de Sal seeks to “strengthen the existing body of evidence and elucidate points relating to the investigation of crimes committed over the years of rock salt exploration in the city of Maceió”. The warrants issued by the Alagoas Court are enforced in the capital and in the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Aracaju (SE).

A People’s Gazette, Braskem informed that it is monitoring the operation and that “it is available to the authorities, as it has always done. All information will be provided throughout the process.” The company’s headquarters are approximately 8.5 kilometers away from the mine region, where one of them ruptured on the 10th (see below).

“Indications were found that the mining activities carried out at the site did not follow the safety parameters set out in the scientific literature and in the respective mining plans, which aimed to guarantee the stability of the mines and the safety of the population residing on the surface”, said the PF in note.

The corporation states that signs of presentation of false data and omission of relevant information to the public bodies responsible for supervising the activity were identified, “thus allowing work to continue, even when there are already stability problems in the salt cavities and signs of subsidence of the soil above the mines.”

In Maceió alone, there are 11 orders being carried out at the company’s headquarters against an industrial director, three managers and technicians who also had their telematic secrecy broken, according to what was found by the GloboNews. The PF did not confirm the information.

Several bags with documents were seized by the police until mid-morning. Braskem workers in Maceió were prevented from entering the company at the beginning of their shift this Thursday (21).

In Rio de Janeiro, two warrants were executed and one person was arrested and taken to the corporation’s headquarters along with documents seized from his home. A warrant was also served in Aracaju (SE). In total, 60 federal police officers carry out the warrants issued by the Court.

Braskem’s headquarters in Maceió is approximately 8.5 kilometers away from the region of 35 rock salt mines in the Mundaú lagoon. It is there that number 18 ruptured on the 10th, creating a crater approximately 60 meters in diameter that swallowed the water and caused a salinization impact:

Rock salt exploration in the capital of Alagoas was carried out between 1976 and 2019 and, he says, led to “severe instability in the soil” in neighborhoods such as Pinheiro, Mutange, Bebedouro and surrounding areas. “Making the area uninhabitable, given the risks of houses and streets collapsing and businesses closing, leading to more than 60,000 people having to leave the neighborhoods.”

According to the PF, those under investigation may be liable for crimes of qualified pollution, usurpation of Union resources, presentation of false or misleading environmental studies, including for omission, among other crimes.

The PF justified the name of the operation “Lágrimas de Sal” in reference to the suffering caused to the population by the rock salt exploration activity, which forced people to leave their homes due to the risk arising from soil instability in the affected neighborhoods.

More information in a moment.