Grandes projetos na Amazônia e suas condicionantes: uma abordagem a partir do esgotamento sanitário em Altamira – PA

Abstract

This study analyzes the historical, urban, and socio-environmental evolution of the municipality of Altamira (PA), focusing on the establishment and challenges related to the sanitation system, with the main landmark being the urban transformation process associated with large development programs, particularly the construction of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant. The research adopts an interdisciplinary and analytical approach, considering periods prior to the construction, the moment of its execution, and the subsequent context, with the aim of understanding how the absence, precariousness, and later attempts to implement a sanitation system influenced public health conditions, housing, and land use planning.The work revisits the initial formation of the city, marked by Jesuit occupations, economic cycles such as rubber extraction, and the transformations caused by the opening of the Trans-Amazonian Highway in the 1970s. It examines how disordered urban growth, driven by migratory flows and land speculation, has contributed to population density in flood-prone areas without basic infrastructure. The study highlights that the city has historically lacked effective sanitary planning, and that sewage, when not released into open air, was directed to rudimentary pits, ditches, and later to untreated rainwater networks, culminating in the pollution of water bodies, especially the Xingu River. During the installation process of the Belo Monte Hydroelectric Plant, there is an intensification of socio-spatial problems, with the removal of vulnerable populations and the creation of new neighborhoods without adequate infrastructure. Although sewage networks were implemented as part of the environmental licensing conditions, the research indicates failures in execution, coverage, and operation of the system. The collected data and the documentary and historical analyses demonstrate the continuity of socio-spatial exclusion and inequality in access to sanitation, with direct effects on the environment and public health. By integrating historical, technical, urban, and social aspects, the study reveals that the issue of sewage treatment in Altamira is a long-standing structural problem, exacerbated by successive cycles of disorderly growth and lack of effective public policies. It is concluded that the city still lacks integrated sanitation planning that addresses both technical aspects and the social, environmental, and territorial rights of the population, especially the most vulnerable groups.