July 21, 2022

13:07

Iury Lima – Cenarium Magazine

VILHENA (RO) – A decree approved by the Legislative Assembly of Rondonia (ALE-RO) and authored by Governor Coronel Marcos Rocha (PSL), which legalized gold mining in the Rio Madeira – the main hydric body of water in Rondonia territory – lost its validity this week. The decision was made in a session of the Court of Justice of Rondônia (TJ-RO) on Monday, 18.

The regulation, considered incompatible with the Brazilian legislation, had been in force for over a year. The overthrow is the result of a Direct Unconstitutionality Action (ADI) requested by the Attorney General of the Public Ministry (MPRO), Ivanildo de Oliveira.

Unconstitutionality

The trial of the ADI decided for the declaration of unconstitutionality with 12 favorable votes, after a request for examination, according to the Court.  Like the MPRO, the magistrates understood that Decree No. 25.780/2021 extrapolates the State’s legislative competence and invades the Union’s decision-making field, in view of the fact that the Rio Madeira is not exclusive to Rondônia.

As it flows into the Rio Amazonas, in the neighboring state, the tributary is an interstate body of water, i.e., a restrictive matter of federal scope. In addition, Judge Daniel Lagos, reporting judge of the case, pointed out the absence of previous studies on the environmental impact generated by mining in the region. Among the criteria, the provision lists the use of chemical substances in the activity, which would cause damage to the environment and the health of the population supplied by the river.

The decree

At the time of publication, in January of last year, the Rondônia government alleged that mining “is an economic necessity” for the state. Argumentation condemned by Lagos.

“It is necessary to weigh [calculate, balance] in what measure the enterprise would justify the degradation, which goes beyond the eventual pollution of springs with the activity itself, to consider that implementing a mining operation involves clearing areas of forest, including to promote access to rafts and dredges, settling people, which fatally implies almost irreversible damage”, the judge declared.

To sell the idea, Marcos Rocha revoked another provision: Decree No. 5197, this one from 1991, which prohibited mining on the Madeira, between the Santo Antônio waterfall and the border with Amazonas. For the Justice, this was seen as a way to “weaken the protection of all environmental and landscape rights”. 

Read also: ‘We must roll out the red carpet for those who produce’, says president of the ALE-RO in defense of mining

No return (once again)

Sought by AMAZON AGENCY, the Government of Rondônia did not return with clarifications until the closing of this issue.

Read also: Miners return to Rio Madeira, in the countryside of AM State, after eight months of the operation that destroyed hundreds of rafts

Operation against mining

On Wednesday, 20, the Federal Police conducted a major operation against illegal mining in the Rio Madeira, in the Amazon. The agents met ten search and seizure warrants, and ten precautionary measures in the municipality of Jutaí, 750 kilometers from Manaus.

One of the targets of the crackdown on environmental crime was the mayor of Jutaí, Pedro Macario Barbosa (PDT), who was removed from office for 90 days. In the same action, the PF destroyed boats used in illegal mining. 

In November of last year, the police destroyed about 160 rafts and mining dredges, also on the Rio Madeira, at which time the images of a huge invasion of miners circled the globe.