A Brazilian miner, Vale, says a dam risks collapsing

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – Brazilian mining giant Vale said Saturday that communities in southeastern Minas Gerais state had been ordered to evacuate, after independent auditors had discovered that one of his dams could collapse at any time.

On Friday, the company increased the risk level of a barrage of mining waste in the city of Barao de Cocais to three, the highest level. According to the Brazilian secretary for mines and energy, level three means that "a break is imminent or already under way".

State authorities have already ordered some communities to leave the premises in February, after Vale had raised the level of risk to grade two, said company spokeswoman Cinthia Saito.

Saito said Vale did not know yet how many people had complied with the order.

Lieutenant-Colonel Flavio Godinho, of the state's civil defense department, told reporters that the authorities are studying the structure of Barao de Cocais to review the existing emergency plan.

"Any activity on the dam could trigger a break," Godinho told Globo TV.

The news comes nearly two months after the collapse of another dam operated by Vale in the nearby town of Brumadinho, triggering a wave of toxic mud that has contaminated the rivers and which has almost certainly killed about 300 people .

The type of structure used to retain the mining waste at Brumadinho was the same as that currently used at Barao de Cocais, located about 150 kilometers away.

State authorities banned construction last month, but companies had 90 days to submit their dam replacement projects by three years ago.

Vale said in a statement that he was already replacing ten of these dams.