Brazil's public prosecutor has charged state-run oil company Petrobras with environmental crimes for a spill that allegedly contaminated the mangroves and estuary of Guanabara Bay off Rio de Janeiro.
The spill occurred at the Duque de Caxias refinery in June 2011.
Renato Machado says the refinery acted with complete negligence. He says Petrobras knew since at least 2007 that the treatment stations were obsolete and not functioning adequately, yet it did nothing.
In 2010 the New Zealand government awarded Petrobras a five-year deepwater permit to explore the Raukumara Basin off East Cape.
