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Brazil suspends operations of Nortox’s Mato Grosso plant
Jun. 2, 2017
Nortox S.A.
BrazilFollow
BrazilJudge Milene Aparecida Pereira Beltramini of the Court of Justice in the state of Mato Grosso has accepted an injunction request from the state prosecutor to determine the closing of a manufacturing plant of the company Nortox, installed in Rondonópolis (210km from Cuiabá), until the study on its environmental impact report is presented. In the meantime, the environmental licenses that were granted to the company have been nulled. In the case that the decisions are not enforced, there will be a daily fine of R$ 5,000.
A part of the decision highlighted that Nortox produced pesticides with chemical products that were highly harmful to human health and the environment, having as active elements alachlor, atrazine, chlorimuron, imazaquin, imazethapyr, trifluralin and endosulfan. Therefore, the judicial measure seeks to protect the quality of life of the population, allied to the fact that the damages caused to the environmental are often irreversible.
The judge determined that the elaborate studies by Nortox should include a term of reference with studies and suggestions for prevention measures for industrial activities within a deadline of 60 days. According to the prosecutor, the company operating in the agrochemical sector in the industrial district of the city since 2004 and until the moment, had not presented an environmental impact report, besides working in an improper location.
Despite being in an area of low population density, Prosecutor Marcelo Caetano Vacchiano explained that the direction of the wind was from south to north, where the population density was high, and so, there were risks of spread of poison and intoxication of people.
“The Public Ministry combats strongly the fact of it not requiring the environmental impact report to produce agrochemicals in Rondonópolis under the argument that it is not an activity that is potentially a cause of significant environmental impact,” the prosecutor stressed.
Nortox said that “all of its activities are regulated and follow strictly the standards set by the legislation, not only to guarantee quality and efficiency, but also to assure environmental safety and of the products and its collaborators. The facilities of Nortox have all the environmental licenses issued by the municipality and the state. Besides these, the unit is regulated and licensed under the Brazilian Institute of Natural Environmental and Renewable Resources (Ibama).”
The company stated that it was “exempted from producing the environmental impact study and accidents risk by regulating agencies,” and the branch in Rondonópolis “did not engage in any activity of synthesis of raw material of agrochemical, not generating, therefore, any industrial residue. This branch was supporting its headquarters for the storage of terminated products. It meant that the activity of Nortox in Rondonópolis never generated chemical residue, including gaseous waste which harmful to health or the environment.”
Source: AgroNews
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