![]() ![]() Ismael Moraes, a lawyer in Brazil, represents 11,000 Barcarena residents suing the Norwegian owner of the refinery in a case that will be heard in the Netherlands. ![]() Hydro, which has denied the allegations, has until March 8 to file a response. The lawsuit seeks to hold Hydro liable for 10 incidents resulting in pollution and damage to the health of the community, more than half of them predating its acquisition of the refinery in 2011. “The alumina made here is produced at the cost of a lot of misery,” says Ismael Moraes, the Brazilian lawyer who partnered with London-based law firm Pogust Goodhead to file the class-action suit against Hydro in the Netherlands after failing to gain traction on five pollution-related cases in Brazil. Residents of Barcarena just as adamantly dispute that and accuse the government of not doing enough to protect them. The company denies any wrongdoing or culpability for the incident and says Alunorte meets all standards for social responsibility, health, safety and the environment. It later agreed to pay an additional 160 million reais. Oslo-based Hydro, whose biggest shareholder is the Norwegian government, was fined 20 million reais ($6.1 million at the time) by Brazilian authorities and ordered to temporarily curtail production at the plant after a discharge of untreated water during a flood in 2018. Aluminum’s Troubled Trail Through the Amazon Much of the aluminum that sheathes the truck, in addition to what Hydro provides, can also be traced to the Amazon, a Bloomberg News investigation found. ![]() Ford, which made the switch to aluminum from steel for the exterior of the combustion-engine F-150 in 2015, says it uses 682 pounds of the metal in the electric version, not counting what’s in the battery and other pre-assembled components. A typical North American car contains about 500 pounds of aluminum, almost twice the amount 20 years ago, and electric vehicles have about 150 pounds more, according to consultants Ducker Carlisle. Demand for aluminum parts is coming from all automakers, especially those switching to EVs. “It can change who we think drives a truck, who drives an EV, who drives a Ford,” the carmaker has said. That means persuading middle America - not just Tesla-driving environmentally conscious buyers - to go electric, too. Ford, which started manufacturing the F-150 Lightning EV last April, calls it “the truck of the future.” Vehicles are the largest source of carbon emissions in the US, and the switch to electric is essential to the government’s goal of reducing them. ![]()
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