untitled design

Senate Committee approves text with criticisms and suggestions about oil on the coast

The Senate committee created to monitor the actions against oil slicks on the Brazilian coast and their consequences approved, this Friday (4), a report that criticizes the initial response of the federal government in relation to the 2019 environmental disaster.

The opinion of more than 100 pages presented by Senator Jean Paul Prates (PT-RN) also brings a series of suggestions for measures to be adopted by the federal government.

Three years ago, oil slicks polluted beaches in the Northeast, which became known as one of the biggest environmental disasters recorded in Brazil. According to Ibama, more than 5,000 tons of oil were removed by the agency by February 2020.

It is estimated that around R$ 188 million were spent by the government to clean the beaches and the ocean. In December 2021, the Federal Police investigation pointed to an oil tanker of Greek origin as being responsible for the oil spill.

“Reports of sightings of small amounts of oil persist in different locations along our coastline, now in a more spaced-out fashion, indicating that the consequences of the spill will be felt for a long time to come,” Prates wrote in the report.

His conclusion is that the “sequence of the tragic events discussed here – from the origin, through the governmental response, to the consummation of the social, environmental and economic damages resulting from the oil spill on the Brazilian coast – cannot be considered by chance, but it is potentiated by the combination of political and social options such as models of unsustainable development, environmental management crisis, institutional unpreparedness, particularly for the prevention of expanded social and technical events and discriminatory policies with vulnerable populations”.

For the senator, there were “weaknesses, mistakes, lack of management and integration”, in addition to “the inability of a prompt, effective and articulated response, especially on the part of the federal government, to deal with the spill”. He considered that the regulatory framework and the rules relating to the incident are sufficient and adequate, although there is room for improvement.

According to Prates, the official communication about the episode was “confused, disoriented and, therefore, ineffective, with the dissemination of false, alarming or even mitigating news of the real situation”.

“There was also no installation of a health crisis office, telephone and social media provision for reliable information in real time for the population, nor communication about the bathing conditions of beaches, fish consumption, preventive measures, guidelines for the treatment of acute intoxications and follow-up. doctor for chronic cases. Financial resources were also not provided for the network of specialized laboratories in order to assess the quality of the fish and guarantee the food safety of the consumption of fish and shellfish”, he added, for example.

Prates also wrote that, “in the face of the situation of despair in the affected areas and the slow and disjointed response of the public authorities”, fishermen and shellfish gatherers tried to defend their territories as volunteers, entering the sea, beaches and mangroves even without protective equipment.

He highlighted that the majority of the affected population is vulnerable and composed of Afro-descendants, especially artisanal fishermen. Therefore, he said there is still an “institutional, sanitary and environmental racism that has been characterized in the weaknesses of public policies in the country”.

Throughout the report, Prates enumerated a series of criticisms and suggestions. At this Friday’s meeting, he said that “we continue without any measures to mobilize forces and meetings of entities so that this does not happen again.” In his view, the “lack of conditions” and the “precariousness of reaction” will be the same in a possible new case of the appearance of oil slicks on the coast.

See the main suggestions for measures to be adopted by the federal government that are included in the approved report:

  • expand surveillance along the Brazilian coast;
  • monitor the health of the affected population;
  • financially assist artisanal fishermen and shellfish gatherers impacted by the oil spill who have not yet received the cash assistance associated with the 2019 disaster;
  • implement a continuous preventive remote sensing system to monitor the Brazilian coast capable of detecting the origin of incidents, including through international cooperation and based on the conclusions of a technical group;
  • implement, articulate and promote a network of laboratories prepared to offer quick and accurate action to identify the origin of oil from spills or accidents, in synergy with other research groups, in order to assist in environmental assessment actions;
  • encourage the training of researchers and technicians to work in events related to the determination of contaminants associated with the oil industry;
  • encourage and support training and improvement actions for personnel to participate in events related to anthropic impacts related to oil, including procedures for collecting, handling, packaging and transporting samples;
  • study the possibility of creating a national ocean research institute, in charge of prospecting and articulating actions and responses aimed at the ocean, the coastal zone, reefs, estuaries, mangroves, including impacts on fauna and flora and, mainly, on the socioeconomic environment , in the short, medium and long term;
  • subsidize the Brazilian Navy so that it can more effectively exercise its role of guarding continental waters;
  • strengthen the bodies of the National Environment System, encouraging the exchange of information and valuing technical areas; and invest in training and training its technical staff;
  • optimize access and exchange of information, especially between research institutions and government agencies;
  • invest in regional and international cooperation agreements for the coordination and integration of human resources and the sharing of information, training and technologies;
  • promote Brazil’s adherence to the new regime of international protocols (CLC 1992 and Fundo 1992), to increase the possibilities of compensation in oil spill accidents;
  • promote a study, together with the Ministry of Defense, on the need to improve international maritime legislation, in order to establish the obligation for ships to share, with coastal States, information when in transit through their Exclusive Economic Zone or within its area of ​​responsibility.

The Ministry of the Environment was approached by the CNN to comment on the matter, but has not yet commented.

Source: CNN Brasil

You may also like

Get the latest

Stay Informed: Get the Latest Updates and Insights

 

Most popular