Sting Targets Rio Waste Plants Before Summer Olympics
By Sara Jerome,
@sarmje
A sting at six waste plants in Brazil last month aimed to check whether the facilities are actually treating sewage or just saying they are.
Police investigators took samples and collected documents from the six plants, according to the Associated Press. The concern is that Cedae, the state water and sewage utility, may be dumping waste into Rio’s waterways without treating it sufficiently or at all.
The sting comes in the midst of a sewage scandal in Rio de Janeiro that is casting a shadow over the city’s plans to hold the Olympic Games in August. Last July, an Associated Press investigation revealed that athletes will be “swimming and boating in waters so contaminated with human feces that they risk becoming violently ill and unable to compete in the games.” The plants targeted in the sting are situated near Guanabara Bay, where Olympic sailing events will take place.
Cedae officials responded to the sting with “surprise,” according to the AP:
In a statement, Cedae... insisted its activities "contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of the population of Rio de Janeiro, not causing pollution." It denied charging for services not provided.
Police investigator Marcelo Prudente provided details on the sting operation, explaining “that the results will likely take weeks. Depending on the results, both Cedae itself and its top executives could be handed pollution and larceny charges for charging consumers for sewage treatment services the utility doesn't actually provide,” the AP reported, citing Prudente.
Officials in Brazil are discussing whether to privatize Cedae next year in response to the water pollution crisis and a recession in Brazil, according to BNAmericas.
“Cedae is more than 99.9 percent owned by the state with the remaining share divided among 692 stakeholders. In 2015, net profit dropped 45.9 percent to 249mn reais (around US$70.5mn) year-on-year while operating revenue dipped 1.4 percent to 4.54bn reais,” the report said.
To read more of our coverage of the Rio water pollution debacle visit Water Online’s Source Water Contamination Solutions Center.