Posted by 
Significant attention prior to the Rio 2016 Olympics was brought upon the pollution in Guanabara Bay, the venue for sailing along with, swimming, canoeing, and rowing.
Guanabara Bay’s contamination was well known before Rio de Janeiro was awarded the Olympics in 2009, but the local Brazilian government “promised” to clean up 80 percent of the waste and pollution before the games. That never happened.
Once again, the country has gained troubling attention as it sank a decommissioned aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean off its northeast coast despite warnings from environmentalists that the rusting 1960s French-built ship would pollute the sea and the marine food chain.
According to Reuters, the 32,000-tonne carrier had been floating offshore for three months since Turkey refused it entry to be scrapped there because it was an environmental hazard and the ship was towed back to Brazil.
The carrier was scuttled in a “planned and controlled sinking” late on February 3, the Navy said in a statement, that would “avoid logistical, operational, environmental and economic losses to the Brazilian state.”
The hull of the Sao Paulo was sunk in Brazilian jurisdictional waters 217 miles off the coast where the sea is 5,000 meters deep, a location chosen to mitigate the impact on fishing and ecosystems, the Navy said.
Federal public prosecutors and Greenpeace had asked the Brazilian government to stop the sinking, saying it was “toxic” due to dangerous materials, including 9 tons of asbestos used in paneling.
“The sinking of the aircraft carrier Sao Paulo throws tons of asbestos, mercury, lead and other highly toxic substances into the seabed,” Greenpeace said in a statement. It accused Brazil’s Navy of neglecting the protection of the oceans…
Follow Us!