Environmental disaster in Brazil: 24 days after the Brumandinho tragedy, the number of deaths under the mud increases, 8 Vale officials are in prison and new evacuations due to the risks of the Minas Gerais dams

On Saturday evening, civil defense, firefighters, police and municipalities mobilized the state of Minas Gerais, in the metropolitan area of ​​Belo Horizonte (Brazil), since the siren that sounded for 20 hours in the city of Nova. Lima, in a tourist region known as "Macaco" in the region of San Sebastian de las Aguas Claras, has begun new evacuations.

Before the possible instability of Vale's Mar Azul mine, the local authorities decided that some 200 people were forced to leave their homes as a precaution with the B3 and B4 dams.

"The feeling that history will be repeated is what is most scary," a surprise reporter told a siren from the Vale de Nova Lima mine to G1 reporter for the O Goblo network.

"It's infuriating, because recently we had the sad episode of Brumadinho, so the feeling we have is that we are going to die at any moment, that the story will repeat itself." A horrible feeling, "said Dr. 39, lawyer Adriana Meireles.

According to Adriana, the alert caused panic, as several people were unaware of the escape route and left without instructions. Some went to a higher neighborhood, called Capela. "The city is completely lost and looks like zombies, without knowing where to go," he said.

Meanwhile, the president of the community badociation, Raúl Franco, also asked about the lack of information. "Misinformation fuels panic and people do not really know how to proceed," he said of the emergency exit.

Although Vale stated that it held meetings for the presentation of the emergency plan in 2018, the last meeting was held on November 28, with about sixty members of the community, where facilities for the installation sirens were presented and routes discussed. leak

According to the fire department, the decision on Saturday night was made after an audit refused to testify on the safety of the dam, which contains about 3 million cubic meters of mineral waste.

The structure is above, even, the model of the Brumadinho and Mariana dams. Firefighters explained that the emergency plan provided for the removal of residents from 49 homes. The buildings are located in the San Sebastián district of Las Aguas Claras, known as Macacos, 25 kilometers from Belo Horizonte. Currently, the dam is at level 2, which determines the departure of people.

According to Vale, "this decision is a precautionary measure taken after the badysis of data from the badysis reports of the specialized companies hired to advise Vale.It should be noted that the structure is inactive and that this initiative has a preventive character". The evacuees were housed in hotels in the area.

Last week, 500 residents of the mining town of Baron de Cocais, about 80 kilometers from the capital Belo Horizonte, were also evacuated from their homes. According to the intentions, "there is a risk that the Superior South Dam of the Gongo Soco mine, exploited by the Vale, will be broken."

The greatest human and environmental tragedy caused by a mining company

On January 25, the break-up of the Vale mine dam in the Bean mine in Brumandinho left 166 people dead and 144 people still missing, civil defense authorities in Minas Gerais announced yesterday.

Lieutenant-Colonel Flavio Godinho reported that 160 of the bodies found were found.

24 days after the tragedy, the Office of the Attorney General of Comarca de Brumadinho, found evidence that They accuse the professionals and leaders of the mining company Vale SA to be responsible for the tragedy and ordered Friday (15) the arrest of 8 company executives "who were directly involved in the security and the dam stability ".

The court decision is made as part of the investigation operation on the criminal liabilities resulting from the collapse of the company dam in Brumadinho, which devastated the life of 166 and left 155 others missing, as well as causing economic and environmental damage. irreparable on domestic fauna and flora, the natural spaces of the Atlantic forest and the pollution of rivers

Responsibilities for "qualified homicide, environmental crimes and ideological lies" will be determined.

The detainees on Wednesday (13) were two executive directors, two control and security officers and four members of Vale's technical teams. According to the prosecutor's office, all those arrested by the courts "are directly involved in the safety and stability of dam 1".

