Atlas of Contaminated Sites

Notable case, Santo Amaro, Bahia, Brazil

Santo Amaro da Purificação

Santo Amaro

A town in the state of Bahia where a lead smelter, active from 1960 to 1993, produced 490,000 tonnes of slag containing cadmium and up to 3% lead. Thought harmless, it was used to pave the streets.

Status
Not addressed
Activity
1960–1993
Media
soil, surface water, sediment
Kind of site
smelter

Contaminants

Metals

Metalloids

Status

Not addressed

The plant has been closed since 1993, but the slag remains spread through the town and the Subaé River is still contaminated (Portuguese Wikipedia, no year given). No information on remediation was found.

Story

The French company Peñarroya set up its subsidiary COBRAC (Companhia Brasileira de Chumbo) in 1958; from 1960 it processed lead ore from the Boquira mines at Santo Amaro. In 1989 the plant passed to Plumbum Mineração e Metalurgia, and in 1993 it closed.

In 33 years the plant produced 490,000 tonnes of slag with 35 g/t of cadmium and up to 3% lead, plus arsenic and zinc. The slag was piled on land beside the works and, considered inert, used to pave the town, spreading the metals through its streets.

Timeline

  1. 1960The COBRAC smelter starts up.
  2. 1989Taken over by Plumbum Mineração e Metalurgia.
  3. 1993The plant closes.

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

Fungi

The rest are on the contaminant pages.

Sources

  1. Santo Amaro (Bahia), Wikipedia (pt), 2026

Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.