Oil slicks reach 675 spots across 116 Brazilian cities

At least 675 locations on the Brazilian coastline have been affected by the spilled oil of unknown origin, which has spread across the coast of the country’s Northeast and the state of Espírito Santo since the end of August.

The areas affected by the pollutant are reported to have spread across 116 municipalities in ten states: nine in the Northeast (Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Maranhão, Paraíba, Pernambuco, Piauí, Rio Grande do Norte, and Sergipe) and one in the Southeast (Espírito Santo), as per the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, Ibama.

Navy agents, technicians from Ibama and the Chico Mendes Institute of Biodiversity Conservation (ICMBio), in addition to city and state officials and volunteers, inspected 143 areas in the last hours. Of these, Ibama classified 64 as clean and free from fragments of oil. In 70 areas, the agents still found slicks and scattered signs of contamination.

Since August 30, roughly 4,500 tons of contaminated waste has been collected from beaches, swamps, rocks, and other habitats, Ibama reported. In addition to oil, the materials collected include sand and canvas.