City hall shuts down Port of Itaguaí for environmental crimes

On April 16, Itaguaí City Hall shut down the Port of Itaguaí indefinitely with back up from military police officers. According to the municipality, CSN Tecar and Sepetiba Tecon, terminals which operate on the site, have committed at least eight environmental crimes. Environmental agents have declared that pollution originating in port operations is significantly damaging marine life.

CSN Tecar exports coal on behalf of CSN, while Sepetiba Tecon exports and imports thousands of commodities via containers. In addition to the ban, the local environment agency also imposed a fine of R$2.3 million to repair soil, water, and air pollution in Itaguaí. According to the City Hall, fishermen from Sepetiba Bay have complained that the pollution is affecting fish.

An analysis by Datamar’s market intelligence team shows that port activity (see below) in 2021 so far has been greater than during 2020.

Container activity in February 2021 fell considerably compared to the same month in 2020.

Sepetiba Tecon Exports and Imports per month | Jan 2020 to Feb 2021| in TEU

Non-container cargo throughput at the port is heavily directed to iron ore exports compared to the relatively few imports. And 2021 volumes grew compared to the same period in 2020.

Itaguai non-container Exports and Imports per month | Jan 2020 to Feb 2021 | in Tons

According to the Environmental Agency, iron ore is being released indirectly into Sepetiba Bay from the wastewater treatment station without adequate monitoring.

In other sections, findings include “soil with aqueous ore residue;  the illegal disposal of pollutants; pipes blocked with aqueous ore residue; and improper storage of chemical products”. The agents also found oil leaking from drums.

Shayene Figueiredo Barreto, an environmental agent highlighted the harm that soil and water pollution cause to human health and nature. She stressed that the temporary ban is not intended to harm economic development:

“We have to make port operations sustainable. We cannot allow them to continue operating like this.  It is a temporary ban. We are providing all the measures that must be taken so that the port can adapt itself to the environment and resume operations in compliance with the legislation.

The municipal government claims to have the power to close down the port, based on Municipal Law 3,296 / 2021. In Article 7, the law decrees “the exercise of police power over activities that cause pollution and environmental impact and the imposition of administrative sanctions established by Law, regardless of whether the license was granted to the enterprise or activity by state or federal environmental agencies.”

When asked to comment, CSN claimed to hold “all environmental licenses in the Port of Itaguaí, which attests that its performance is in full compliance with the law” and that it will take legal measures. According to the company, which denies the accusations, there was no iron ore leakage or spills into the sea. Finally, the company also replied that “it is not acceptable for a city hall to shut down a federal customs port that is licensed by the state environmental agency and is responsible for a large part of the Brazilian trade balance, without it even being allowed to defend itself and provide information.”

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