Mariana dam disaster

Mariana dam disaster
The village of Bento Rodrigues after the disaster
Mariana dam disaster is located in Brazil
Bento Rodrigues
Bento Rodrigues
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Bento Rodrigues in Brazil
Date5 November 2015 (2015-11-05)
LocationGermano mine complex, Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Coordinates20°13′53″S 43°26′33″W / 20.23139°S 43.44250°W / -20.23139; -43.44250
TypeDam failure
CauseUnknown[1]
ParticipantsSamarco (Vale, BHP Billiton)
Deaths19[2]
Non-fatal injuries16+[1]
Property damageTwo villages devastated,[1] around 200 homes destroyed[3]

The Mariana dam disaster, also known as the Bento Rodrigues or Samarco dam disaster, occurred on 5 November 2015, when the Fundão tailings dam at the Germano iron ore mine of the Samarco Mariana Mining Complex near Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil, suffered a catastrophic failure, resulting in flooding that devastated the downstream villages of Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu de Baixo (40 km (25 mi) from Bento Rodrigues), killing 19 people.[4][5] The extent of the damage caused by the tailings dam collapse is the largest ever recorded with pollutants spread along 668 kilometres (415 mi) of watercourses.[6]

The failure of the dam released 43.7 million cubic metres of mine tailings into the Doce River, causing a toxic brown mudflow to pollute the river and beaches near the mouth when it reached the Atlantic Ocean 17 days later.[7][8][9][10] The disaster created a humanitarian crisis as hundreds were displaced and cities along the Doce River suffered water shortages when their water supplies were polluted.

The total impact of the disaster, including the reason for failure and the environmental consequences, are officially under investigation and remain unclear.[11] The owner of the Bento Rodrigues dam, Samarco, was subject to extensive litigation and government sanctions. In 2016, charges of manslaughter and environmental damage were filed against 21 executives, including Samarco's former CEO and representatives from Samarco's owners, Vale and BHP Billiton, on its board of directors. Controversy over the investigation grew after a 2013 report, indicating structural issues in the dam, was leaked.[12][13][14][15]

On 6 November 2024, the President of the Brazilian Supreme Federal Court (STF), Minister Luis Roberto Barroso, granted approval to a R$170bn compensation and repair agreement to repair the damages caused by the collapse of the Fundao dam, in Mariana, signed between the mining companies and the Brazilian government.[16]

  1. ^ a b c "Dam burst at mining site devastates Brazilian town". Al Jazeera English. AFP and Reuters. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  2. ^ "Brazil dam burst: Six months on, the marks left by sea of sludge". BBC News. 5 May 2016.
  3. ^ Willis, Andrew; Stringer, David (7 November 2015). "Dam Owned by Iron-Ore Giants Bursts, Flooding Brazil Valley". Bloomberg. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  4. ^ Trajano, Humberto (3 September 2016). "Quase 3 anos após tragédia de Mariana, projeto para novo distrito de Paracatu de Baixo é aprovado". G1 (in Brazilian Portuguese). Belo Horizonte: Globo Comunicação e Participações S.A. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
  5. ^ "Brazil dam burst: Six months on, the marks left by sea of sludge". BBC News. 5 May 2016.
  6. ^ Fonseca do Carmo, Flávio; et al. (July–September 2017). "Fundão tailings dam failures: the environment tragedy of the largest technological disaster of Brazilian mining in global context". Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation. 15 (3). Elsevier: 145–151. Bibcode:2017PEcoC..15..145C. doi:10.1016/j.pecon.2017.06.002.
  7. ^ "Boechat: Mariana é a maior tragédia ambiental do Brasil". TV UOL (in Portuguese). 9 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  8. ^ "Acidente na barragem de Samarco é "a maior tragédia ambiental" do Brasil". Rede Angola (in Portuguese). 21 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  9. ^ "Sebastião Salgado: "É a maior tragédia ambiental do Brasil. Mas tem solução"". El País (in Portuguese). 19 November 2015. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  10. ^ Rifai, Ryan (22 November 2015). "Toxic sludge reaches Atlantic after Brazil dams burst". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  11. ^ "Anger rises as Brazilian mine disaster threatens river and sea with toxic mud". The Guardian. London. 22 November 2015. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  12. ^ Dunckley, Mathew (13 November 2015). "BHP Billiton rebuts Samarco dam report". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 13 November 2015.
  13. ^ Phillips, Dom (25 November 2015). "Brazil's mining tragedy: was it a preventable disaster?". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 24 December 2015.
  14. ^ Phillips, Dom; Brasileiro, Davilson (1 March 2018). "Brazil dam disaster: firm knew of potential impact months in advance". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  15. ^ Timson, Lia (4 March 2019). "'Profit before people': documents allege BHP execs were warned over deadly dam". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 April 2019.
  16. ^ "STF referenda acordo para reparação de danos causados pela tragédia em Mariana (MG)". Retrieved 7 November 2024.