A term of conduct adjustment signed this Friday between Vale, the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais (MPMG) and the Minas Gerais government set an indemnity of R$ 251 million, to be paid by the mining company for failure to comply with the deadlines for decommissioning dams. Other companies had already joined the agreement. The total collection will be R$ 324 million.
Decommissioning consists of emptying areas that store tailings, ending the use of the dam and reincorporating the structure into the relief and the environment. The process became mandatory for structures that use the upstream method of raising after the tragedy in Brumadinho (MG), which resulted in the death of 270 people and environmental impacts in the Paraopeba River basin in January 2019.
In Minas Gerais, a period of three years was set by State Law 23.291/2019, known as the “Mar de Mud Never Again” Law. At the national level, the National Mining Agency (ANM) issued a resolution with a similar determination, but set other dates: August 2021 for inactive structures and August 2023 for those that were still in operation.
Considering state legislation, the deadline for decommissioning existing structures in Minas Gerais’ territory ends this month. According to the government of Minas Gerais, of the 54 dams, only seven had the process completed. Many of these structures are in an emergency situation and have demanded, in recent years, the evacuation of the surrounding population.
“We have a very clear position that there is no amnesty for failure to comply with the deadline. We also do not agree with the extension. The interested parties made an attempt to change the law, which did not work. from MPMG, Jarbas Soares Júnior.
According to him, 14 companies accepted the proposed agreement. Five are still reluctant, including Samarco, responsible for another tragedy that occurred in 2015. In the episode, the rupture of a dam in Mariana (MG), which also used the upstream method of raising, caused 19 deaths and generated economic, social impacts. and environmental issues in dozens of municipalities in the Rio Doce basin. Samarco filed a lawsuit asking for an extension of the term provided for in State Law 23,291/2019, but negotiations are still ongoing, and it is expected to sign the term. Mining companies that do not adhere will be processed by the MPMG.
“We arrived at an equation that seemed logical to us, so that companies that did not meet the deadline could compensate the people of Minas for moral damages. A study was carried out by the government of Minas Gerais and the Public Ministry to define a methodology, which took into account the amount of tailings stored in each dam”, added Jarbas.
Vale is responsible for the highest value because it is responsible for 30 of the 54 dams listed by the Minas Gerais government. According to the mining company, seven of them have already been decommissioned and 23 remain. The last one, whose completion was announced in November last year, was Dike 5, in Itabira (MG). The promise is that, by the end of this year, five more decommissionings will be completed.
In a note, Vale said that the agreement brings more legal and technical security to the process involving the 23 pending structures. “The elimination of upstream dams is part of the cultural transformation process that the company has been going through since the rupture of the B1 dam, in Brumadinho. This transformation also includes the review of processes and practices for the management of dams and tailings, with emphasis on the adoption of the Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management (GISTM), which sets out requirements for the safe management of tailings disposal facilities and aims to prevent any harm to people and the environment,” said the mining company. .
According to the state’s attorney general, Sérgio Pessoa de Paula Castro, the agreed compensation already has a defined destination. “These resources will be directed to the basins where these projects are located, either to serve the communities, or eventually to structure the inspection of the projects themselves”, he explained.
The agreement also defined deadlines for submitting decommissioning schedules, with the imposition of fines in case of violation of the schedule. Inspection was also foreseen by independent external audits, by state environmental agencies and by the MPMG.
