Brazilian federal prosecutors in the state of Pará have filed a lawsuit seeking the removal of the Haidar ship’s hull and the oily residues that remain inside it, nearly ten years after the vessel sank near Vila do Conde port, Brazil’s largest hub for live cattle exports.

Prosecutors said in a statement on Wednesday that the Haidar disaster in 2015 had killed around 5,000 cattle and caused a spill of 700,000 litres of oily waste.

They added that another spill linked to the wreck was recorded in 2018, which they believe shows that the residues trapped inside the submerged hull continue to pose a constant threat to the surrounding waters.

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According to the legal filing, about 215,000 litres of oil, diesel, fuel, and lubricants may still be stored inside the sunken vessel.

Prosecutors warned that any new release could cause “catastrophic water pollution” in the region. They also noted that the ship still contains carcasses and skeletal remains of the cattle that drowned during the sinking.

The lawsuit seeks at least 5 million reais (about $936,873) in compensation, along with an additional 91,400 reais for environmental damage linked to the 2018 spill.

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Those named in the case include the federal infrastructure department DNIT, the Pará Port Authority CDP, Pará’s state environment agency SEMAS, and companies that owned the Haidar at the time of the incident. They have not yet commented on the legal action.

Pará remains Brazil’s top live cattle-exporting state, having shipped 370,000 head of cattle worth $344 million in the year through July, mostly to markets such as Algeria,  Egypt, and Morocco according to state trade data.

Beefpacker Minerva, which owned the cattle on board the Haidar in 2015, is not listed as a defendant in the lawsuit, based on court documents.

Reference: Reuters