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Urban mining transforms Brazil neighborhoods into ghost town

Seen from inside a railroad car, a gate blocks the railroad into the Bebedouro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Monday, March 7, 2022. Bebedouro is one of the neighborhoods that in the course of three years, residents have been forced to abandon because of geological problems arising from mining activities that have created the threat of ground subsidence. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) The ruins of an abandoned school stand in the Pinheiro neighborhood Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. The school was abandoned because the threat of ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes in Maceio. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Natalicia Goncalves, a 77-year-old retired teacher, stand in front of her home in the in the Pinheiro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Goncalves is the last remaining resident on her street after the others have been forced to leave because of the threat of ground subsidence and geological problems caused by the Braskem mine, that has caused the evacuation of more than 55 thousand people. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Homes stand abandoned in the Bom Parto neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Monday, March 7, 2022. The Bom Parto neighborhood has been abandoned because of ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) With her 9-year-old grandson Luri Andriel da Silva sitting nearby, Quiteria Maria da Silva calls out to her husband and daughter to come play dominoes, outside their home in the Bebedouro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. Da Silva is the last resident on her street, refusing to abandon her home after the others did because of the threat of ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Graffiti scrawled on the wall of an abandoned home reads in Portuguese; "Leave me in peace Braskem," in the Farol neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. Farol is one of the neighborhoods that has been abandoned because of the threat of ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Paulo Sergio Doe, his wife Alessandra Cavalcante Doe and their children pictured in the background, stand in front of their home, in the Pinheiro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. The couple is standing behind a wooden cross marker with text that reads in Portuguese; "Braskem Assassin. We are Resistance," as they refuse to leave their home because of the threat of ground subsidence and geological problems caused by the Braskem mine, that has caused the evacuation of more than 55 thousand people in the city. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Unoccupied homes of the Bom Parto neighborhood stand next to the Mundau lagoon in Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Monday, March 7, 2022. The Bom Parto neighborhood has been abandoned because of ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Rosivaldo Ferreira stands in the doorway of her home in the Bom Parto neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Monday, March 7, 2022. Ferreira is waiting to be relocated because of the threat of ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes in Maceio. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Escape route signs placed by the Braskem mining company line the side of a road, indicating the route in case of a catastrophic event in an urban area that has been vacated because of geological problems arising from mining activities in Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) A woman crosses herself as she leaves the Santo Antonio de Padua church in the Bebedouro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. The church has refused to close its doors and leave the neighborhood, even though the structure is threatened by ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes in Maceio. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) View of the Braskem mining facility in Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Braskem is one of the biggest petrochemical companies in the Americas, owned primarily by Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras and construction giant Novonor, formerly known as Odebrecht. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Natalicia Goncalves, a 77-year-old retired teacher, looks out from the window of her home in the Pinheiro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. Goncalves is the last remaining resident on her street after the others have been forced to leave because of the threat of ground subsidence and geological problems caused by the Braskem mine, that has caused the evacuation of more than 55 thousand people. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Graffiti that reads in Portuguese; "Braskem out of Alagoas, killer", is scrawled on the facade of an apartment building that has been vacated because of the threat of ground subsidence and geological problems caused by the Braskem mine in Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Monday, March 7, 2022. Braskem is one of the biggest petrochemical companies in the Americas, owned primarily by Brazilian state-run oil company Petrobras and construction giant Novonor, formerly known as Odebrecht. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Israel Oliveira checks his mobile phone as he sits on a bed inside his damaged home in the Bom Parto neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Monday, March 7, 2022. Oliveira´s home has been damaged by ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes in Maceio. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Paulo Sergio Doe shows a family tree sketched on a damaged wall of a neighbor's home in the Pinheiro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. The family has vacated their home, one of many that have been damaged by ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Children play in a pond at the Bom Parto neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Monday, March 7, 2022. The homes in the neighborhood have been abandoned because they are threatened by ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes in Maceio. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Priscila Barros poses for a photo in the library her father left at her family home in the Pinheiro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Barros has refused to leave her home where she has lived for over 30 years, after the other homes on her street have been condemned and abandoned because of geological problems arising from mining activities that have created the threat of ground subsidence, forcing about 55 thousand people to abandon their homes. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Homes stand abandoned in the Bebedouro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Monday, March 7, 2022. The Bebedouro neighborhood has been abandoned because of ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Paulo Sergio Doe visits abandoned homes in the Pinheiro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. Doe grew up in Pinheiros and refuses to abandon his home that is threatened by ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes in Maceio, even though he says that his friends have already left. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) People wait inside a railroad car at the train station in the Bom Parto neighborhood, in Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Residents of the Bom Parto neighborhood have been forced to leave their homes because of geological problems arising from mining activities that have created the threat of ground subsidence, forcing the evacuation of about 55 thousand persons from their homes. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) A discarded Barbie doll lays in a classroom of an abandoned school in the Pinheiro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. The school is part of one of the many buildings and homes abandoned because of the threat of ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes in Maceio. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Children play during an activity day organized by the Baptist church in the Pinheiro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. The church has declined to close its doors even though its building is threatened by ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes in Maceio. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) The window of an abandoned home is seen in the Bebedouro neighborhood of Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. The house was abandoned because of the threat of ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes in Maceio. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres) Homes stand abandoned in Maceio, Alagoas state, Brazil, Sunday, March 6, 2022. The homes have been abandoned because of the threat of ground subsidence caused by the Braskem mine that has forced more than 55 thousand people from their homes. (AP Photo/Eraldo Peres)