This report focuses on the description and analysis of the impacts and harm caused by activities of the mining and steel industry in the municipality of Açailândia in the state of Maranhão, Brazil, in particular to the residents of the Piquiá de Baixo community and of the rural settlement of California. It is based on a methodology of evaluation of the impacts on human rights caused by investment projects, using human rights as a reference point and based on a process centered on the participation of the affected communities.

The report concludes that incessant pollution, the continuous deterioration of water resources, along with the extremely precarious system of urban sanitation have impacted the living conditions of the residents as well as their lands, affected their livelihoods and increased the insecurity and poverty of the affected communities, in violation of their right to an adequate standard of living.

The process of investigation underscored grave health problems generated by the emission of pollutantes on the part of the iron plants and coal furnaces. This pollution of the air, the water and the soil has brought respiratory problems, eye and skin problems, and various other afflictions. The proximity of waste products and pig iron production to the populated areas also caused accidents, with serious and fatal burns. In addition, difficulties with access to health services were discovered, another violation of the right of every person to enjoy the highest possible level of physical and mental health.

The mobilization of the communities seeking redress and reparation for the damages suffered has been characterized by difficulties in access to information, irregularities in the approval process for environmental impact studies, and attacks on the honor and reputation and freedom of expression of the social actors mobilized in favor of the affected communities. Lastly, judicial demands presented by the communities left suspended or without follow-up and the absence of reparation measures and adequate guarantees of non-repetition demonstrate a violation of the right to due process and effective remedy. 

In analyzing the responsibility of all the actors involved, public as well as private, the report makes recommendations to the local municipal authorities; the Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) as investor and financier of Vale, the main company involved; the investors and clients of Vale; and the Brazilian government.

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