The Dutch court decided this week that it will proceed with the case against Norsk Hydro group, which is headquartered in Norway. The complaints are related to environmental and social damages against the population of the Barcarena region, in Pará.

The lawsuit seeks compensation for about 11,000 families affected by the production of the aluminum chain operated by Hydro in the state. Having passed the jurisdiction analysis stage, the Rotterdam District Court, in the Netherlands, will now judge the merit of the lawsuit. Among the communities affected by the company's operation are traditional populations of the Amazon, such as riverines, indigenous and quilombolas communities.

The victims are represented by Ismael Moraes Advocacia, the Dutch law firm Lemstra van der Korst and the global advocacy group Pogust Goodhead.

The lawyer Ismael Moraes, who represents the Association of Caboclos, Indigenous and Quilombolas of the Amazon (Cainquiama), celebrated the progress of the process. He believes that the "decision of the Dutch Court to accept a case brought by Cainquiama brings hope that there will be an impartial and fair decision, without interference from the Brazilian State, and that it will bring a dignified reparation for these communities.

The complaint against Hydro is based on the episodes that occurred in 2018, when there was, according to the lawsuit, "incorrect disposal of toxic tailings in the Murucupi River." But, the lawsuit also highlights "other effects of the presence of Norsk Hydro's facilities in the region."

For Ismael, in the merits phase environmental crimes and human rights violations will be proven. "We believe that we can bring the necessary evidence to the conclusion of the process so that the Dutch justice can decide and bring a new milestone in the appreciation of violations regarding human rights and the environment in the Amazon," says Ismael. During the new phase, the defense of the families will focus on "seeking to establish the responsibility of the defendants for the environmental disasters in and around the site where the industrial activity occurred. It is a step towards justice for the affected people who have spent years trying to be heard.

Complaint shows that rivers and communities were contaminated by Hydro

The contamination of areas close to Hydro Alunorte company had a great repercussion in early 2018. At the time, complaints were made that Hydro's bauxite residue deposits in Barcarena had overflowed during a period of heavy rains in the region, causing a toxic bauxite sludge to be spread to rivers and streams in the region, such as the Murucupi River, flooding villages of residents of Barcarena and Abaetetuba with the waters contaminated with bauxite residue, which has a reddish color.

The spill would include, in addition to bauxite, chemical substances used in the process of refining bauxite into alumina, an operation that is carried out by Hydro Alunorte. The alumina serves as raw material for the production of aluminum, also carried out by Hydro, through the joint venture Albras, which has participation of the Norwegian Hydro and the Japanese Nippon Amazon Aluminium Co (Naac).

As stated by the families who denounce the company, "the victims were exposed to toxic waste from aluminum processing, which can cause health problems, such as increased incidence of cancer, Alzheimer's, skin diseases, stomach problems and diarrhea," says the complaint.

The lawsuit goes beyond the 2018 episode that serves as the basis for the lawsuit and points out that Hydro's operations have been directly impacting the environment since 2002, with other cases of leaks from the company's tailings dam.

The legal area of the Association of Caboclos, Indigenous and Quilombolas of the Amazon (Cainquiama) has already presented five lawsuits against Hydro and even participated in a Term of Adjusted Conduct (TAC), homologated by the Federal Court, between the Ministério Público Federal (MPF) and the company. But, according to the defense, the TAC was not enough and the families have still not been properly compensated, as well as the repair of damage to the environment.

"The five public and collective civil actions filed in Brazil are the basis for this action proposed in the Netherlands, which comes to light after the agreement ratified by the Brazilian Federal Court did not contemplate all the objects claimed by the affected populations. On the other hand, article 24 of the Brazilian Civil Code and the international law rules of the European Union allow the same fact to be discussed in the country of origin and in a European court," he said.

In 2018, the Evandro Chagas Institute even found lead in the soil and rivers

The lawyer representing Cainquiama, Ismael Moraes, says that "this is the first socio-environmental lawsuit for damage caused in the Amazon filed before a European court."
Hydro has three industrial plants in Pará. In Paragominas bauxite is extracted and sent by pipeline to Barcarena, where Hydro Alunorte is located. There, the ore is refined into alumina, which is then sent to the Albras complex, which produces aluminium.

During the 2018 crisis, in what became known as the "Hydro Case", the company even classified as "completely unacceptable" the release of untreated water from the industrial process that uses chemical elements in rivers and streams in the region.
At the time, the warning of contamination was given by the Evandro Chagas Institute (IEC), which collected soil and water in communities surrounding the industrial units. The laboratory verified that chemical alterations had occurred in the soil and water of the region, with a high presence of heavy metals and carcinogens such as lead.

The confirmation of the episode led the courts and local authorities to order the reduction of production at Alunorte, also impacting the production of Albras, which had to halve operations for more than a year.