European nations must confront their own faults in Amazon destruction

In February 2018, residents of Barcarena, a town to the south of the Amazonian state of Pará, complained that pools of accumulated rainwater around the city had turned a curious shade of red. Locals blamed the nearby Alunorte alumina plant, alleging that they had been illegally dumping toxic waste into the environment.

Indeed, state prosecutors investigated these claims and found a clandestine pipeline belonging to Alunorte, which was being used to leak byproducts of bauxite processing into the surrounding area. The company, which is a subsidiary of Norwegian aluminum giant Norsk Hydro, was handed a daily fine of BRL 1 million and forced to cut its operations in Barcarena by 50 percent.

Alunorte has always denied the claims it purposefully dumped toxic matter into streams in Barcarena. The mining company had already been fined some BRL 17.1 million nine years earlier, for the same violation, but appealed the punishment and has not yet paid any penalties.

In May of this year, this embargo was lifted, and...