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BELO HORIZONTE (Reuters) – The rupture of the Vale dam last Friday may have been caused by liquefaction, a problem that only occurs in systems built upstream, identical to the Brumadinho structure (MG ). Hidelbrando Neto, Undersecretary for Environmental Regulation of the State Secretariat for the Environment, told Reuters.
However, it would be necessary to understand why liquefaction would have occurred, said the undersecretary, according to data provided by Vale. Neto recalled that the liquefaction, with the greatest accumulation of water in the structure, was the reason for the rupture of the Samarco Dam (Vale's joint venture with BHP Billiton) in November 2015, which used the same method of # 39; elevation.
The conclusion in the Samarco case was published by the authorities and then confirmed by inves "The two disasters that occurred were with dams upstream, and in both cases, at least everything indicates, Is the information that the "
" I think so the Union will engage on the path of prohibition, prohibit access to these dams ", he said, pointing out that another method of building dams was not liquefying. Upstream, this is what the state did, "he added, pointing out that the government of Minas Gerais had suspended any license for any type of dam until the country revised its regulations, in addition to banning the application of upstream technology.
Vale stated that "the causes of bruising failure"
are being studied and will be communicated transparently and with as much agility as possible. "
The authorities also pointed out that certain factors that sometimes precipitated problems in the dams had not been verified
" There was no tremor, no rain, which are usually triggers.The question that everyone asks is: what happened to it? What is the cause? "
The rupture of the Vale's dam Friday killed at least 110 people, 71 of whom were more than 200 have disappeared. is equivalent to about half of the other dams, but presents a greater safety risk because their walls are built on a waste base rather than an external material or solid soil.
Another solution is the downstream method, when the walls are built on dry land, in addition to other technologies, such as the disposal of dry residues, in cavas or stacks.
With about 12 million cubic meters of iron ore tailings, the structure that witnessed the Córrego do Feijão mine, which released a mountain of mud that engulfed the administrative area and the dining room of the city. 39; enterprise with hundreds of employees of the enterprise, and also reached the communities, inns, forests and rivers of the region.
In addition, there are 50 dams upstream in Minas Gerais, of which 27 are in operation and 23 are paralyzed, including Brumadinho.
REVIEW OF PARAMETERS
Minas Gerais is responsible for issuing licenses to dams in the state.
But Neto pointed out that the jurisdiction to inspect dams is federal and that for public statements already presented by the Government and the National Mines Agency (ANM),
"Because when we take both disasters, and that in both cases, there were reports of the to ensure stability, so we have to review some technical parameters, "said Neto.
"The ANM has already issued a statement in which it was announced that they would reinforce the"
Neto believed that, although the jurisdiction to inspect dam safety is federal, the Secretariat of State of the environment had already measures to bring more rigor, such as the prohibition of new upstream licensing processes with upstream technology since 2016.
In addition, it has also participated in a state resolution that resulted in extraordinary safety technical audits for upstream buses. among other measures
Thus, Neto considers that the regulation around this type of dam was more rigorous after the disaster of Samarco, but that the technical parameters of the evaluation were not modified
"What s 's gone by recently it was a change of direction even, the technical badysis remains the same, all the same … The organ has become more efficient "
" You must review these settings To ensure that this does not happen anymore, the state of Minas Gerais is already ordering the removal of everything except a dam upstream in Brazil. act on a federal change. "
Vale recently announced having ten upstream mining dams, all out of service, and announced investments of R $ 5 billion to accelerate the decommissioning of these structures.
This week, the company said that in 2016, shortly after the Samarco event, it had decided to decommission the 19 dams located upstream of iron ore in Brazil.
In recent years, all in order to speed up the process of dismantling dams, the company said that it will have to stop iron ore production in areas close to units located in Minas Gerais, with an impact of 40 million tons of iron ore, which will be partially offset by the increase in production in other countries.
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