“Brazil learned nothing from its worst ever social and environmental disaster”, say experts

In an interview, Julia Neiva and Jefferson Nascimento give an overview of the scars left by the tragedy in Brumadinho

In 2019, Brazil watched as Brumadinho suffered the worst social and environmental disaster ever seen in the country. But what have we learned from the tragedy?

In this interview, the coordinator of the Socioenvironmental Rights program at Conectas, Julia Neiva, and the lawyer and doctor in international law, Jefferson Nascimento, give an overview of the situation facing the victims of Vale’s dam disaster in Brumadinho, a year after the tragedy that caused the death of at least 270 people and the disappearance of 11 others. 

What is the situation facing the victims of the Brumadinho disaster today?

Julia Neiva – The situation facing the victims and the people affected by the disaster in Brumadinho is troubling, as it involves rights violations including the sad inability to mourn the missing, increased mental illness in Brumadinho and region, the struggle for full and fair reparations and decent emergency assistance, having to contend with the impunity of those responsible for the tragedy and difficulties accessing water.

Could you list the main points of concern?

Jefferson Nascimento – While the situation is not limited to these facts, I believe that we can list six points that are cause for serious concern with regard to these people. 

 

• Inability to mourn: More than 270 people were killed by the wave of sludge and their bodies were often torn apart by the tailings over the course of kilometers of destruction. Many families, in a dignified and legitimate way, have refused to bury the body parts of their loved ones. For other families, not even this is possible: eleven victims are still missing. 
• Illness: According to the Municipal Health Department of Brumadinho, there is quite an alarming mental illness problem in the town, with a rise in the number of suicides, an increase in the consumption of antidepressants and anxiolytics, and an exodus of health professionals. 
• Full reparations: Associations of victims of the disaster in Brumadinho and movements of people affected by dams have been fighting for full reparations, which take into account the broad impacts on the environment and livelihoods in the affected communities, as well as the indirect effects of the contamination of the Paraopeba river basin. At least two civil lawsuits have been won by relatives of the victims killed by the collapse of the dam, with compensation for moral and material damages set at nearly R$20 million, far higher than standard amounts established in the compensation agreement signed with the company. 
• Emergency assistance: Since February, a 12-month agreement signed with Vale ensured the payment of emergency assistance in the amount equivalent to the minimum wage – 50% for adolescents and 25% for children – to all residents of Brumadinho and people who live up to a kilometer from the banks of the Paraopeba river in the affected area. In November, the agreement was extended for another ten months starting in January, but the full amount will be restricted to five affected communities along the banks of the Ferro-Carvão stream and people participating in Vale’s programs. The others will have their amounts cut by 50%. Relatives of the victims and movements of people affected by dams have protested the lack of their participation in the renegotiation of the agreement, in particular on account of the persistence of the social and environmental damage and its effect on their livelihood. 
• Impunity: To date, no person or company has been held accountable for the collapse of the dam in Brumadinho. A year after the disaster, just a few days ago, the Minas Gerais State Public Prosecutor’s Office filed charges against Vale, Tüv Sud and another 16 people – employees and executives – for aggravated murder and environmental crimes. The charges were filed following a joint investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office and the Minas Gerais Police Civil that has already been underway for almost a year.

 

• Access to water: A number of communities have notified that they have difficulty accessing water, which is supposed to be provided on an emergency basis by Vale. The company claims that since May there has been no more solid waste runoff into the Paraopeba river, although there are reports of communities and farmers impacted by contaminated water 300 kilometers from Brumadinho. This situation is made worse by the infrequency of water trucks and the lack of recognition of people indirectly affected by the disaster. In December, the company announced the conclusion of works to prevent mining waste from reaching the Paraopeba river, but there is still no conclusive study on the quality of water. Residents of Córrego do Feijão and neighboring areas report that water from the taps is still murky.

What measures still need to be taken by the companies and governments?

Julia Neiva – It is important to formally recognize the people and communities as affected by the disaster in Brumadinho, since this is a requirement for exercising the right to reparations. There has been a reduction in the scope of recognition of people and communities affected by the dam collapse, which is noticeable, for example, in the amount of emergency aid being granted: according to Vale’s new proposal, between 93,000 and 98,000 beneficiaries out of a total of 106,000 will now get only half of the emergency payment they have been receiving since February 2019.

What role does Conectas play in this case (or in terms of mining in general)?

Julia Neiva – First of all, we have always stood in solidarity and supported the communities affected by the disasters in Rio Doce and Brumadinho, helping their voices be heard and defending full and fair reparations, as well as accountability for the disasters. Conectas has also worked at the national and international levels:

 

• At the national level, it has advocated together with civil society organizations for stronger regulations to prevent new catastrophes like the ones that occurred in Mariana and Brumadinho from being repeated. In this regard, we closely followed and submitted insights during the debates in the External Committee on Brumadinho in the Lower House of Congress, which proposed, at the end of its work, a new set of laws with measures for prevention, reparation and accountability of those responsible for social and environmental tragedies, including a national policy for people affected by dams. Conectas also closely followed the discussions on the General Licensing Bill (no. 3,729/2004) and participated in the debates in the Working Group set up in the Lower House of Congress to discuss the topic, all the time denouncing setbacks during the discussions and demanding that this important national environmental policy instrument be preserved.

