Owners of a giant bauxite processing plant in Brazil have admitted untreated water leaked into the Pará River, contaminating local drinking supplies. It's feared the discharge may have caused people in the region to become ill.
Norwegian energy company Norsk Hydro has apologized for the unauthorized drainage from parts of its Alunorte refinery, which sits in a forested outpost between the Pará River and the cities of Barcarena and Belém. However, the company says there is currently no evidence of dangerous bauxite residue spilling into the 40 mile (64km) river.
The company has published
information online explaining how torrential downpours in Para State in February led to the discovery of unauthorized
discharges of water - one from the roof of a coal storage shed and other releases of surface water that mixed with caustic soda and entered the Canal Velho channel. The Evandro Chagas Instituto (ECI), a non-profit health organization in Brazil investigating the incident, has also reported traces of
aluminum in water outside the refinery.
Images taken in February and distributed by the ECI show red-hued floodwater surrounding parts of the refinery, something which Norsk Hydro has put down to large parts of Barcarena not being asphalted and water mixing with soil.
Comment: With its newly elected government Austria has been one of the few countries openly defying the diktats coming out of Brussels, although all over Europe we're seeing a rise in support for parties opposed to the undemocratic EU project.
- Japan gives up on total indoor smoking ban despite coercion ahead of Olympic games in 2020
- Smoking may return to Prague's pubs
- We Used Terrible Science to Justify Smoking Bans
- Rise in prison violence after smoking ban in Wales prison
Also check out SOTT radio's: