Federal Prosecution Office calls out ineffectiveness of government on oil crisis

On a live streaming on Facebook on the 18th, president Bolsonaro raised  the possibility that the oil spill affecting the  Northeast may have been done on purpose, aiming to jeopardize the mega oil auction scheduled to happen in November. Sitting with the Minister of Defense, Bolsonaro said: “Coincidence or not, we have an upcoming auction (…).  I ask myself, and we have to be  responsible when we  speak up: could it have been a criminal action to affect this auction? The question is  up in the air“. He once again affirmed that the origin of the oil is Venezuela.  

On the same day, the Federal Prosecution Office filed an action asking Justice to oblige the Federal Government to activate the National Contingency Plan for Oil Pollution Incidents within 24 hours. The urgent request aimed at increasing the efforts to combat the oil spill affecting the Northeast, as MPF considered the government “omissive, inert, ineffective and inefficient ” with regards to the incident. One of the reasonable explanations for the delays and limitations of the government’s response might be in the fact that, earlier in April, president Bolsonaro extinguished, via the presidential decree that deleted several social councils and expert chambers, two technical committees responsible for implementing the National Contingency Plan for Oil Pollution Incidents.

By mid-October, a  IBAMA report showed that 178 beaches in 72 different  cities in all 9 Northeast states had been affected by the crude oil patches. They also reported about finding 29 marine animals with oil, of which 15 turtles and 2  seabirds. The oil spill was classified as the largest  environmental accident in the country in terms of extension, with 2,100 km of oil patches from Bahia to Maranhão.