 

• At the international level, we have advocated to give visibility to the human rights and environmental violations committed by companies, including those in the extractive industry. Shortly after the disaster in Brumadinho, we presented, together with partner organizations, an urgent appeal to four United Nations special rapporteurs on the extensive rights violations resulting from the bursting of the dam. In February, Conectas and another 17 organizations petitioned the UN Global Compact, demanding that Vale be excluded from the initiative on account of business practices by the Brazilian company that conflicted with the principles of the world’s largest corporate social responsibility network. In May, we requested a regional hearing in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to discuss regional standards for reparations for human rights violations committed by companies, and we presented information on the insufficient reparations in the cases of Mariana and Brumadinho. In November, we participated on a panel at the 8th UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva, where we challenged information presented by the Brazilian government on the measures taken in response to the disaster in Mariana. In December, we accompanied the official visit by Baskut Tuncak, the UN special rapporteur on toxic wastes, and submitted insights on the serious situation still being experienced in Brumadinho.

What does the tragedy in Brumadinho represent for Brazil from the perspective of social and environmental violations committed by companies? 

Jefferson Nascimento – There are a number of things we can say about this tragedy. First, that the country learned nothing from its worst ever social and environmental disaster – the one in Rio Doce, which was also considered one of the worst in the world. Second, that reparations have not been adequate, full and fair, and that the guarantee of non-repetition, an international human rights principle that is part of the concept of full reparation, has not been observed.

In addition, legislation and regulatory bodies have been weakened. This has happened because the relationship between companies and governments is too close, allowing companies to influence government and giving companies enormous power. 

It is worth noting that there is a vast power asymmetry between affected communities/victims and companies.

Finally, in spite of all this, Brazil has not been able to progress from the predatory mining model and, as a result, there is complete impunity for those responsible. 

What do the international authorities say about the case?

Jefferson Nascimento – Four days after the collapse of the dam in Brumadinho in January, four United Nations special rapporteurs commented on the disaster, requesting an immediate, complete and impartial investigation into the collapse, casting doubt on the preventive measures adopted after the disaster in Mariana and calling for due accountability. They asked for an assessment of the safety of the existing dams to be given priority and highlighted the need for a transparent, impartial, rapid and efficient investigation into the toxicity of the waste.

Also in January, the Office of the Special Rapporteur on Economic, Social, Cultural and Environmental Rights (SRESCER) of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) urged Brazilian authorities and Vale to take all necessary measures to mitigate and prevent further damage to the environment, and to assist and facilitate the mechanisms for making reparations to victims and their families – urgent actions without which the consequences of the disaster could have been irreversible. The SRESCER-IACHR also expressed concern over the existence of up to 45 tailings dams with high risk safety conditions, recalling the precautions that States and companies must take in the light of their human rights obligations.

In May, Vale withdrew from the UN Global Compact, a move that was preceded by an official letter signed by Conectas and another 17 organizations requesting the exclusion of the company from the world’s primary corporate social responsibility network.

In December, the UN special rapporteur on toxic wastes, Baskut Tuncak, visited the Brumadinho region during an official mission to Brazil. In a statement after his visit, Tuncak said that in his five years as a UN mandate holder talking to communities whose rights have been violated by companies, he had never witnessed trauma to the extent of what was experienced by the Brumadinho community. The rapporteur reiterated his conclusion that what happened in Brumadinho should be investigated as a crime. “This was not an accident. Like many inside and outside Brazil, I believe this disaster was ‘preventable and predictable’,” he said. 

What are the risks of a repeat of the tragedies like those in Mariana and Brumadinho? Are other crimes being monitored?

Julia Neiva – According to the most recent report by the National Water Agency (ANA) on dam security, there are currently 909 structures classified as high Associated Potential Damage among the 5,086 at-risk dams – i.e. one in five. This same report reveals a 26% increase in the number of dams with this classification from 2017 to 2019, mainly located in the states of Bahia, Pará, Paraíba, Pernambuco and Rio Grande do Norte.

To address this situation, it is necessary not only to ban new ‘upstream’ dams – like the ones in Mariana and Brumadinho, which are less secure – but also to speed up the process of decommissioning these types of dams by companies. Meanwhile, it is also necessary to increase federal, state and municipal budgets to conduct maintenance work on these dams that are essential for their security.

What measures could be taken to prevent other catastrophes?

Jefferson Nascimento – It is necessary to adopt measures to strengthen prevention, to improve reparation policies and to establish effective accountability. For prevention, it is necessary to approve a regulatory framework that increases dam safety requirements, ensures transparency and social participation in environmental issues, strengthens the environmental licensing process, reforms corporate legislation to strengthen fiduciary duties regarding accountability and reporting by management and board members, ensures adequate resources for independent social and environmental oversight and establishes a legally binding duty of human rights due diligence for companies. For reparations, it is necessary to approve a national policy on the rights of people affected by dams and to create a fund for high-risk and high-impact developments. For accountability, it is necessary to amend criminal law to remove obstacles to holding companies, management and service providers (e.g. consulting firms, auditing firms) accountable for serious environmental crimes.