Environmental disaster looms in Brazil due to salt mine collapse
According to the civil defense authorities, the lives of the people in Maceió are not in danger. On Wednesday, when a state of emergency was declared in the city due to the threat, thousands of families from the area surrounding the salt mine were moved to safety. The first relocations had already begun in 2019 when the risk of collapse became known. The endangered districts, in which around 55,000 people lived in more than 14,000 buildings, have now been evacuated.
A large part of the salt mine lies below sea level. A collapse of the plant would cause considerable environmental damage. The civil defense authority compared the situation to a full sink from which the drain plug is suddenly removed. A huge amount of salt would be released from the mine into the sea in one fell swoop, damaging the local ecosystem.
The civil defense announced on Friday that the salt mine had subsided by 11.4 centimeters in the past 24 hours. Since November 21, it has already sunk 1.43 meters.
The mine extracts rock salt, which is used to produce caustic potash and PVC. It is one of 35 plants operated by Braskem in Maceió. The majority owner of Braskem is Novonor, which was known as Odebrecht before a huge bribery scandal.
With regard to the impending collapse of the mine in Maceió, Braskem assured on its website that the company would "take all possible measures to minimize the impact". Accordingly, two scenarios are currently possible: a "gradual" lowering of the mine or an "abrupt" lowering of the mine limit.
At the beginning of 2019, the retention basin of an iron ore mine in the town of Brumadinho in south-eastern Brazil burst, causing a toxic mudslide to engulf the town. At least 270 people died at the time and the incident also caused an environmental disaster in the region.
Lesen Sie auch:
- The environmental disaster from the salt mine collapse in Maceió threatens to cause significant damage to the local ecosystem, similar to the environmental disaster caused by the Brumadinho iron ore mine collapse in southeastern Brazil in 2019.
- Through the subsidence of the salt mine in the past 24 hours and since November 21, there is a growing concern that the situation may lead to an abrupt lowering of the mine limit, which could further exacerbate the environmental threat.
- The US news channel CNN has been reporting extensively on the crisis, highlighting the potential for a catastrophic environmental disaster in the Northeast region of Brazil.
- According to reports, environmental groups are warning that if the situation is not addressed promptly, the collapse of the salt mine could lead to a major environmental disaster, causing significant damage to the marine life and the local ecosystem.
- Despite Braskem's assurance to take all possible measures to minimize the impact, the threat of a major environmental disaster remains a concern for the people of Maceió and for environmental activists worldwide, watching the events unfold via CNN and other international news channels.
Source: www.stern.de
