Brazilian petrochemical company agrees to pay $356m to city affected by mining

Homes stand abandoned because of the threat of ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine in Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil (Eraldo PeresAP/PA)

Brazil’s petrochemical giant Braskem has said it has reached a $356m settlement with a coastal city where four decades of the company’s rock salt mining destroyed five urban neighbourhoods and displaced tens of thousands of people.

Around 200,000 people in the Alagoas state’s capital of Maceio were affected by the excessive extraction of rock salt, according to the Brazil Senate’s website.