Hydro denies Brazil alumina plant contaminated local environment

OSLO, (Reuters) - Aluminium producer Norsk Hydro denied yesterday its Alunorte alumina refinery in Brazil had contaminated local waters, contradicting the findings of a Brazilian public health group.

Citing an internal study and a report commissioned from green consultancy SGW Services, Hydro said no evidence was found of overflow from its bauxite deposits or of any significant or lasting environmental impact.

The company has previously admitted making some unregulated spills of untreated water, which it said was “completely unacceptable.” Hydro reiterated on Monday it would improve the plant’s water treatment.

“Both reports confirm our previous statements that there was no overflow from the bauxite residue deposit areas, as well as no indication or evidence of contamination to nearby local communities from Alunorte as a result of the heavy rainfall in February,” Hydro CEO Svein Richard Brandtzaeg said in a statement.

The public prosecutors’ office in the northern Brazilian state of Para where Alunorte is located said in a statement that scientific evidence shows the serious impact of regular discharges from the plant, disputing Hydro’s account.

“Any attempt to conceal this fact is a violent attack on the rights of families who have had their health and livelihoods seriously undermined,” it said.

Alunorte is currently running at about 50 percent capacity under a judicial order. The firm believes the two environmental reports will help the company win permission to resume full output from the plant, Brandtzaeg told Reuters.

“This puts the facts on the table and gives us a foundation for resolving the situation,” he said, adding the firm was in “a constructive dialogue” with local authorities.

Alunorte is the world’s largest alumina refinery with around 2,000 employees and a production capacity of 6.3 million tonnes, transforming bauxite to alumina, which is turned into aluminium at smelters.

Hydro shares close up 6.62 percent, outperforming a flat Oslo benchmark index and extending gains from before the firm’s statement was published. They were benefiting from sanctions imposed on rival Rusal of Russia, traders said.

On April 6, Alunorte sued prosecutors in the Brazilian state of Para, asking a court to reject findings from the government-backed Evandro Chagas Institute, a public health research organisation.

Marcelo Lima, a researcher at the institute, in an interview on Monday repeated that its analysis was scientifically rigorous and in line with international standards.

In late February, Brazilian authorities ordered Hydro to temporarily halve its output from the plant. VALENCIA, Venezuela, (Reuters) - Venezuela yesterday reopened air and sea links to the islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao, three months after cutting them off in an attempt to curb smuggling.

The move is a welcome relief to those in Venezuela who can afford to fly out, after Copa, one of the last major airlines still operating in the OPEC nation, was forced by authorities to suspend services last week.

The majority of international airlines have pulled out of the crisis-hit country over the last few years, citing economic and security concerns.

An Aruba Airlines plane took off from Valencia airport, some 150 km (93 miles) from Caracas, on Monday morning on its way to the Aruban capital of Oranjestad.

Transport Minister Carlos Osorio announced the reopening of links from the runway.

Panama’s Copa, a major regional carrier, was included in a list of companies with which the Venezuelan government broke economic relations last week.

Venezuelan authorities cited alleged money laundering by Panamanian officials and companies, prompting both countries to recall their ambassadors.