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This Wednesday (10/15), in the Federal District. The decision was taken after the body’s own technical opinion highlighted a series of environmental unfeasibility of the project.
Among the main points of conflict is the direct and irreversible impact on Escola Classe Guariroba, a public institution that serves around 560 students in vulnerable situations.
According to Ibama’s Environmental Licensing Board (Dilic), the demolition or removal of the school would represent “serious pedagogical, social and cultural harm”, going against the public interest and the right to education.
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According to information, the educational institution underwent a previous provisional removal, in 2016, which resulted in a drop in academic performance, an increase in dropouts and student failure. As a result, Ibama concluded that the private benefit does not outweigh the collective harm.
Another alternative, of keeping the school on site at the same time as the plant, was also discarded. For the agency, it would be unfeasible to expose minors to significant health and safety risks, such as the emission of atmospheric pollutants, noise, vibrations and the proximity of the gas pipeline.
Legal controversies
In addition to the public school, Ibama declared that for a large project such as the one presented by Termo Norte Energia Ltda. a gas pipeline would be needed. During the investigation, the agency’s teams identified that the company’s gas pipeline Installation License has expired since 2019.
“We consider the fact that the thermoelectric project in question would not be viable without the gas pipeline”, informed the Licensing Board.
A third obstacle involving the installation of the thermoelectric plant is in court. On June 10, the Federal District Court of Justice (TJDFT) ordered the suspension of the authorization that allowed the plant to capture water from the Melchior River.
According to the preliminary decision, if the plant used water from the river, it would return it “at a high temperature”: “Which would obviously affect the fauna that eventually still survives with difficulty in the poorly treated watercourse and its surroundings”.
The decision overturned the grants granted, in April, by the Water, Energy and Basic Sanitation Regulatory Agency of the Federal District (Adasa) to the Brasília Thermoelectric Plant to capture and return water from the Melchior River.
The suspension of a public hearing, in June, due to intense protests from the population, who shouted “Out Thermoelectric” and asked for the defense of the Guariroba School and the Melchior River, was also considered by Ibama when rejecting the preliminary license for installing the plant.
According to the institute, the objective of the hearing was to present, resolve doubts and collect criticisms or suggestions regarding the Environmental Impact Report (Rima).
Environmental Risk and Sustainability
The document that determined the rejection was signed by the president of Ibama, Rodrigo Agostinho, and highlighted that there are “aspects considered to be both environmental and locational unfeasible” for the implementation of the plant.
In the technical opinion, the Ibama board mentioned factors such as pressure on the Melchior river. According to Dilic, the parameters of the river, classified as a class 4 watercourse, would not be compatible with new polluting loads.
Furthermore, according to the institute, a Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventory was requested with the aim of providing subsidies for monitoring and evaluating possibilities for removal and reduction of impacts on the environment.
According to the agency, the operation of the Brasília Thermoelectric Power Plant is estimated to generate annual emissions of 412 MtCO₂e – Million tons of CO₂ equivalent. This emission corresponds to approximately 1.15% of the national global inventory and raises questions about compliance with the Federal District’s Carbon Neutral Plan.
The thermoelectric
The plant that generates energy based on methane gas would be built in Samambaia, even covering a strip of Recanto das Emas.
The area of influence, however, would be even larger. Experts say that the harm from the project could reach the DF during periods of drought. This is because it is a plant based on polluting energy, which affects air quality, especially during drought.
There are still doubts regarding the real impacts of the thermoelectric plant. The company’s information alone presents contrasts. To release the license, Ambientare prepared the Environmental Impact Report (RIMA) and the Environmental Impact Study (EIA).
Rima is a summary of the EIA, highlighting some aspects of the study. It is the report that is available for the population to consult and clarify their main doubts. The EIA, however, is a more robust material, designed for a technical team to evaluate the data provided to release licenses.
Regarding the effects, it is noteworthy that while Rima points out that “air quality will be little impacted when the plant is in full operation”, the more complete study, in turn, says the opposite: “In the operational phase, the reduction in air quality will result from the burning of natural gas, which has the potential to expel contaminants into the atmosphere”.
The document continues to describe the local prognosis following the implementation of the thermoelectric plant.
“With regard to factors that affect elements of the physical environment, the installation of the plant results in a significant increase in environmental pressure factors, with a notable impact on air quality, due to emissions of atmospheric pollutants by industries. In addition, increases in noise pollution levels are observed.”
Since the beginning of this year, the Metropolises has denounced the risks of implementing the thermoelectric plant. For months, the reporter went to the place where the structure would be built to hear from residents of the region and other Brasilia residents who would suffer the impacts of the creation of the plant.
