The Piracicaba River crosses a protected space named Tanqua, that has been dubbed Sao Paulo’s mini-Pantanal, after the tropical wetlands well-known for plentiful wildlife and dazzling pure scenes. Its basin covers an space of 4,838 sq. miles.
On Wednesday, a carpet of floating fish corpses coated the waterway, littering stretches of the river.
“This unhappy environmental catastrophe has moved everybody due to the seriousness and extent of the impacts,” prosecutors stated, including that the scenario of the fishermen and the local people can be “very worrying.”
Prosecutors have requested a full report into situations of the water and are ready for additional technical info earlier than taking the following steps relating to civil and prison legal responsibility.
Police are investigating to find out if an environmental crime was dedicated, Sao Paulo’s secretary for public safety stated in an announcement.
The corporate dangers a hefty advantageous.
Sao Paulo’s state environmental company, identified in Portuguese as CETESB, first acquired stories of the mass die-off and robust odor emanating from the river on July 7.
![The state's environmental agency alleges that the cause of their death is irregular dumping of industrial waste into the river.](https://media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com/image/upload/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best/rockcms/2024-07/240718-brazil-fish-mb-0823-fe6706.jpg)
That very same day, the company requested the Salto Grande hydroelectric energy plant to extend the quantity of water launched to dilute the air pollution.
By July 9, knowledge confirmed a rise within the quantity of dissolved oxygen, favoring situations for survival of the fish, CETESB stated.
However stories emerged of one other mass die-off in Tanqua, about 37 miles from town of Piracicaba the place information of useless fish first emerged.
The Piracicaba River runs via one of many oldest areas of occupation of Sao Paulo state and was used as a navigation route for small steamers and equipped water for sugar cane and occasional farms, in keeping with the nation’s nationwide statistics company.
A extreme drought within the Amazon additionally killed large portions of fish final 12 months.