Thyssen Krupp is Responsible for Environmental Destruction in Brazil

The facilities of German corporation Thyssen Krupp have led to the environmental destruction of Sepetiba bay in Brazil, causing serious impacts on craft fishery as a result of the spill on mirror-still water.

Craft fishermen associations of Sepetiba Bay, to the west of Rio do Janeiro, Brazil, are accusing the industrial siderurgical and port conglomerate Compañía Siderurgica Atlantico (CSA) made up by the privatized corporation compañía Vale do Rio Doce (CVRD) and German company Thyssen Krupp Steel (TKS).

This group of corporations is planning to build a mega siderurgical plant -and a port terminal- where 4.8 million tons of steel in plate will be manufactured every year to export mainly to Europe and North America.

The installation of this consortium implies the bay's environmental destruction, as well as the dismantling of a vast area of mangroves, even though they are considered Permanent Protection Areas by the Brazilian law.

However, the most concerning aspect of the craft fishermen's accusation is the spill on the bay's mirror-still water of mud polluted with heavy metals, coming from dredgings with high impacts that are forming islands of sediment in the mouth of rivers that flow into the bay. Also, they report the obstructing of rivers and canals with iron plates, which prevent fishing in places that have been used by craft fishermen for over 200 years.

These incidents have affected several fundamental rights in the communities living by the bay. Not only to their right to work, but also the right to free circulation, since the obstructions prevent the residents of the area from coming and going through the mirror-still water.

Even worse, according to the plaintiffs, Brazilian politicians have turned a deaf ear to the demands of the fishermen and environmental organizations, arguing that this project is Brazil's largest private investment and it will therefore imply the creation of jobs. What is more: the project has many tax exemptions, which makes the business even more profitable for the corporations.

The case filed before the PPT implies a reflection on the exclusive and polluting economic model adopted in Brazil and in other countries of the South whose basic economic scheme is blackmail: the creation of jobs is conditioned to economic growth without limitations, both in terms of social and environmental damages.

Key issues: Infrastructure for exploitation

Denouncing organizations: Instituto de Politicas Alternativas para o Cone Sul – PACS, Associações de Pescadores Artesanais da Baía de Sepetiba, Fórum de Meio Ambiente e de Qualidade de Vida do Povo Trabalhador da Zona Oeste e da Baía de Sepetiba (Brasil).