Brumadinho (MG): another announced crime

Another dam burst occurred in Minas Gerais, Brazil on Friday afternoon (25), three years after the largest socio-environmental crime in the country’s history – of which Vale is responsible and is still unpunished. On midday this Friday, a complex of three mining tailings dam burst in Brumadinho, near by Belo Horizonte. According to information from the Military Fire Brigade, 200 people are still missing.

The spokesman for the Military Fire Brigade told at news conference: “We know there are a large number of victims.” He added: “There are about 100 employees involved who were in the company’s cafeteria area and about 200 people who were part of the community.” According to information obtained by Brasil de Fato 19 municipalities are already being affected by the mud, and according to information from experts consulted by the newspaper, the impact may compromise the water to the mouth of the São Francisco River. According to the National Water Agency (ANA), the dam at the Retiro Baixo Hydroelectric Power Plant (located 220 km from the site of the rupture) would make it possible to cushion the waste stream.

Since the year of 2015, numerous denounces have been made due to the risk of disruption of the dams complex in the region. Nevertheless, an expansion was approved by the State Council of Environmental Policy, in December 2018. Brasil de Fato (bdf) denounced last month that residents strongly opposed the Minas Gerais government’s authorization for Minera Brasileiras Reunidas SA and Vale to operate in the municipalities of Brumadinho and Sarzedo.

This situation is not an isolated case. According to the latest ANA report on dam safety, with no significant increases in inspection or reporting to the agency, the number of dams with serious risk of disruption jumped from 25 to 45 in the country. A central factor is the impunity with which mining companies operate in the industry. In dialogue with the bdf, the state coordinator of the Movement of the Affected by Dams (MAB) in Minas, Thiago Alves, stated: “the impunity of Mariana’s crime gives more space and opportunity for other crimes. The way in which companies operate, especially Vale in the context of the crime in the Rio Doce Basin, and how Brazilian courts act on the side of companies, creates spaces and opportunities for more tragedies.”
 
“This breakup is the result of a mining model that is privatized and transnational, at service of large business profits, against the rights of workers and communities. this tragedy is another result of this model of death”. Pablo Días, of the national coordination of the movement, is currently in the region of the disaster and expressed: “there is an estimate that there are approximately 350 missing. The company’s cafeteria, an inn and a restaurant were destroyed, as were communities that are affected and whose impact is still being evaluated. ” He also said: “There is a great concern, the uncertainty of what will be the results of this disaster.”