A Brazilian company has agreed to pay nearly $ 7 billion
in compensation after a dam collapsed at one of its mines in
Brazil two years ago, killing 270 people and causing huge
damage to the local environment.
The settlement with the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais,
which was announced on Thursday, is the largest in the country’s
history, according to local media. The Court of Justice of Minas
Gerais mediated the agreement, which will provide funds for
affected communities, emergency aid and resources for urban
mobility.
In January 2019, a dam holding waste water from the
company’s iron ore mine in the town of Brumadinho burst,
burying the workers’ cafeteria and dozens of homes under a toxic
wave of sludge. It also polluted local rivers.
Minas Gerais, a state whose name translates to “general
mines”, is a mining hub in the southeast of Brazil. The 2019
disaster came after another mining dam in the state burst in
November 2015, inundating the small village of Mariana and
killing 19 people.
“Our company is committed to fully repair and
compensate the damage caused by the tragedy in Brumadinho
and to increasingly contribute to the improvement and
development of the communities in which we operate,” the
company’s CEO said in a statement.
In 2016, a mining company reached a deal with the
Brazilian government to pay up to 24 billion reais ($ 6,2 billion)
over the Mariana dam collapse.
The disasters, which left thousands of families in
mourning, have renewed scrutiny of the company’s practices and
of environmental regulations in Minas Gerais.
The company involved in the Brumadinho disaster has
said that since the latest breach two years ago, it has tried to work
with “the impacted families, providing assistance to restore their
dignity, well-being and livelihoods.”
“In addition to meeting the most immediate needs of the
affected people and regions, it is also working to deliver projects
that promote lasting change to recover communities and benefit
the population effectively,” the company said in its statement.
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