Notable case, Cubatão, São Paulo, Brazil
Cubatão
An industrial complex in São Paulo state, about 12 km from the port of Santos, with a refinery, a steelworks and fertiliser plants. In the early 1980s its air pollution earned it the name 'Valley of Death'.
At a glance
- Status
- Remediation under way
- People affected
- 112,476 (2022)1
- Media
- air, soil, groundwater
- Kind of site
- petrochemicals, steel, chemical works, agrochemicals
- People affected. Population of the municipality at the 2022 census.
Contaminants
Organic compounds
Mixtures and waste
Status
Remediation under way
Emission controls cost about $1.2 billion; according to Wikipedia, full remediation of soil and groundwater is not possible while the industrial complex keeps operating. The source gives no year for the figure.
Story
Cubatão hosts oil refining, COSIPA's steelworks and fertiliser production. In the early 1980s it was ranked among the most polluted cities in the world; cases of children born with anencephaly were reported, along with respiratory, liver and blood diseases among residents.
On 25 February 1984 an oil spill ignited and set fire to the Vila Socó shantytown: 93 deaths officially, possibly more than 200. Rhodia contaminated its own workers with persistent organic pollutants, a case that Greenpeace listed in 1992 among the ten worst corporate crimes. Pollution reduction programmes followed, but soil and groundwater contamination remains.
Timeline
- 1984Vila Socó fire (25 February).
- 1992Greenpeace lists the Rhodia case among the worst corporate crimes.
Health
Wikipedia reports cases of anencephaly and of respiratory, liver and blood disease noted in the 1980s, without citing quantitative studies.
Remediation
- —emission controlIndustrial emission reduction programmes, at a cost of about $1.2 billion.
From the literature
Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.
Plants
- Festuca arundinaceaTall fescuePetroleum hydrocarbonsEvidence: field
- Lolium perennePerennial ryegrassPetroleum hydrocarbonsEvidence: field
- Medicago sativaAlfalfa, lucernePetroleum hydrocarbonsEvidence: field
- Paulownia tomentosaPrincess tree, empress treePetroleum hydrocarbonsEvidence: field
Fungi
- Pleurotus pulmonariusPhoenix oyster, Indian oysterPetroleum hydrocarbonsEvidence: laboratory
- Scedosporium apiospermumPetroleum hydrocarbonsEvidence: laboratory
Nearby
Sources
- Cubatão, Wikipedia, 2026
Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.