Petrobras shale plant faces environmental lawsuit

Rio de Janeiro—There are strong indications that emissions from a Petrobras bituminous shale plant in Southern Brazil have affected the health of the local population, said a scientist behind a study into the plant’s environmental impacts.

“It is probable that there is a relation between the emissions of the plant and the health of the population,” said Professor Helvio Rech, a doctor in sciences and professor at the Federal University of Pampa, in a telephone interview with Platts on February 7.

Rech produced one of two reports for state prosecutors looking into emissions at the SIX plant Petrobras owns in Sao Mateus do Sul in Parana state and their impact on local health.

Prosecutors in Sao Mateus do Sul said February 6 they had launched a civil action to require Petrobras to pay indemnity for damages to the environment and public health, and have asked for the plant to be closed.

Petrobras said on February 6 that it had not yet been cited in the action and that it operated within legal parameters.

Petrobras produces 7,800 barrels of oil a day from the SIX plant in Sao Mateus do Sul, along with gas, naphtha and sulfur. Situated in the Irati Formation, which Petrobras says is one of the world’s largest shale reserves, the plant has been in production since 1991, and uses the company’s own Petrosix technology to extract oil and gas from shale from a nearby open-cast mine.

“The result of this work shows fully that the activities of SIX affect the health of the population of Sao Mateus do Sul,” Dr. Rech’s report, finalized in 2010, said. Researchers found silicon, iron and sulfur, all found in shale, in above-average quantities in the bark of trees near the plant. Health impacts were mainly on older residents, the report said.

In a related report from 2009 by Angelica Ferreira, which formed part of her doctorate at the Faculty of Medicine at University of Sao Paulo, high incidences of respiratory illnesses were found in residents over the age of 38 in

the same areas where ‘hot spots’ of silicon, iron and sulfur were found, in tree bark. Rech’s report also cited respiratory illness problems.

“It is concluded that individuals with an age superior to 38 years are the most affected by pollution in Sao Mateus do Sul, doubling the frequency of cases of respiratory illnesses,” Ferreira’s report concluded. In one of four   sample areas, 87% of patients at local health clinics presented respiratory problems, her report said.

Professor Paulo Saldiva, titular professor at the Pathology Department, at the University of Sao Paulo’s Faculty of Medicine, coordinated the reports at the request of prosecutors.

He said more research needs to be done.

“The wind passes first by the industrial plant and then the city, and there is a part of the city has a great influence from the emissions,”

Professor Saldiva said in a telephone interview with Platts on February 7. “Apparently in the regions that are more in front of the plant, there is a bigger incidence of respiratory illnesses, particularly amongst the

aged.”— Dom Phillips.

Volume 91 / Number 28 / Friday, February 8, 2013 - Oilgram News PLATTS