O Princípio do poluidor-pagador e seus reflexos na cadeia produtiva do carvão vegetal/ferro-gusa do pólo siderúrgico de Marabá

Abstract

Throughout history, humankind has been using natural resources to satisfy its own needs and improve its quality of life. But this economic model and the current consumption patterns are unsustainable, causing a rapid exhaustion of resources. It was in this manner that the development of the metallurgic activity occurred in Marabá, by indiscriminately using natural resources, especially the native forest of the Amazonian biome, for charcoal production, an essential input for the manufacturing of pig iron. The present paper aims to examine the application of the Polluter Pays Principle (PPP) in the attempt to solve or at least minimize this important environmental issue raised by the metallurgic activities in our city. The first aspects to be analyzed will be the evolution of environmental protection, the origin of environmental principles and two important normative Brazilian instruments, the Law 6.938/81 (Law of the National Environmental Policy) and the Article 225 of the Federal Constitution of 1988. Later on, an analysis of the main principles of environmental protection will be performed, with an emphasis on the Polluter Pays Principle, which requires the use of preventive and repressive measures for potentially polluting activities, making companies bare the social costs of their production processes. Then, the development process of the metallurgic activity in Marabá will be analyzed, together with the environmental problems connected to it, notably the issue of illegal charcoal production and the destruction of native Amazonian forests. Finally, an analysis of the PPP application to the production process of the coal / pig iron will be performed by means of the Terms of Compromise and Conduct Adjustment indicated by three mills located in the metallurgic center of Maraba.