The National Water Agency (ANA) announced this Tuesday (24) that it is evaluating the quality of water in the Tocantins River, in the area where the Juscelino Kubitschek bridge collapsed, between the municipalities of Aguiarnópolis (TO) and Estreito (MA). The analyzes are justified by the information that some of the trucks that fell into the river after the bridge collapsed were carrying pesticides and other chemical compounds.
According to a note from ANA, the focus of the analyzes is on the water supply downstream (downriver) from the accident site. The agency also informed that, together with the Maranhão Department of the Environment, it will determine the basic water quality parameters and collect samples for outpatient analyzes to detect “the main active principles of pesticides potentially released into the water column of the Tocantins River”.
The invoices for the trucks involved in the collapse indicate considerable quantities of agricultural pesticides and sulfuric acid in the cargo of the accident vehicles. With regard to agricultural pesticides, the note points out that “there is still no information about the actual breaking of the packaging, which, depending on the packaging of the cargo, may have remained intact”.
Due to the toxic nature of the loads, on Sunday and yesterday (23), it was not possible to use the work of divers to search underwater in the river. The Maranhão Fire Department confirmed today (24) the death of four people (three women and one man) and the disappearance, to date, of 13 people.
On Thursday (26) a meeting of the “crisis room to monitor the impacts on the multiple uses of water resulting from the collapse of the bridge over the Tocantins River” is scheduled.
In addition to ANA itself, other bodies participate in the crisis room, such as the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Resources (Ibama), the National Center for Natural Disaster Monitoring and Alerts (Cemaden), the National Department of Transport Infrastructure ( Dnit) and Ministry of Health.
Dnit has technicians on site assessing the situation to discover the possible causes of the accident. According to the agency, the collapse was the result of the central span of the bridge giving way.
The Tocantins River is the main river in the Tocantins – Araguaia basin, having great potential for energy generation and high navigability in several stretches, in addition to supplying water to several municipalities in the region.
