Derramamento de óleo no litoral do Nordeste: uma análise sobre a resposta ao desastre pelo Poder Público

Abstract

The exploration, production and transport of oil and its derivatives increase worldwide, which puts the environment and communities at risk of disasters resulting from oil spills, threatening ecosystems, especially coastal and marine ecosystems and, consequently, fishing communities that depend on the quality of these environments. In 2019, there was the largest spill of crude oil that consumed the Brazilian coast. Oil stains of unknown origin known on the coast of the state of Paraíba, reaching in the following months, to varying degrees, the entire northeastern coast, in addition to the coasts of the states of Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro, totaling 11 states, 130 municipalities, 1009 locations until March 2020. The Government's response to the oil spill that occurred in 2019 was a source of criticism regarding the delay in adopting measures to contain oil and mitigate its socio-environmental damage, requiring the intense action of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF) in the filing of claims to demand the action of the State. Official communication was identified as confusing, superficial and lacking in transparency, with an impact on the scale of the problem and the necessary response actions. Thus, the general objective of the research was to analyze the performance of the Public Power in the oil spill disaster on the Brazilian coast, considering the official communication of the Brazilian Navy (MB), Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) and National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP) and the civil actions proposed by the MPF in Sergipe. The specific objectives were to analyze the official communication related to the oil spill that occurred in 2019, on official MB, IBAMA and ANP websites, based on requirements set forth in the Access to Information Law (Law No. Contingency for Oil Pollution Incidents in Waters under National Jurisdiction (PNC); identify the omissions pointed out by the MPF in the 03 public civil actions proposed in Sergipe on the performance of the Public Power and analyze the results of the proposed actions. Document analysis was used through content analysis. he results of this research provide an understanding of the performance of the public power in the 2019 oil spill, showing, on the one hand, that the official communication that was not transparent and incomplete, changed the scale of the problem and made it difficult to adopt measures to deal with it, being strategically used to cover up the omission of the Public Power. On the other hand, the Actions for Public Civil Prosecution (ACP) as legal instrument of collective protection proved to be a limited means to overcome the state's omission. These findings contribute to the development of more effective public policies and crisis management strategies, aimed at protecting the environment and the well-being of affected communities, highlighting the importance of efficient and coordinated government response in situations of environmental crisis, with the need to adopt communication strategies that provide more effective government action, reflect the real gravity of the problem, in addition to revealing the need to adopt extrajudicial solutions for conflict resolution in the context of disasters that allow for a multifaceted and faster approach to the demands of large and disastrous proportions.