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AUTHORITIES in Brazil are suing the giant mining company Vale, the Brazilian government and the Amazon state of Para over heavy metal contamination in the bodies of Xikrin indigenous people.
The civil lawsuit, filed by the Federal Prosecutor’s Office last Friday, but only disclosed on Tuesday, alleges contamination from Vale’s nickel mining at the Onca-Puma site, with the Catete River carrying mine pollution into indigenous territory.
In 2022, the company and the Xikrin reached an agreement for monthly compensation, but it did not cover health issues, according to the prosecution.
A study by the Federal University of Para, conducted last spring in villages in the Xikrin do Catete Indigenous Territory, found dangerously high levels of heavy metals, including lead, mercury and nickel, in the hair of virtually all the 720 people surveyed.
Fearing contamination in the river water, the Xikrin are using bottled water for their children and buying fish from municipal markets.
In one case, a teenager had nickel levels 2,326 per cent above the safe limit, according to the study. If untreated, heavy metal poisoning can lead to brain damage and organ failure.
The Federal Prosecutor’s Office, responsible for protecting indigenous rights, is demanding that Vale establish a permanent health monitoring programme for the community.
It also calls on the state of Para, which granted the environmental licence, and the federal government, which oversees indigenous public health policies, to provide technical and administrative support and ensure proper environmental oversight.
The lawsuit states: “The situation of the Xikrin do Catete is a true humanitarian tragedy and requires an urgent response from the Brazilian judiciary. Inaction would only add to the suffering of the indigenous community, who face daily contamination in their own environment.”
A statement from Vale said experts appointed by a federal court had determined that its operations were not responsible for contaminating the Catete River.
Brazil’s Ministry of Health has not immediately commented.
