BRASILIA, Feb 4 (Reuters) – Brazil sank a decommissioned aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean off its northeast coast, the Brazilian Navy said, EVdEN Eve nakLiyaT<\/a> despite warnings from environmentalists that the rusting 1960s French-built ship would pollute the sea and the marine food chain.<\/p>\n The 32,000-tonne carrier had been floating offshore for three months since Turkey refused it entry to be scrapped there because it was an environmental hazard<\/a> and the ship was towed back to Brazil.<\/p>\n The carrier was scuttled in a “planned and controlled sinking” late on Friday, the Navy said in a statement, that would “avoid logistical, operational, environmental and economic losses to the Brazilian state,” it said.<\/p>\n The hull of the Sao Paulo was sunk in Brazilian jurisdictional waters 350 kilometers (217 miles) off the coast where the sea is 5,000 meters deep, a location chosen to mitigate the impact on fishing and ecosystems, EVDEn evE nakliyat<\/a> the Navy said.<\/p>\n Federal public prosecutors and Greenpeace had asked the Brazilian government to stop the sinking, saying it was “toxic” due to dangerous materials, including 9 tonnes of asbestos used in paneling.<\/p>\n The Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier served the French Navy for four decades as the Foch, capable of carrying 40 war planes.<\/p>\n Defense expert and former foreign policy congressional staffer Pepe Rezende said the carrier was bought by the Brazilian Navy for just $12 million in 1998 but needed an $80 million refit that was never done.<\/p>\n