The Ministry of Ports and Airports (MPOR) accepted a joint recommendation and decided to annul or revoke the provision that qualified the MAC10 terminal, at the Port of Jaragu\u00e1 in Macei\u00f3, for the handling and storage of liquid bulk cargo, especially sulfuric acid.<\/p>\n
The decision responds to a request from the Federal Public Defender\u2019s Office (DPU), the Federal Prosecutor\u2019s Office (MPF), and the Alagoas State Prosecutor\u2019s Office (MP\/AL), which warned of serious environmental risks, risks to the population, potential for tourism, and fishing activity.<\/p>\n
Understand the case<\/strong><\/p>\n In 2020, the French multinational Timac obtained a license to build a liquid bulk storage terminal through an auction held by the National Waterway Transportation Agency (Antaq). The project aimed to receive and store sulfuric acid to supply the company\u2019s fertilizer plant located in Santa Luzia do Norte, in the interior of Alagoas.<\/p>\n The terminal would be built on an area of almost 8,000 square meters in the port, located between the main urban beaches of the capital.<\/p>\n The Risk:<\/strong> Sulfuric acid is a highly reactive and dangerous substance. In contact with sewage, rivers, and lagoons, it can generate hydrogen sulfide (toxic), and when diluted with water and reacting with metals, hydrogen gas (flammable).<\/p>\n After strong public pressure, the initial environmental authorization to store sulfuric acid at the location was revoked. In May 2024, the DPU, MPF, and MP\/AL submitted a joint recommendation. The agencies questioned the lack of a proper environmental impact assessment before qualifying the terminal, since Antaq\u2019s Technical, Economic, and Environmental Feasibility Study (EVTEA) did not assess the risks of the project.<\/p>\n Change in the Contract:<\/strong> Currently, Antaq has acknowledged the possibility of transferring ownership of Timac\u2019s leasing contract to Tecal Terminal de Combust\u00edveis de Alagoas. The transfer process was authorized and is currently under review by MPOR\u2019s legal department. The request submitted by Timac and Tecal proposes removing the specific reference to \u201csulfuric acid\u201d from the contract, keeping only the cargo profile as liquid bulk.<\/p>\n Source: G1<\/a><\/p>\n