Brazilian police are investigating the cause of a 3km oil slick which dirtied a lake in the capital Brasília. The Paranoá Lake is a popular beauty spot, bordered by upmarket houses, restaurants and the Brasília Yacht Club, which was affected by the leak.
TV Globo showed aerial footage of the slick spreading across the lake, while the Estado de S.Paulo newspaper said it came from a leak in the boiler at a nearby public hospital, the Hospital Regional da Asa Norte.
A team from Transpetro, the distribution arm of state oil company Petrobras, was employed to contain the leak as Brasília did not have the capacity, Estado said.
José de Morais, an engineer at the Brasília Yacht Club, said teams of workers first noticed the oil in rainfall overflow pipes before it spread across the lake.
Police said they have opened an investigation into the leak which is being carried out by Brasília’s Criminal Institute to find out causes and what environmental damage may have been caused. “With this type of crime, 100% is a result of the investigation,” said Officer Marilisa da Silva, from Brasília’s Civil Police environmental protection and urban order department, DEMA.
The Health Secretariat for the Federal District, in which Brasília is situated, said it is waiting for reports from environmental bodies before commenting on the leak.
Source: Dom Phillips | The Guardian
