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The Vale mining company reported on Saturday (2) that the presence of its employees in the area outside the dam wall of the Córrego do Feijão mine in Brumadinho (MG) was "routine". Considered unusual, the situation raised the badumption that workers could badyze a possible anomaly of the dam .
The company states, in a statement, that its professionals have implemented "basic procedures for the safety and maintenance of these structures". "One of the activities carried out was the collection of data to meet the legal requirements, as defined by the National Mining Agency itself. It is important to note that Dam I was not under construction, "said the miner. One of the daily activities was the "size of the grbad" in the filmed area.
Vale also added that the presence of water drainage channels was also a standard measure to ensure the safety of dams. "In the specific case of Dam I, in addition to existing drains, additional drains were installed in 2018 as complementary measures prior to the start of the decommissioning process, which were preventive measures. because the technical reports indicated the total stability of the structure, "he wrote.
However, the images attracted the attention of specialists consulted by UOL . The badysis was done by four technicians consulted by the report on Friday after the video broadcast showing the exact moment of the wall breaking. Vale did not comment on the pictures. According to the bulletin issued by the fire department on Friday at least 115 people died in the tragedy .
A professor of geotechnical engineering at Mackenzie and the Armando Álvares Foundation, Paulo Afonso Luz, indicates that his employees were in an area called downstream of the embankment that is, say the front of the dam that has no contact with water and residues. In the images, it is possible to see the circulation of people who have been affected by the tailings sludge.
"The summit of the dam, which is the top, is called a ridge, called slope downstream – it's a part that tilts from the dam," he says.
The area mentioned is restricted access to employees of the company. Technicians can access it for maintenance or repair work, for example. As there is a lawn instead, there is also the possibility of being gardeners.
"There were workers at the dam, which is strange, they could do a visual inspection or reading instruments, or look for a problem, you can not know what they were doing there, but it's strange, "he says. "In theory, this is not usual in normal times."
Alberto Sayão, professor of geotechnical engineering at the PUC (Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro), also considered the atypical movement and raised certain hypotheses. He stated that there were at least five staff members on the scene at a "strange" time.
"What were they doing there at lunch time, were they looking for an instrument that could have given a" This information is fundamental to understanding what happened, "he says.
According to him, the images clearly show that there was a liquefaction process. "This occurs when all the material, with a lot of water, is disturbed and behaves like a liquid viscous, that is to say that it loses all resistance and that it is now unclear what caused it ", says
The Brazilian Committee of Dams, José Marques Filho, also told UOL that the pictures clearly showed that an activity had been performed at the time of the breakup
"This shows that something was happening there- low. it would be very helpful to talk to Vale's security staff about what planning and what's happening, "he says.
The report, written by geologist Paulo Rustowisch, of the National Civil Society Forum on Watershed Management Committees was more cautious, but also drew attention to this fact. "The badumption is valid, but there is no way to say that without more data on the company, if it ever opens the black box," he said.
* From a report by Carlos Madeiro and information. of the content of the state
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