Thus Rodrigo de Castro Amédée Péret from the Churches and Mining Network in
Latin America described the disaster in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil on
November 5, 2015, when ca. 40–62 m
3 of water and sediment from iron ore mining
flowed on a mountain slope after the Fundão dam had burst at an open-pit mine
operated by Samarco and another dam had ruptured (The Guardian 2015). Due to
this incident, the “biggest disaster of its kind” (Kiernan 2016), a wave of chemically
highly toxic mud was released into neighboring regions (Winston 2016), triggering a
stream of mud washing away villages and farmland; killing 20 people, fish, and
aquatic life hundreds of km away; making potable water non-drinkable for hundreds
of thousands of persons; displacing 700 people; destroying livelihood; poisoning
hundreds of kilometers of the Rio Doce River Valley; and travelling over
400 miles through the Rio Doce Basin in Southeast Brazil before reaching the
Atlantic Ocean (Kiernan 2016; Phillips 2015; Richard 2016; The Guardian 2015).
The severe environmental effects impact the livelihoods of over one million
people in 41 communities, constraining local access to clean water, fishery
resources, plant production, hydropower, and raw materials (Wilson et al. 2016).
Threats to human communities living at the riverside are especially acute for
disadvantaged populations from isolated areas who depend from fisheries and
subsistence agriculture (Wilson et al. 2016).
Ecologists foresee various negative impacts like chronic vegetative loss, changes
in biological diversity of fish populations, bad recovery in polluted areas, impairment of ground stability and drainage monitoring, and enhanced risk of other
geomorphological disorders, including mudslides, bank collapse, mass displacements, bank failure, and mass motions (Wilson et al. 2016). According to expert
estimates, the regeneration period of the biophysical composition, the eco-function,
and the biological diversity in impacted areas might take decades or even a century
(Wilson et al. 2016). The devastation of watersides, fresh water, and maritime
ecological systems eradicated essential biological resources and eco-processes preserving traditional livelihoods and disturbing the provisioning of fresh water, fisheries, agriculture, and tourism (Wilson et al. 2016).
2.3.2.3 Causes of the Disaster
As the police found out, the main cause of the dam burst had been the enormous
accumulation of water inside the reservoir (Gonzalez 2016). Dewatering errors and
indicators of erosion had already been appearing since the tailings dam was opened
in 2008 (Gonzalez 2016). Otávio Guerra, a civilian police expert, revealed that a
reduction of the water flow caused more fluid to remain within the dam, thus
resulting in reduced reliability and stability of the embankment structure, finally
leading to the dam break (Gonzalez 2016).
Samarco’s board of directors consisting of representatives of Vale and BHP
Billiton had been repeatedly informed about the dam’s construction problems and
measures to remedy the problem in various meetings between 2009 and 2014 as
proven by the minutes appearing in the judicial files. Joaquim Pimenta de Ávila, a
2 Mining Environmental Disasters in North and South America: The. . .
25
Latin America described the disaster in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil on
November 5, 2015, when ca. 40–62 m
3 of water and sediment from iron ore mining
flowed on a mountain slope after the Fundão dam had burst at an open-pit mine
operated by Samarco and another dam had ruptured (The Guardian 2015). Due to
this incident, the “biggest disaster of its kind” (Kiernan 2016), a wave of chemically
highly toxic mud was released into neighboring regions (Winston 2016), triggering a
stream of mud washing away villages and farmland; killing 20 people, fish, and
aquatic life hundreds of km away; making potable water non-drinkable for hundreds
of thousands of persons; displacing 700 people; destroying livelihood; poisoning
hundreds of kilometers of the Rio Doce River Valley; and travelling over
400 miles through the Rio Doce Basin in Southeast Brazil before reaching the
Atlantic Ocean (Kiernan 2016; Phillips 2015; Richard 2016; The Guardian 2015).
The severe environmental effects impact the livelihoods of over one million
people in 41 communities, constraining local access to clean water, fishery
resources, plant production, hydropower, and raw materials (Wilson et al. 2016).
Threats to human communities living at the riverside are especially acute for
disadvantaged populations from isolated areas who depend from fisheries and
subsistence agriculture (Wilson et al. 2016).
Ecologists foresee various negative impacts like chronic vegetative loss, changes
in biological diversity of fish populations, bad recovery in polluted areas, impairment of ground stability and drainage monitoring, and enhanced risk of other
geomorphological disorders, including mudslides, bank collapse, mass displacements, bank failure, and mass motions (Wilson et al. 2016). According to expert
estimates, the regeneration period of the biophysical composition, the eco-function,
and the biological diversity in impacted areas might take decades or even a century
(Wilson et al. 2016). The devastation of watersides, fresh water, and maritime
ecological systems eradicated essential biological resources and eco-processes preserving traditional livelihoods and disturbing the provisioning of fresh water, fisheries, agriculture, and tourism (Wilson et al. 2016).
2.3.2.3 Causes of the Disaster
As the police found out, the main cause of the dam burst had been the enormous
accumulation of water inside the reservoir (Gonzalez 2016). Dewatering errors and
indicators of erosion had already been appearing since the tailings dam was opened
in 2008 (Gonzalez 2016). Otávio Guerra, a civilian police expert, revealed that a
reduction of the water flow caused more fluid to remain within the dam, thus
resulting in reduced reliability and stability of the embankment structure, finally
leading to the dam break (Gonzalez 2016).
Samarco’s board of directors consisting of representatives of Vale and BHP
Billiton had been repeatedly informed about the dam’s construction problems and
measures to remedy the problem in various meetings between 2009 and 2014 as
proven by the minutes appearing in the judicial files. Joaquim Pimenta de Ávila, a
2 Mining Environmental Disasters in North and South America: The. . .
25