(5 Jun 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – 03 June 2024
1. Aerial shot of dredging barges in the Tijuca Lagoon ++MUTE++
2. Bird flying over the water
3. Pile of mud and trash in the lagoon
4. Various of an excavator on a barge picking up mud from the lagoon
5. Set up shot of biologist Mario Moscatelli
6. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Mario Moscatelli, biologist:
“It’s a silent revolution what is happening here in the Jacarepagua Lagoon Complex. I’ve been here for the last 33 years. I saw this ‘patient’ in a critical and terminal state, and today, it already sees, speaks, and will probably soon return to the nursery. There is something to celebrate indeed but with caution.”
7. Bird flying over the water
8. Various of a caiman on the lagoon’s shore
9. Birds on a tree
10. Set up shot of Lucas Arrosti
11. SOUNDBITE (Portuguese) Lucas Arrosti, 36 years old, Operations Director at Iguá Rio:
“In this execution stage of the dredging project, we have two main objectives. The first is to rebuild the connections between the lagoons and the ocean, improving water exchange. With the dredged material, we’ll cover the artificial pits originated from sediment and sand mining."
12. Various of company employees in a reforestation area
13. Butterfly on a leaf
14. Aerial shot of dredging barges in the Tijuca Lagoon ++MUTE++
STORYLINE:
The private contractor managing sanitation in Rio de Janeiro’s wealthy western zone plans to remove the equivalent of 920 Olympic-size swimming pools of silt and sediment from the polluted Barra and Jacarepagua lagoons as part of an extensive ecosystem recovery plan.
Dredging started in late April and is expected to take three years, according to Iguá, the company managing sanitation in the city’s western neighborhoods.
In 2021, Rio state separated water distribution and sewage treatment operations from its utility and auctioned 35-year concessions.
Companies must allocate 29.7 billion Brazilian reais ($5.8 billion), including investments within five years to depollute the bay.
They can lose their concessions for failing to meet the contractually stipulated goal of boosting sewage collection and treatment to 90% by 2033.
Expectations before the public concession were “the worst possible,” said Mario Moscatelli, a biologist and expert in coastal ecosystems.
Moscatelli, who now works for Iguá as a consultant, has accompanied the lagoon complex for over 30 years and compared its situation to that of a critically ill patient under intensive care.
"I saw this ‘patient’ in a critical and terminal state, and today, it already sees, speaks, and will probably soon return to the nursery. There is something to celebrate indeed but with caution.” he said.
Iguá estimates the cost of dredging the lake at 250 million Brazilian reais ($50 million) —overall, the company will invest 2.7 billion Brazilian reais ($540 million) in improving the sanitation system of Rio’s western neighborhoods.
Besides restoring the channels between the lagoons and the ducts connecting them to the Atlantic Ocean, the company is also installing collectors to prevent the discharge of untreated sewage. The project will also recover the native mangrove environment.
The real estate development in the western part of Rio de Janeiro dates back to the last 50 years.
Areas that were originally mangroves and coastal forests were filled in to make way for gated communities and apartment complexes for the wealthier classes.
AP Video by Mario Lobão
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