Businesswoman is sued for filling in mangroves and building a deck and leisure area in a luxury condominium in AL

According to the MPF-AL, the interventions took place between December 2022 and January 2024, in a Permanent Preservation Area (APP), inserted in the Environmental Protection Area (APA) of Santa Rita and on marine land subject to the influence of the tides. The action was filed by Public Prosecutor Érico Gomes and distributed last Friday (14) to the 2nd Federal Court of Alagoas. Work began with a deck and staircase. According to the MPF, the first irregularity was identified by the Alagoas Environmental Institute (IMA/AL) in December 2022, when an inspection discovered the construction of a deck and a staircase to access the banks of Laguna Mundaú, in a restinga area. At the time, the agency imposed a fine of R$80,000, in addition to ordering the area to be embargoed due to the destruction and damage caused to native vegetation. In an attempt to resolve the problem administratively, IMA-AL signed a Conduct Adjustment Term (TAC) with one of the owners. Among the obligations were the planting and donation of native seedlings and the recovery of the affected area. Still according to the agency, however, the agreement was not fulfilled. As a result, IMA-AL notified the owner and restored administrative sanctions. A new inspection, carried out in December 2023, identified other interventions in the two lots. According to the action, earthworks and leveling of the sand strip were carried out, in addition to the deposit of stones and landfill over the native vegetation. The interventions, according to the MPF, buried mangrove and restinga species in the marginal strip of Laguna Mundaú. The IMA issued a new infraction notice and once again ordered the area to be embargoed. The extent of the damage was confirmed in a Federal Criminal Expert Report, which pointed out the destruction, suppression and filling of 312.69 m² of mangroves and restinga. According to experts, the degradation caused loss of native flora, destruction of wildlife habitat, impediment to the natural regeneration of vegetation and alteration of the original shape of the lagoon's edge. The report also pointed out that vegetation performs environmental functions, such as dampening floods and protecting against erosion processes. MPF asks for recovery of the area and compensation In the action, the MPF asks that the owners be obliged to recover the degraded area through the preparation and execution of a Degraded Area Recovery Plan (PRAD), under the supervision of the competent environmental agency. The body also asks that the defendants be ordered to pay R$200,000 for collective moral damages. If the compensation is determined by the Court, the amount must be allocated to the Fund for the Defense of Diffuse Rights (FDDD). The MPF also wants owners to be prohibited from carrying out new vegetation removal, landfilling, works or any other intervention in the degraded area, except those necessary for environmental recovery. In the event of non-compliance, the agency requests a fine of at least R$25,000 per incident. The process is being processed under number 0051516-31.2026.4.05.8000.