The coal company has been ordered to compensate rural producers for mining interventions in Uroussang, south of Santa Catarina. The works would cause damage to the well that supplied the agricultural property.

Carboniferous will have to be compensated to farmers for the drying up of a dam and an artesian well in the south of the South Caucasus – Photo: Freepik / Reproduction / ND

According to experts, the damage was caused by local engineering and geological structures that prevented the collection of water for irrigation. Legumes, bananas and livestock were grown on the site.

The owners of the facility claimed that since about 2016, they began to notice that the well, as well as the secondary source of water intake (water eye), were drying up with a progressive decrease in levels.

The site visit conducted by the DNPM (National Department of Minerals) also confirmed that the respondent company was mining in the subsoil of the property, which caused ground movement and observed damage.

With this in mind, the decision stated that, in addition to the material damage, the emotional shock suffered by the authors in connection with the depletion of water supplies on the land, which they use to cultivate the land and support the family, is obvious.

Thus, the coal company was ordered to pay the plaintiffs compensation for pecuniary damage corresponding to the depreciation of the property due to the depletion of groundwater, to be determined in the judgment, and the payment of reais. 15,000 to each of the four plaintiffs, for a total of R$ 60,000, in non-pecuniary damages, plus interest and a monetary adjustment.

another condemnation

In another similar case, the company was also convicted of the same interventions, which in this case caused a drought in the dam of the property and, as a result, the depreciation of the property.

According to experts, there was an interruption in the supply of water to the dam. The mining company will compensate the plaintiffs for material damages in an amount corresponding to the depreciation of property due to the depletion of groundwater reserves, also determined in the court agreement. Both decisions can be appealed to the Court of Santa Catarina.