Hydro Alunorte is the world's largest alumina refinery and it is located in Bacarena, close to Belém, State of Pará. In 1984, the first industry established in the area was a project with Japanese capital called Albras-Alunorte, which now belongs to Brazilian-headquartered private corporation Vale. According to Aguiar, Cardoso and Vecchione [1], "The project was part of the global process of relocating polluting and energy-intensive industries to the South. More specifically, it was part of Japan’s decision –in the context of the 1970s oil crisis– to outsource the production of aluminum needed to feed its post-War industrial boom. The Brazilian military regime embraced the opportunity to host aluminum processing in the Amazon, signing up to huge debts denominated in Japanese yen. It then took on the task of building the energy infrastructure needed for the industry to flourish. The Tucuruí megadam, built in the late 1970s in the Tocantins River, was inaugurated in 1984 and resulted in social and environmental disasters of great proportions. Since then, Tucuruí megadam has been providing energy to the aluminum industry at subsidized rates." The authors continue: "The process of turning Barcarena into an industrial center started during the time of the military dictatorship but continued unabated in the era of post-democratization government planning. It turned the area into an important vector of several trade corridors with hydroways and pipelines transporting kaolin and bauxite. In recent years, continued extractivism and little aggregate value processing of its produce has become part of the economic policy of ensuring continuous trade surplus through the export of commodities." [1] |
Norsk Hydro’s Alunorte refinery in Barcarena accused by local authorities of contaminating the waters of communities with toxic waste overflowing from a holding basin.
| Name of conflict: | Hydro Alunorte alumina refinery in Barcarena, Pará, Brazil. |
| Country: | Brazil |
| State or province: | Pará |
| Location of conflict: | Barcarena |
| Accuracy of location | HIGH (Local level) |
| Type of conflict. 1st level: | Industrial and Utilities conflicts |
| Type of conflict. 2nd level: | Landfills, toxic waste treatment, uncontrolled dump sites Tailings from mines Metal refineries Mineral processing |
| Specific commodities: | Aluminum/Bauxite Water Land Calcined alumina (intermediate stage between bauxite and aluminum) |
| Project details | - Hydro Alunorte is the world's largest alumina refinery |
| Type of population | Semi-urban |
| Start of the conflict: | 1995 |
| Company names or state enterprises: | Norsk Hydro from Norway Alumínio Brasileiro S.A. from Brazil Vale (Vale) from Brazil |
| Relevant government actors: | IBAMA (Brazil’s environmental agency); Federal Public Ministry (MPF); Secretaria Estadual de Meio Ambiente e Sustentabilidade (SEMAS);Ministry of Health; |
| International and Finance Institutions | Norges Bank from Norway |
| Environmental justice organizations (and other supporters) and their websites, if available: | Ejos: Amazon Association of Mixed Race; Associação dos Caboclos, indígenas e Quilombolas da Amazônia (CAINQUIAMA); Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB); Supporters: Evandro Chagas Institute of Brazil’s Ministry of Health; Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA); Comissão de Direitos Humanos da Assembleia Legislativa do Pará; |
| Intensity | HIGH (widespread, mass mobilization, violence, arrests, etc...) |
| Reaction stage | In REACTION to the implementation (during construction or operation) |
| Groups mobilizing: | Indigenous groups or traditional communities Local ejos Neighbours/citizens/communities Social movements Ethnically/racially discriminated groups Local scientists/professionals National EJOS |
| Forms of mobilization: | Involvement of national and international NGOs Lawsuits, court cases, judicial activism Media based activism/alternative media Objections to the EIA Official complaint letters and petitions Public campaigns |
| Environmental Impacts | Visible: Air pollution, Biodiversity loss (wildlife, agro-diversity), Loss of landscape/aesthetic degradation, Soil contamination, Deforestation and loss of vegetation cover, Surface water pollution / Decreasing water (physico-chemical, biological) quality, Groundwater pollution or depletion, Mine tailing spills, Waste overflow Potential: Food insecurity (crop damage) |
| Health Impacts | Visible: Accidents, Exposure to unknown or uncertain complex risks (radiation, etc…), Occupational disease and accidents, Other environmental related diseases |
| Other Health impacts | Visible: Skin problems in children due to the exposition to contaminated water; "According to studies made of the soil, the leaked material had high concentration of iron, aluminum, zinc and cadmium—these accumulate in the body and may cause degenerative diseases, hepatic dysfunctions, immunological deficiencies, and dementia."[1] |
| Socio-economical Impacts | Visible: Loss of livelihood, Violations of human rights, Loss of landscape/sense of place, Increase in violence and crime |
| Project Status | In operation |
| Conflict outcome / response: | Criminalization of activists Deaths, Assassinations, Murders Court decision (victory for environmental justice) Repression Violent targeting of activists Application of existing regulations Project temporarily suspended |
| Do you consider this an environmental justice success? Was environmental justice served?: | Yes |
| Briefly explain: | On April 2018, the federal court ordered the partial suspension of mining activities in Barcarena. |
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| Related media links to videos, campaigns, social network |
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| Contributor: | ENVJustice Project |
| Last update | 18/08/2019 |
| Conflict ID: | 2952 |