Owner of Ilha das Cobras claims that works in Santos harmed him

The owner of Ilha das Cobras, in Cubatão (SP), claims that he was marred by works done in the Port of Santos, on the coast of São Paulo, during a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) session that investigated possible environmental and heritage damages caused by underwater pits installed in the region.

The Underwater Caves CPI (Cavas Subaquáticas) investigates irregularities in environmental licenses and leaks of toxic materials into the ocean that occurred amidst the installation of underwater pits in Largo do Casqueiro, near the Port of Santos. The commission’s work began at the end of September last year with a deadline of 180 days to disclose its findings.

The economist and owner of Ilha das Cobras, Sergio Amaral Santos, testified virtually to the CPI on the 17th after the invitation. On occasion, he stated that he filed a lawsuit against VLI Logística, the Vale company responsible for implementing and managing the pit, as he believes the work directly harmed him.

Ilha das Cobras has belonged to Sergio’s family since 1974, when they purchased it through a lease upon payment of an annual fee – and has not been used since then.

Sérgio claims that he intended to sell the development and showed the Island to a real estate broker; however, no buyer was interested in the sale, except for one corporation, which quickly lost interest owing to the pit’s installation.

During the testimony, he stated to be recruiting specialists to estimate potential property losses, but he was not authorized to provide further details on the topic.

When asked about his intentions and what grounds the case, Sérgio indicated that the Island had enough space to dock two to three ships in front of it before the pit, and now, as a result of the pit’s construction, the area was reduced by half of its original size.

Corporate Response

VLI sent a note to g1, positioning itself on the subject; see it below:

“VLI highlights that the method chosen for dredging the channel, to improve its navigability, was defined, inspected, and approved by specialists and the responsible environmental authority, as already demonstrated. The entire project, as well as the choice of its location, was established based on technical criteria observed in the licensing. It is worth mentioning that the project has been completed since 2020.

Regarding the aforementioned judicial process, the company does not comment on the action in progress”.

Underwater pit

An underwater pit is an open crater built underwater for dumping sediment, garbage, and contaminated materials. The pit made in the estuary between Santos and Cubatão is larger than the Maracanã Stadium, with dimensions of 400 meters in diameter by 25 meters in-depth, and is filled with about 2.4 billion liters of sediment.

In Casqueiro, a district of Cubatão, the pit was opened and excavated under Usiminas and VLI, Vale’s logistics company, in 2017, for dumping material removed during the dredging (de-silting of the bottom of channels) of the Piaçaguera Channel.

However, before the 1970s, there were no laws to prohibit highly contaminated heavy metals garbage from cycling in the region, which perpetuated the concentration of these sediments at the estuary’s bottom during the 1960s and 1970s.

The Piaçaguera Channel was opened to allow the transit of vessels that brought raw material to Companhia Siderrgica Paulista (Cosipa), for example, and returned to the shore with finished material as a result of industrial activities that happened further away from the coast.

Source: G1

To read the full original article, please see:

https://g1.globo.com/sp/santos-regiao/porto-mar/noticia/2022/02/18/proprietario-da-ilha-das-cobras-alega-que-foi-prejudicado-por-obra-no-porto-de-santos.ghtml

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