28/11/2015
The turbidity plume now covers an area of 26.7 sq km in the region of the mouth of the Doce River in Linhares, Espírito Santo. Of these, 25 km are to the north along the coast, 6.9 km to the east (directly into the ocean) and 4.7 km to the south (mouth of the river). This was the finding of the aerial inspection carried out on Friday, November 27th, by a company specialized in aerial surveys and georeferencing, engaged by Samarco. Currently, the plume has reached Linhares, Espírito Santo, and, according to the monitoring coordinator of the Institute of Environment and Water Resources of Bahia, Eduardo Topazio, the possibility is extremely remote that this plume would reach the south shoreline of Bahia, especially the beaches of Itacaré and Alcobaça and the archipelago of Abrolhos, as posted on the institution’s site.
The spread of the plume depends on the behavior of the waves and the direction of the wind, which is why its entire extent is being monitored daily by means of computational modeling, a tool which is fed by field data related to the meteorological conditions and the behavior of the sea. This modeling simulates the potential effect of the particles reaching the sea and the potential reach of the plume. Sea currents, the flow rate of the plume, the percentage of solids and the turbidity are also being monitored. In addition, water samples from both the sediment and the biota (all animal and plant life in the region) are being collected and submitted to analysis.
The monitoring work has received support from the Brazilian Navy, which took its research vessel Vital de Oliveira to the mouth of the Doce River, in Linhares. Its researchers will help with the physical, chemical, biological and geological characterization of the region. All of the work recently done by Samarco was presented, on 25 November, at a workshop on coping with the environmental impacts of the mining tailings spill into the Doce River system. Promoted by the State Institute for Environment and Water Resources, IEMA, the event, held at the offices of the port authorities of Espírito Santo, brought together representatives from IEMA, IBAMA, Environmental Police of Espírito Santo, Projeto Tamar, fire department, Federal University of Espírito Santo and Samarco, with the objective of evaluating the impacts of the event on the environment and proposing medium and long term actions for the rehabilitation of the fauna and flora of the region.
