Polluter by Proxy: Norsk Hydro’s polluting mining activities in Brazil as state-corporate crime

• In Event: EUROC 12 White-Collar and Corporate Crimes in Context II

Abstract

This study examines the interaction between Norsk Hydro and the Norwegian government in relation to the polluting mining activities that occurred during the exploitation of aluminum in Barcarena, Brazil, between 1997 and 2022. Over many decades, foreign corporations and countries have exploited Brazil’s natural resources economically, and Norwegian enterprises have also recently been part of these ventures. In this regard, Norsk Hydro's involvement in the alumina refinery Alunorte has been controversial and has been implicated in severe ecological damage in the Amazon basin for many years. As such, the purpose of this study was to examine the state-corporate nexus in these activities by studying how they unfolded according to state-corporate crime theory and Southern Green criminology. On the basis of this theoretical framework, the incidents concerning the leakage of tailings dams, the disposal of toxic wastes in rivers, and the use of double standards in mining operations were examined. The study was conducted using qualitative methods. Literature review and document analyses were conducted to assess the catalysts for action described by Kramer and Michalowski. The results indicated that Norwegian public and private interests were closely intertwined. It was clear from the findings that two separate organizations worked together to accomplish their goals, which thereby resulted in pollution. According to this scenario, a number of recommendations were made aimed at enhancing the study of state-corporate crime according to Southern green criminology elements in the Global North and Global South as well as providing a perspective to assess the role of the state in environmental pollution.

Authors

• FERNANDO PROCÓPIO PALAZZO, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná

• Lieselot Bisschop, Erasmus University Rotterdam