Our flight arrived in Rio early in the morning, and by the time we had left the airport the day had already started. While we were checking into the hotel, one of us realized that his passport was missing, because of this the rest of the group stayed at the hotel for most of the day and enjoyed some time relaxing by the pool and getting some time to sleep. From the roof top of our hotel we could clearly see a breathtaking view of the mountains and favelas and even Christ the Redeemer. At night after the passport issue had been nearly resolved, we discussed the pollution issues in the Guanabara Bay, which is going to hold the next summer Olympics. However, the bay is so polluted that there is no beach, it is just garbage and the boats can hardly leave the bay without getting garbage caught in the propellers. The bay is too polluted to hold much life in it and 60% of the cities raw sewage is washed into the bay because only 40% of it is treated. The fecal matter content is 200 times greater than the legal limit in the U.S. Although Brazil has the money and the technology to clean up the bay, its has been delaying the clean up for months and is running out of time before the Olympics. The citizens of Rio are angry and try to get the government to take action and create sanitation methods but unfortunately, the government is only interested in quick fixes for the Olympics instead of investing into long term solutions. Part of the issue is the Favelas, which are shacks stacked on top of each other in the mountains outside the city and are cities of their own. Building in the mountains means taking out plants to build which causes dirt to be lose and easily eroded. Because of this, when it rains and all of the water comes down the mountain, lose dirt comes with it and sometimes brings along the house structures causing landslides and hundreds of deaths each year. Favelas are made by the people who live in them, they are not structurally built safely and are unstable, they are squares stacked on top of each other with a water tube down the center of the structure. The water and waste that flows out of the tube goes right to the streets and travels all the way down the mountains with gravity and into the bay, with zero sanitation. Although the growing of favelas have been slowing and landslide issues are being taken care of, the sanitation issues are still being ignored by Brazil’s government. |
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After sleeping in a little late and packing, we took a subway to a different part of Rio and went through security at the Chevron Oil Company. Chevron receives threats sometimes from people who are against drilling and so it is important the proper security measures are taken. We went upstairs in the building and met with a group of people that work for Chevron, some of which are originally from America. Each of the member presented us with a power point specifically relate to what they work on. 10% of Brazil’s economy relies on oil companies like Chevron which has produced four times more oil than other companies in Brazil in the past 20 years and is expected to double by 2020. Chevron is one of the largest oil companies in Brazil and usually ahead in the race of finding new places to drill. Although recently some of their wells have come up dry in the past few years, they are optimistic and continue to drill what they can. Their current largest field produces 88,000 barrels of oil a day and all of their activity happens off shore. Brazil is a marketable area for drilling because much of its rock is very old and Brazil does not get tsunamis or earth quakes or tornadoes, they just experience a lot of rain. We learned step by step how the company uses equipment and what they see to underground and what goes into finding the best places to drill. We saw step by step how a well is built, how oil is extracted, and how wells are closed off along with common issues and the safety precautions that are taken to prevent and solve them.
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Rio De Janeiro |