Too often, this city literally stinks. A major oil spill in Guanabara Bay in January, 132 tons of rotting fish in the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon in March and sewage spills virtually every week have made Rio de Janeiro more malodorous than romantic. January’s 340,000-gallon (1.3 million-liter) oil spill justifiably grabbed headlines here and abroad. (See “Oil spill triggers regulatory action in Brazil”—EcoAméricas, February ’00.) But sewage, the majority of which is dumped in natura into the nearest body of water, is Rio’s most prevalent cause of water pollution. And the problem has grown worse, thanks to 25 years of anemic infrastructure investment by Rio de Janeiro state’s State Water and Sewage Company (CEDAE). Numerous pipe breaks this year have sent rivers... [Log in to read more]
