Federal government recognizes emergency situation in erosion area at ETA II in Rio Branco | Acre

The emergency situation at Water Treatment Plant II was recognized by the federal government. The ordinance, signed by the national secretary of protection and civil defense, Wolnei Barreiros, was published in the Official Gazette of the Union this Thursday (9). The ETA has suffered from constant erosion since the waters of the Acre River receded after the flood in March this year.

The mayor of Rio Branco Tião Bocalom (PL) had signed, at the beginning of April, the emergency decree because of the situation. The document is valid for 180 days. At the time, the manager said that the action would facilitate the purchase of inputs to restore the treatment plant without having to go through normal bidding processes.

“It makes it easier for us to buy parts, buy machines, buy engines so we can respond quickly,” he said at the time.

The director-president of the Rio Branco Water and Sewage Service (Saerb), Enoque Ferreira, explained to the g1 what Currently the ETA is stable, but it is still possible to notice movement on the ground around her. ETA II is responsible for covering 60% of the capital’s neighborhoods.

Ferreira also said that he is in Brasília seeking resources from the Ministry of Cities and the Ministry of Regional Integration and Development. He also said that the supply situation has returned to almost normal.

“The collection and treatment are normalized. We are having specific complaints in the upper part and we are investigating, because it was also supposed to be normalized” he emphasized.

Landslide compromises ETA II structure in Rio Branco

Since the flood of the Acre River, the population of the capital has faced problems receiving water. In March, distribution was reduced and even suspended because stations I and II had problems. According to Saerb, the teams managed to complete the maintenance that month.

Soon after, at the beginning of April, water intake was once again reduced at ETA II due to a landslide that compromised the structure. There were three neighborhoods affected by the reduction. On the 2nd of that month, the coordinator of Municipal Civil Defense, lieutenant colonel Cláudio Falcão, was at ETA II for an assessment of the structure.

The coordinator highlighted that there was a very rapid flow in the level of the Acre River. In less than a month, the waters dropped from 17.89 meters, the highest level recorded this year, to 4.48 meters this Tuesday. The river dropped more than 13 meters during this period.

“With this, it obviously dragged the soil here. On the same date last year, the river was over 17 meters high. It shows that we need to look for viable solutions to be able to supply water to Rio Branco”, he argued.

The forecast was that the service would be normalized by April 30th, however, the following day, May 1st, another interruption occurred.

“There was a fire that hit two panels, we had to shut down the entire system and it also damaged Energisa’s network. [Equipes] They went there at dawn, did the part [de manutenção], but I needed to change this equipment. We had spare equipment, but it’s not easy to change, there’s a fuse that doesn’t exist here, we saw it in Porto Velho and we’re trying to relocate it now”, explained the CEO of Saerb, Enoque Pereira.