New independent report reinforces inconsistencies in the methodologies used in the Summary Report of CPRM

Maceió, September 27, 2019 - A new independent analysis by São Paulo and London experts confirms and agrees with the researchers of University of Houston: there are methodology inconsistencies used to prepare the CPRM Summary Report, which explains the geological phenomena in the districts of Pinheiro, Mutange and Bebedouro, in Maceió. The analysis also indicates that the soil properties interfered with the damages in the three districts. The document is signed by a team of geologists, geophysicists and civil engineers - four professors from USP (University of São Paulo) and one professor from the Imperial College of London.
According to the experts, the CPRM report presents interpretation inconsistency, with premature conclusions in face of the restrictions of some of the methods used. For example: the Gravimetry (method used to help verifying the existence of geological faults) performed by CPRM allows only the evaluation of structures with up to 400 m. Thus, in deepest distances the method does not have sufficient resolution for conclusions. The rock salt extraction by Braskem is executed in depths that are greater than 900 m. "The gravimetric data have almost no information about structures that are deeper than 400 m", they say.
Concerning the quality of the soil, researchers explain that CPRM did not explain the effect of this factor on slumps and cracks. They point out that the existence of sinkholes or internal erosion in the soil is described in very superficial terms, as if they occurred generically all over the municipality, with lack of details or preferential distribution in area.
The researchers went to the field and made a detailed evaluation of the fissures in the districts. They found that their direction is not compatible with the activity of extraction of rock salt.
Concerning the land quake occurred in March last year, researchers concluded that it was due to natural cause rather than the human action origin indicated in the CPRM report. The CPRM report supports this conclusion with the finding of waves with shallow depth. However, experts indicate that the term "shallow" was not quantified.
The team who participated in the preparation of the report is coordinated by famous geology doctor professor Georg R. Sadowski and benefits from the collaboration of other doctor professors, like the geologist John Cosgrove, the geophysicist Marcelo Assumpção and civil engineers Tarcísio B. Celestino and Luiz G. de Mello, all of them with wide scientific experience and academic background that includes the University of São Paulo, the Imperial College of London, the University of Edinburgh in Scotland and the University of Berkeley in California
Braskem forwarded the received studies and analyses to the National Mining Agency (ANM). The company is committed to the people of Alagoas and reaffirms its responsible action and the search for the causes and the most safe and proper solutions for everybody.