Brazil’s Federal Public Defender Sues Braskem Over Abandoned Maceió Salt Mines
BRAZIL · ECONOMY
Key Facts
- —What happened: The federal public defender sued Braskem on 27 August 2026 over R$5 billion (US$971 million) in mineral losses.
- —How big the loss is: The suit says 29.4 million tonnes of rock salt, 52 percent of the deposit, were left underground.
- —The real story: The case rests on a 2024 Senate inquiry that accused Braskem of predatory mining outside approved plans.
- —The catch: The suit also targets the federal government itself, accused of failing to protect its mineral patrimony.
- —Who else it touches: About 60,000 people left five Maceió neighborhoods, and 15,000 properties were emptied.
- —What comes next: The defender wants any payment to fund urban recovery under social control, not the federal treasury.
Brazil’s federal public defender’s office has sued Braskem for at least R$5 billion (US$971 million) over the salt deposits abandoned beneath Maceió. The unusual part is the second defendant: the federal government itself.
What the federal defender is asking for
The Defensoria Pública da União, Brazil’s federal public defender’s office, filed the public civil action on Thursday 27 August 2026. It went to the Federal Court in Alagoas, the state whose capital is Maceió.
The suit asks the court to condemn Braskem for the loss of the Maceió salt mines. It values the damage to federal mineral patrimony at no less than R$5 billion (US$971 million).
The figure comes from Braskem’s own mine closure plan of September 2019. Shutting the mines early abandoned 29.4 million tonnes of rock-salt reserves.
That volume is 52 percent of the deposit’s potential. Under Brazilian law, mineral resources in the subsoil belong to the federal government.
The action is signed by federal public defender Diego Bruno Alves. Braskem did not respond to requests for comment from Brazilian media.
Predatory mining, in the Senate’s words
The legal base of the suit is a 2024 Senate parliamentary inquiry into the disaster. That inquiry accused Braskem of what Portuguese calls “lavra ambiciosa”, or ambitious extraction.
The term means mining outside the plan approved by public authorities. It also covers extraction that destroys the future economic use of a deposit.
The suit says Braskem shrank the safety distances between its extraction wells. It also interconnected underground cavities, which destabilised the ground.
A second accusation is concealment. The company allegedly withheld technical information and sent selective risk reports to federal and state inspectors.
Braskem drilled 37 wells under Maceió from the early 1970s onward. Mining ran uninterrupted until May 2019, when sinking streets were officially linked to it.
The salt fed the company’s PVC factory, which opened in 1976 under the name Salgema. Rock salt is the raw material for caustic soda and PVC plastic.
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Why the federal government is also a defendant
The second target of the suit is the União, Brazil’s federal government. The defender says it failed to protect its own mineral patrimony.
Despite the Senate inquiry’s conclusions, no lawsuit or administrative charge was ever filed over the mineral damage. The suit calls that an unlawful omission.
Two federal bodies are cited by name. The National Mining Agency declared it has no competence to judge extraction done over the past five decades.
The Attorney General’s Office opened an internal information-gathering procedure. It never moved beyond the preparatory phase and set no timetable for collection.
The defender asks the court to declare the omission and order action. The government would have to investigate, constitute and collect the credit owed for the lost reserves.
The federal defender has worked on the case since 2018. It opened an administrative procedure on the government’s own responsibility and gave legal aid to victims.
Where the money would go
The suit makes an unusual request about any future payment. The money should not go to the federal treasury.
Instead, the defender wants a collective reparatory fund under social participation and control. It would finance urban recomposition and support the affected communities first.
The filing warns of a concrete risk that the money would follow a purely revenue-collecting logic. That, it says, could irreversibly destroy the practical purpose of the case.
The suit names communities such as Flexal de Baixo, Flexal de Cima and Quebradas, home to about 2,700 families. They border the exclusion zone and lost health posts, schools, public transport, security and local commerce.
It also records that insurers now refuse to issue housing policies nearby. Financing for properties outside the official risk area has dried up as well.
The disaster behind the case
The Maceió salt mines sit under five city neighborhoods, including Pinheiro, Mutange and Bebedouro. Cracks appeared in 2018, and the ground kept sinking.
The exclusion zone forced out about 60,000 residents and business owners. Some 15,000 properties were emptied, and most have been demolished.
In November 2023 the city declared a state of emergency over an imminent mine collapse. Once stabilised, the area is meant to become an agroforestry zone and a park.
The criminal front is moving too. Braskem and 13 people, including directors and public servants, are already defendants in the Federal Court.
Other civil claims are running in parallel. In July 2025 the Alagoas state public defender filed a separate R$4 billion (US$776 million) action over devalued homes.
Studies commissioned by the Alagoas government in 2023 put total losses at R$20 billion to R$30 billion. That is US$3.88 billion to US$5.82 billion at today’s rate.
The Maceió salt mines stopped producing in May 2019. Seven years later, their full cost is still being counted in court.
Why the timing matters
The lawsuit landed at a delicate moment for Braskem. The company filed for extrajudicial recovery on 24 August, seeking to renegotiate US$10.9 billion of debt.
Hours before the suit became public, Braskem’s stock had jumped almost 21 percent. Investors were cheering an enlarged Petrobras credit line, not the legal front.
The company already carries R$15.6 billion (US$3.03 billion) of provisions for the Maceió disaster. A new R$5 billion (US$971 million) claim would sit on top of that.
How a fresh public civil action interacts with the recovery is now an open legal question. Creditors and victims will be watching the same court dockets.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is Brazil’s federal public defender suing Braskem?
The Defensoria Pública da União says Braskem’s early closure of its Maceió salt mines abandoned 29.4 million tonnes of rock-salt reserves, 52 percent of the deposit. It values the loss to federal mineral patrimony at at least R$5 billion (US$971 million).
Why is the Brazilian federal government also a defendant?
The defender argues the government failed to charge Braskem for the mineral damage despite a 2024 Senate inquiry. It wants the court to declare that omission and order the government to collect the credit.
Where would the money go if Braskem loses?
The suit asks that any payment go to a collective reparatory fund under social control, not the federal treasury. The fund would prioritise urban recomposition and support for the communities affected by the Maceió disaster.
Connected Coverage
We covered the market side of the same day in Brazil’s Braskem shares jump 20% on enlarged Petrobras credit line. The debt filing is in Brazil’s Braskem files for extrajudicial recovery on US$10.9 billion debt.
Earlier chapters include Federal Police indict 20 over the Maceió ground-sinking disaster.
Sources: UOL column by Carlos Madeiro with the full text of the DPU action, 27 August 2026; Reuters via UOL Economia; Migalhas on the parallel Alagoas state defender action.
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