Minas Gerais Prosecutor’s Office demands intervention in 18 Vale dams after heavy rains

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Eighteen Vale (VALE3) mining tailings dams in Minas Gerais will need to undergo intervention as a preventive measure due to impacts caused by heavy rains in December and January, the Minas Gerais state Prosecutor’s Office said Wednesday.

The specific and preventive actions required in 18 dams were identified after an analysis of 31 structures by the Minas Gerais Prosecutor’s Office (MPMG) and the state government, through the State Foundation for the Environment (FEAM), the agency said.

The analyses were based on documents sent by mining companies following a request by the agencies. ArcelorMittal and Minérios Nacional dams were also analyzed, whose structures did not show damages or anomalies caused by the rains and behaved as expected for the rainy season, according to the agency.

FEAM and the Minas Gerais Prosecutor’s Office notified Vale on Wednesday through an official letter for mitigation measures to be taken in each of the structures. The mining company will have 10 days to report which measures have been taken or the respective schedule of required actions.

“The heavy rains have affected several structures that will require continuous and rigorous monitoring by the command and control agencies,” said Center for Operational Environmental Support (CAOMA) Coordinator Carlos Eduardo Ferreira Pinto.

“Based on the information received, the companies will be required to take all possible and necessary technical measures to ensure the safety of these structures.”

Sought, Vale said that as soon as it is notified, it will take all appropriate measures.

Among the structures that should undergo interventions, 3 are at emergency level III (South Superior, B3/B4 and Forquilha III dams), according to the Prosecutor’s Office.

However, according to the joint analysis of FEAM and the Minas Prosecutor’s Office, despite the emergency level of these structures, “they did not present direct damage, the company only found it difficult to access the structures. The notifications for these dams call for measures to address the erosive processes in the surrounding areas and to ensure the maintenance of structures.”

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