Northeast oil spills pose new environmental headache for Brazil

Having barely recovered from the Amazon rainforest fire crisis, Brazil has another environmental matter to worry about. In recent weeks, several oil stains have appeared all across the country’s Northeast border, damaging flora and fauna and making the region’s idyllic beaches unusable. 

It took the government about a month before ordering an effort to clean up some 100 tons of sludge from the coast. So far, 139 areas in nine northeastern Brazilian states have been affected, with reports of deaths of endangered animals, such as sea turtles and bird species.

President Jair Bolsonaro ordered the Federal Police, Navy, the Brazilian Environmental Protection Agency (Ibama) and Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Diversification (ICMBio) to be ahead of the case. While authorities are in a race against time to reduce the loss, Mr. Bolsonaro declared that the oil is “not Brazilian,” meaning it would not be the country’s responsibility. 

The statement matches a study Ibama released on September 25. According to the report, the material found on the beaches is crude oil, in a form that Brazil does not even produce. The results were part of an analysis made by Petrobras’ research center in Rio de Janeiro. The state-owned company also suggested that the oil could be Venezuelan, potentially leaked from...