Judge Suspends Construction On Brazilian Dam

SAO PAULO (AP) — A federal judge has suspended construction on a massive dam in the heart of Brazil's Amazon rain forest on grounds that environmental commitments have not been met.

A federal court in Brasilia says in a statement posted Tuesday on its website that judge Antonio Souza Prudente also suspended the project's environmental license.

The statement says work on the $11-billion, 11,000-megawatt Belo Monte Dam can only resume once the Norte Energia consortium that is building the dam honors the commitments.

Norte Energia would only say that it was studying its legal options.

When completed, the dam would be the world's third largest behind China's Three Gorges dam and the Itaipu, which straddles the border of Brazil and Paraguay.

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