City hall fines Copasa after the death of seven thousand fish in Lagoa da Pampulha, in Belo Horizonte | Minas Gerais

Dead fish are removed from Lagoa da Pampulha, in Belo Horizonte

The animals were removed from the water body in early March (see video above). During the incident, a team of inspectors from PBH inspected the site, found the environmental damage and notified Copasa. After a technical opinion from the Department of the Environment (SMMA), the assessment was issued.

“The notification notice states that there was a violation of Law 4253/85, art.4, and Decree 16529/16: emission or release of pollutants into environmental resources, as well as causing their degradation”, explained the city hall.

According to experts, fish rise to the surface in search of food and oxygen. When they encounter pollutants or toxic substances, they end up dying instantly.

In a statement, Copasa confirmed that it received the fine. However, he stated that inspections and analyzes carried out by the company in the sewage system of the Pampulha river basin no identified irregularities or problems that could be related to fish mortality in the lagoon.

“The company emphasizes that it will appeal the fine, since at the point indicated, no leak was identified by Copasa. Furthermore, the PBH technical report on the fish mortality did not provide evidence of the correlation between any action by Copasa and the death of animals,” he said.

Copasa also reinforced the appeal to property owners in the region to regularize connections to the sewage network“an essential attitude for maintaining water quality in the lagoon”.

According to the company, around 1,700 properties in Belo Horizonte and more than 4,600 in Contagem, in the Metropolitan Region, still do not have connection to the system.