SAO PAULO, April 7 (UPI) -- Brazilian authorities Monday arrested an administrative director of the paper and pulp company blamed for a recent chemical spill, considered by some to be the worst environmental catastrophe in the country's history.
Felix Santana of the Cataguases Paper and Pulp Co. was arrested in Sao Paulo for his role in the massive spill that left some half-million Brazilians in the states of Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro without drinking water.
Authorities said Santana was taken directly to a Sao Paulo airport and flown to Rio for arraignment. Fellow Director Joao Gregorio do Bem, also wanted by authorities, remains at large.
Prior to Santana's arrest, all activities of the company were suspended for an indefinite period of time on orders of the state's secretary of the environment and maintainable development, Jose Carlos Carvalho.
The spill occurred at the end of March in an abandoned Cataguases facility, near the shared border with Rio de Janeiro state. A reservoir containing between 320 million and 400 million gallons of toxic chemicals burst into the Pombo and Paraiba do Sul rivers.
Environmentalists note that the spill has already reached the sea in Rio, contaminating 20 beaches, cutting off fishing and public use of the beaches. Meanwhile, local residents have been warned not to use the rivers for drinking or bathing while workers attempt to clean the toxic sludge.
A total of 46 municipal districts have been affected by the spill, with 39 in the central state of Minas Gerais and seven more in neighboring Rio de Janeiro with numerous reports of dead plants and animals along the rivers' courses.
The company faces a fine of $15 million ($50 million reals) for the spill, though it plans to appeal the decision.
International environmental watchdog group Greenpeace blasted management at the Cataguases firm and state officials in Minas Gerais for the accident.
"Cataguases is a typical example of a lack of inspection and maintenance, as well as managerial omission in seeking solutions to the problems which caused the present disaster," said a statement from the group, which also called for the criminal prosecution of those responsible for the spill.
