The participation of society has been fundamental within the overall series of measures that Alcoa is taking to set up the Juruti Mine. For the Company it is absolutely essential to hear what society has to say and to have dialogue with its representatives.
The Juruti undertaking has all the necessary environmental licenses in accordance with legislation. Furthermore, Alcoa has gone further than the legal demands, thus ensuring that it achieves positive integration as far as the town’s community and the environment are concerned and that it operates in line with the highest of standards, considering the best practices where it operates.
Environmental licensing, as provided for in State Law 5,887 of May 9, 1995 and Federal Law 6,938/91, is an important in instrument whereby society participates in protecting and improving the environment.
The State Department of Science, Technology and Environment - SECTAM, which is responsible for coordinating and carrying out state government actions for protecting the environment, is the agency in Para that is qualified to grant licenses. SECTAM – the current name of which is the Department of the Environment – supplied Alcoa with the Prior License (PL) and the Installation License (IL) in June and August, 2005, respectively. The Installation License that was issued in August 2005 is renewed each year, after periodic assessments by the environmental body; the current license, which was renewed without qualification in August 2006, will expire on August 17 this year. It is a requirement of SECTAM that four months before the renewal date Alcoa observes and complies with a series of legal stipulations in order to qualify for renewal.
The PL is part of the first phase of the environmental licensing process for any company that uses natural resources and that wishes to set up business in the State of Pará. The two other stages are the acquisition of the Installation License (IL) that authorizes the start of construction and the Operating License (OL) that allows operations to start.
In the case of the Juruti Bauxite Mine SECTAM, in an unheard of move, held three public hearings to debate the installation of the mining operation
in Pará. This is how Alcoa’s Juruti Mine started having a dialogue with the community as an important element when it comes to orienting all its activities. The first public hearing was held in the center of the town and brought together 6,000 people, a number considered to be a record for an event of this nature. The second took place in Santarém, where 1,000 participated. The final hearing was in Belém with some 700 guests. In the three hearings the objective was to collect fundamental information so that the regulatory bodies could analyze the undertaking from the environmental point of view.
Before granting the prior license SECTAM examined all the documentation presented by Alcoa at the time and considered that the Environmental Impact Study/Environmental Impact Report (EIA-RIMA) was in accordance with the standards demanded by the organ for licensing. The EIA/RIMA consists in identifying and assessing impacts and also in seeking alternatives for accentuating positive impacts and mitigating negative ones.
The work was coordinated by CNEC Engenharia, a company that has been working in the major undertaking consultancy area for more than 45 years. It was one of the pioneering companies in Brazil in environmental studies and also one of the first in the country to work using the regional insertion concept for this type of undertaking.
CNEC enjoyed the collaboration of the Emílio Goeldi Para Museum, the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) and the National Research Institute of the Amazon (INPA). The work was prepared by a team of engineers, biologists, sociologists, botanists, geologists and other professionals.
The EIA/RIMA took into consideration the different areas of direct and indirect impact that are defined in accordance with parameters established in a resolution of the National Environmental Council (Conama) and in such cases countersigned by SECTAM. The methodology used for analyzing the impacts was also defined by a Conama resolution.
In the initial preparation phase of the EIA/RIMA, CNEC diagnosed the land-holding structure and the ownership situation in the plateaus region. The objective of this mining undertaking, however, is not to acquire areas since it is only going to mine the
sub-soil.
Installation License
On December 13, 2007, the Para Secretary of State for the Environment agreed to renew the Installation Licenses of all of the Juruti Mine’s structures, covering the port terminal, highway and railroad and the infrastructures for the mining and beneficiation of bauxite. The environmental body’s stamp of approval confirms that the setting up of the Juruti Mine is being done in strict accordance with the legal parameters - and even exceeding them - using the Company’s own very high standards as a benchmark in doing so.
The quality of the water, air and soil, and the climate, noise levels, flora and fauna are periodically monitored at various sampling points in Juruti. Important actions in the social and economic areas are also on-going, ranging from incentives for traditional farming, like breeding fish and turtles, and taking advantage of non-wood forest products and handicrafts, to encouraging the development of new alternatives for generating income, like the growing of green vegetables and providing local business-people with the qualifications they need to make improvements in local trade. Juruti is also benefiting from other programs that can count on the partnerships Alcoa has set up with institutions that are a benchmark in the areas of health, culture, safety and public environmental education that leads to enhanced professionalism.
In addition to these actions, which are a legally required aspect of the Environmental Control Plans (PCAs), the Department of the Environment’s seal was based on the complementary benefits coming from the Positive Agenda, which was implemented by Alcoa in partnership with the Municipal Administration, and the fact that the Company has firmly established a process of continuous dialogue that ensures that all stakeholders remain committed. The Positive Agenda provides for significant structural investments that have already resulted in overcoming historical problems of the municipality that is 124 years old and where more than half of its 35,000 population lives in rural
areas.
In the case of the Juruti Bauxite Mine SECTAM, in an unheard of move, held three public hearings to debate the installation of the mining operation
in Pará. This is how Alcoa’s Juruti Mine started having a dialogue with the community as an important element when it comes to orienting all its activities. The first public hearing was held in the center of the town and brought together 6,000 people, a number considered to be a record for an event of this nature. The second took place in Santarém, where 1,000 participated. The final hearing was in Belém with some 700 guests. In the three hearings the objective was to collect fundamental information so that the regulatory bodies could analyze the undertaking from the environmental point of view.