Thank you so much for putting the word out to editors that I'm available, Jake!

Andy, thanks so much for posting my message!

In Para state, more than 61,000 quilombolas live in municipalities where the hidrovia would pass apenas no trecho do Baixo Tocantins River. The majority of these were classified as “not in the direct impact area” in government studies -- which thus did not evaluate how they might be impacted.

That is part of the judge’s evaluation of a current public interest lawsuit of the Federal Prosecutor’s Office that seeks to overturn the license as illegal.

In September, a judge will conduct a judicial inspection to visit the communities of the Pedral do Lourenção. The license to explode the Pedral is temporarily suspended until that judicial visit.

Federal prosecutors affirm that the whole waterway project has to undergo the licensing process. They say that blowing up a first section before evaluating all the impacts on communities and ecosystems is illegal.

That was part of a judicial decision that opened a pathway for a May 2025 license to blow up the ecologically sensitive Pedral do Lourenção, a first step in building an industrial shipping channel on the Tocantins River.

I asked Pontes about a judge’s February 2025 statement that there are no traditional communities who live on the Lourenção Rocks. #hidroviaaraguaiatocantins #hidrovias #riotocantins

Article by @tiffanymhiggins.bsky.social; more here

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