Mining transforms a town in Brazil into a ghost town

MACEIO, Brazil (AP) — This part of Maceio, the capital of the state of Alagoas, in northeastern Brazil, used to vibrate with the sounds of cars, commerce and children playing. It fell silent as residents leave en masse, eager to escape the imminent destruction of their homes, which were cracking and crumbling.

Beneath its floors, the underground is riddled with dozens of cavities: the legacy of four decades of rock salt mining in five urban neighborhoods. That caused the ground above to settle and the structures above it to begin to crumble. Since 2020, communities have been emptied because thousands of residents have accepted payments from the petrochemical company Braskem to relocate.

Several of those left told The Associated Press that the ground beneath their feet looks like Swiss cheese. Still, Paulo Sergio Doe, 51, says he will never leave his home in the Pinheiro neighborhood where he grew up.

“The company cannot do what it wants overnight with the lives and stories of so many families,” he said in an interview outside his home.

Braskem is one of the largest petrochemical companies on the continent, mainly owned by Brazilian state-owned oil company Petrobras and construction giant Novonor, formerly known as Odebrecht.

The company is not forcibly evicting anyone, although those who are still here say they feel that way. 97.4% of affected homes, more than 14,000, are already vacant, Braskem said in reporting its 2021 results on Thursday.

The 55,000 evacuees left behind not only neighbors and friends, but also jobs. They closed 4,500 companies, mostly small and medium-sized, supporting 30,000 people, according to a study by the Federal University of Alagoas published last year. Among those businesses were supermarkets and a ballet school that operated for 38 years, according to Adriana Capretz, part of the university's task force to monitor neighborhoods.

The exodus is evident from above; residents who leave were trying to sell everything they can for extra money, including roof tiles. Their retreat allows them to see inside spaces that were once occupied.

The amount offered by Braskem was not enough for Natalícia Gonçalves. The retired teacher, 77, also said she felt too old to start over. Then he saw how everyone in Pinheiro was leaving. He now lives inside a makeshift fortress behind tables and plants meant to deter potential thieves. Braskem's security guards make rounds on motorcycles, briefly interrupting the disturbing silence of the night.

“They have already done everything they can to force me to go, but I have my rights,” he said from behind the fortified exterior of his house. “I'm scared, especially at night when there's no one around. The light is dim, there is hardly any. I protect myself with my plants, but I am alone, with God.”

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David Biller contributed from Rio de Janeiro.