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The oil stains that have appeared on the beaches of northeastern Brazil since early September arrived on Thursday in Todos los Santos Bay, in the state of Bahia, the largest in the country and the second largest in the country. in the world. The Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) confirmed the contamination of the beaches of Jaburu, Tairu and Cacha Pregos (in the municipality of Vera Cruz, Itaparica island), all the coral and fishermen and seafood from local communities work.
This new pollution zone in Bahia is the new face of the environmental crisis affecting the region, whose origin is still uncertain. The Brazilian government claims to have evidence that the oil originated in Venezuela, but the circumstances of the disaster still need to be clarified. Admiral Alexandre Rabello de Faria, Chief of Staff of the Naval Operations Command, reported on Thursday at a public hearing before the Senate Environment Committee that investigations had not yet advanced on the reasons discharge of the product into the vessel. the sea up to here, he said, the only "certainty is that the crude's DNA is Venezuelan". However, Faria stressed that we can not say how or who spilled it. The admiral thinks it's a criminal act, such as a "lost ball" that has reached the Brazilian coast.
Faria explained that the researchers were considering at least four hypotheses about the cause of the leak, including an accident in transferring oil from one ship to another – which, he said, would hardly happen on the high seas – and the sinking of a ship. tanker, a possibility which is also considered from a distance. The investigation also relies on the hypothesis of an accidental spill of the ship due to a broken hull and an intentional spill.
On Friday the 12th, IBAMA had already launched an emergency plan in the event of environmental disasters, created in 2015, which provides for actions of both the government and companies operating in the region, such as Petrobras and terminal managers port. The Brazilian Navy has been monitoring the area since the weekend to prevent the substance from reaching areas with more sensitive ecosystems, as the bay is full of mangroves, breeding grounds for marine species. On Thursday morning, thick and viscous oil remains appeared in the Farol da Barra region, one of the main tourist sites of the capital, Bahia, and on the beaches of Ondina, at the edge of the Entrance to Toussaint Bay. . In total, 11 coastal areas of Salvador were affected and Limpurb, a city cleaning company, said that Thursday morning, 26 tons of oil had been eliminated from the beaches of that city.
Pedra do Sal is another affected beach that woke up with sand, pebbles and corals covered with liquid black oil. Rodrigo Alves, Director of IBAMA, explained Thursday at a press conference that such a substance is "different from those found so far" in other parts from the coast and that it will be the subject of a laboratory analysis.
Bahia was the last state in northeastern Brazil to record the presence of oil stains. The substance arrived in this region on 3 October and reached nine cities (Vera Cruz, Lauro de Freitas, Camaçari, Mata de São João, Entre Rios, Esplanada, Conde and Jandaíra). In the municipality of Esplanada, crude oil reached the rivers Inhambupe and Subaúma.
The first remnants of oil began arriving in the capital on October 10, but in small quantities – before Thursday, only 37 kilos had been removed from the coast of Salvador.
It took weeks before national news spread on the sturdy and huge oil stains appearing on more than 160 beaches in an area ranging from the state of Maranhão to Bahia. In Sergipe, the most affected state, the installation of oil protection barriers did not work: the sea moved the structures forward. Federal prosecutors and the state of Bahia filed Tuesday, October 15 a complaint against the government and the IBAMA for environmental risks related to the oil spill on the northeast coast.
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