Fundão tailings dam failures: the environment tragedy of the largest technological disaster of Brazilian mining in global context

Perspectives in Ecology and Conservation

Luciana Hiromi Yoshino Kamino¹  Nelson Uchoa Alonso Rodrigues²  Flávio Fonseca do Carmo²  Rogério Tobias Junior²  Guilherme Silvino²  Felipe Fonseca do Carmo²  Iara Christina de Campos²  Mateus Leite Mauro²  Kenedy Junio da Silva Xavier de Castro²  Marcos Paulo de Souza Miranda²  Carlos Eduardo Ferreira Pinto³ 

[1] Corresponding author.;Instituto Prístino, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil;MPMG Ministério Público do Estado de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil;

关键词: Iron ore;    Post-disaster management;    Ecosystem collapse;    Large-Scale Mining Industry;    Doce River;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

After the collapse of the Fundão dam, 43 million m3 of iron ore tailings continue to cause environmental damage, polluting 668 km of watercourses from the Doce River to the Atlantic Ocean. The objectives of this study are to characterize the Fundão Tailings Dam and structural failures; improve the understanding of the scale of the disaster; and assess the largest technological disaster in the global context of tailings dam failures. The collapse of Fundão was the biggest environmental disaster of the world mining industry, both in terms of the volume of tailings dumped and the magnitude of the damage. More than year after the tragedy, Samarco has still not carried out adequate removal, monitoring or disposal of the tailings, contrary to the premise of the total removal of tailings from affected rivers proposed by the country's regulatory agencies and the worldwide literature on post-disaster management. Contrary to expectations, there was a setback in environmental legal planning, such as law relaxation, decrease of resources for regulatory agencies and the absence of effective measures for environmental recovery. It is urgent to review how large-scale extraction of minerals is carried out, the technical and environmental standards involved, and the oversight and monitoring of the associated structures.

【 授权许可】

Unknown