According to the public prosecutor, they were still victims of searches and seizures in Rio de Janeiro at the headquarters of the minor, as well as in Sao Paulo and Belo Horizonte, to locate four officials of the German company Tüv Süd, which provided services in Vale, the stability of the dam that collapsed.

Temporary prisons were decreed for a period of 30 days. Among the detainees, he is Alexandre Campaña, Vale executive, quoted in the testimonials of the engineer Makoto Namba, from Tüv Süd, who said he felt compelled by the executive to sign a document stating the stability of the dam that was finally broken.

"Will Tüv Süd sign or not?", Declared Campaign, according to Namba in a testimony to the federal police. The engineer then indicated that he had replied that he would sign if the Vale adopted the recommendations formulated during the periodic review of June 2018. Namba claimed to have signed the award and the feared to lose the contract. In statements, Campaña denied having interrupted the dialogue with the person responsible for the decision of the dam.

The actions of the judicial system respond to the complaints of the regional coordinator of prosecutors for environmental justice of the Ríos de las Viejas and Paraopeba basins, the special group organized by GAECO against organized crime and the special group of promoters of Public Property Defense Justice – PPIM, in the field of the workforce.

Fabio Schvartsman in the audience of the Chamber of Deputies. Photo: Marcelo Camargo / Agencia Brazil

Fabio Schvartsman: "Vale is a jewel for Brazil and can not be sentenced because of a single accident in a dam"

The president of Vale SA, Fabio Schvartsman, launched this sentence for the defense of the mining company Thursday (14) at the meeting held at the National Congress of Brazil, during a hearing at which the public was convened to inform the public of the Explanation of the greatest environmental and human tragedy, not only the country, but also the history of the world's mining companies.

Schvartsman said "Vale is a Brazilian gem that can not be convicted for an accident at its dam, no matter how big the tragedy," he said.

The president of the company then presented the main measures adopted after the rupture of the dam and the defense of Vale. According to him, it is "one of the best companies I know, she can not be sentenced because of a single accident," he said.

According to the latest badessment of the Civil Defense, 166 people have died and 155 people are still missing, in addition to economic and environmental damage irreparable and incalculable for the determination of possible compensation.

However, for Schvartsman, it was an accident and the company decided that "all the processes adopted by Vale in the context of the dam operation would be examined by the body responsible for the licensing of the dams. United States, the US Army Corps of Engineers ".

According to the executive, Vale would have contacted the organization which, in addition to reviewing the processes, could also collaborate with any amendments to the mining code.

"Inherited" ascending dams

In his presentation, Schavartsman also argued that "Vale has never built a dam upstream model", method devised in the dike that broke out in Brumadinho and Mariana in 2015.

"All the dams" upstream "of Vale were bought by the company after joint surveillance with the state bodies responsible for the structures," he said, also blaming the Brazilian state control agencies.

The company has 19 dams built according to the "ascending" system and has already announced its intention to put an end to these dams within three years. According to Vale, none of them is used.

The Bean Stream Dam was built by Farteco and acquired by Vale. "It is important to note that the Vale has been in existence for 70 years.The first Vale dam accident occurred in Frijoles, but this dam was not built by Vale. the method of ascending construction in no dam, "he said.

In the case of the dam failure in Mariana (MG), in 2015, the structure belonged to the mining company Samarco, a company resulting from a joint venture between Vale and BHP in Australia.

Families refuse a compensation agreement

At the meeting, the president of Vale again stated that the company would not pursue the payment of compensation to the families of the victims and affected by the tragedy, and that what was needed, it would was accelerating the payment of compensation to the families of the victims. workers who lost their lives in the mine.

For the manager, "you want to accelerate Vale's compensation payments, people will not opt ​​for legalization, we will opt for an agreement," he said.

At a meeting on Wednesday evening (13) in Brumadinho, relatives of Vale's victims, employees and contractors affected by the tragedy caused by the fall of the dam, had rejected the draft agreement by the mining sector.

Source: With information from Red O Globo (G1 Minas Gerais), Veja, Estadão

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