Under criticism from environmentalists, Navy sinks aircraft carrier with asbestos and other toxic substances

The Navy sank the aircraft carrier São Paulo this Friday afternoon (3), which had been sailing for months after being banned from docking in Brazil and abroad.

Ibama – Brazilian Environmental Agency had released, just this Friday, a statement in which it declared that it had asked the Navy for information in order to evaluate alternatives for the protection of the environment in view of the decision to sink the vessel. Some of the environmental impacts predicted by IBAMA for the area where the aircraft carrier was sunk include: disturbances in the filtering capacity and difficulty in the growth of aquatic organisms, release of CFCs and HCFCs gases (which degrade the ozone layer and contribute to global warming ), in addition to attracting invasive species and deteriorating the local marine ecosystem.

According to the Brazilian Public Prosecution Office MPF, the vessel’s scrap contains 9.6 tons of asbestos, a substance that has toxic and carcinogenic potential. The 266-meter hull also contains 644 tons of paints and other hazardous materials.

The aircraft carrier was described by the French NGO Robin des Bois as a “30,000 ton toxic package”. The non-governmental environmental organizations Greenpeace, Sea Shepherd and Basel Action Network shared the opinion that the submergence will cause “incalculable damage”, with “impacts on marine life and coastal communities”, the NGOs said in a joint statement.

In the opinion of the Director of Programs at Greenpeace Brazil, Leandro Ramos, Brazil has failed to comply with at least three international treaties to which the country is a signatory. “If Brazil is taking seriously the task of assuming the leading role in issues related to the environment, this was an excellent opportunity to show that beyond words”, he commented.

Marina Silva tried to prevent this operation, according to Poder 360. However, Lula would have arbitrated in favor of Minister of Defense José Múcio, against the Minister of the Environment.