The Environmental Company of the State of São Paulo (Cetesb) is investigating the fish mortality that occurred in the São José dos Dourados River, in the city of Meridiano, in the interior of São Paulo. For Cetesb, the suspicion is that the death may have been caused by the irregular release of vinasse into the river.
According to information from Cetesb, technicians from the environmental agency were visiting the site over the weekend and found that a pipe at an alcohol and sugar plant installed in the city had broken, which could have caused the release of vinasse, which is the liquid residue left over from the sugar cane distillation process.
To confirm the cause of contamination, technicians collected water from the river and took it to the laboratory for analysis.
In a statement, the COFCO International plant, suspected of the leak, reported that the rupture of a pipeline, which occurred last Friday (24), was “immediately contained by the company’s team and cannot be identified as the cause of the fish mortality that has been occurring since October 15th in the São José dos Dourados river”.
Fish mortality occurs a few days before the start of piracema, which is the most important period for fish reproduction, when they move to the springs to spawn. In the state of São Paulo, the piracema takes place from November 1st and continues until February 28th of the next year. During this period there are restrictions on fishing.
