Bahia Decrees State of Emergency for Oil Spills on Coast

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The governor of the state of Bahia, João Leão, signed yesterday, October 14th, three documents intended to help the state contain the oil slick that is rapidly spreading along the coast of the Northeast Region.

Among them, is the declaration of a state of emergency in the municipalities affected by the environmental disaster. The decree allows contingency funds to be used to contain the oil.

João Leão also signed an agreement to receive aid from civil society and a letter requesting support from the Federal Government.

“The decree is intended to help us solve the problem. It deals with the involvement of the State and municipalities in this process so that we can be eligible to receive federal funds. The second document is about the cooperation of NGO groups in Brazil, who have volunteered 5,000 people. The third calls for the support of Petrobras, which is the one who understands the issue,” explained the governor.

According to the Bahia State Environment Secretariat, 35 tons of oil have already been removed from the coast. The collection of contaminated material is performed by a task force comprising firefighters, civil defense and municipal employees.

“We are intensifying our work, particularly in regions where access is difficult because in the urban areas the city governments have been working together with the state government.”

“We have put to the cities the option not only of an environmental emergency decree but also equipment and materials that allow the evacuation”, said the general commander of the Fire Department, Colonel Francisco Telles.

The government of Bahia also issued a warning to the population not to come into direct contact with the oil and not touch or remove contaminated waste.

The presence of oil slicks on Brazil’s northeastern coast was detected in late August. The first location where the contamination was reported, according to IBAMA’s report, was in Praia Bela, in Pitimbu (PB), where the oil sludge was sighted on August 30th.

From then on, the dark and sticky substance spread throughout the nine northeastern states (Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe).

The Federal Police (PF), the Navy and environmental agencies in Brazil are now trying to shed light on how the material reached Brazilian territorial waters and polluted stretches of the northeastern coast.

According to Environment Minister Ricardo Salles, among the scenarios are a potential accidental spill from an unidentified vessel; a criminal spill of the material for unknown reasons; or the possible cleaning of a ship’s hold.

Attending a public hearing in the Chamber of Deputies last week, the president of Petrobras, Roberto Castello Branco, said that laboratory tests confirmed that the substance did not come from the production of the state-owned oil company.

Source: Agência Brasil