Assessing the actions of the Brazilian Federal Government to respond to the 2019 mysterious oil spill: a perpective of the national environmental agency

Abstract

On August 30, 2019, in the state of Paraíba, an oil spill of unprecedented characteristics reached Brazil, affecting 1009 coastal locations, in eleven states (from Maranhão to Rio de Janeiro). The objective of this paper is to present a description of the incident scenario from the perspective of the Brazilian Federal Government. Furthermore, the analysis of its performance regarding the actions and tools employed focuses on the role of the Federal Environment Agency (Ibama). Ibama led the Federal Government's initiatives for managing the spill when its true scale was yet unknown. Once the emergency was officially recognized, the Government acted through the implementation of the National Contingency Plan for Oil Pollution Incidents in Waters Under National Jurisdiction. From then on, the spill management was under the command of the "Grupo de Acompanhamento e Avaliação" (composed of Ibama, the Brazilian Petroleum Agency, and the Navy). The performance of other entities was crucial to make response actions feasible. Management tools were added to help the standardization, speed, and consolidation of the information collected in the field. Considering the specificities and limitations imposed by this event, we conclude that the Federal management of the spill was adequate, although opportunities for improvement were identified.