KCL Brazil Week 2020 - Environmental disasters in Brazil: from Mariana to Brumadinho This will be followed by a panel discussion on the recent environmental disasters in Brazil, such as the ruptures of dams in Mariana and Brumadinho. The discussion will also explore the damages caused by prior disasters, as well as the risks of future calamites of a similar nature. This includes analysing the social, political and economic aspects of the disasters, the unfolding of the collapses, Brazil's environmental protection policies and the struggle for accountability abroad. Panel members include: Tainá de Luccas (director and producer) Cristina Serra (journalist and author) Tom Goodhead (barrister) Isabela Espindola (visiting PhD researcher) Vinicius de Carvalho (chair, King's College London) Felipe Tirado (moderator, PhD candidate) Then join us for a reception and performance from music group, Regional do Grafton.

1. Socio,economicand
environmental
impactsofMariana
andBrumadinho:
lessonstobelearned
Isabela Battistello Espindola
Visiting PhD researcher, FAPESP fellow
Brazil week 2020 - KCL
ESPINDOLA, E.L.G., 2016 – personal archive

2. Dams in Brazil
• Two main types
Agência Nacional de Águas (Brasil). Relatório de segurança de
barragens 2018/Agência Nacional de Águas. Brasília: ANA, 2019. 103 p.
 Dam for power generation. Ex: Itaipu
Dam
 Dam to contain mining waste. Ex:
Fundao Dam

3. Dams in Brazil
• Uses related to mining and industrial production
Agência Nacional de Águas (Brasil). Relatório de segurança de
barragens 2018/Agência Nacional de Águas. Brasília: ANA, 2019. 103 p.
Containment of industrial waste
Containment of mining waste
Protection of the environment
Industrial

4. Dams in Brazil
• 68 dams with some major structural impairment (ANA 2019 report)
Agência Nacional de Águas (Brasil). Relatório de segurança de
barragens 2018/Agência Nacional de Águas. Brasília: ANA, 2019. 103 p.

5. Dams in Brazil
• Brazilian management structure for dam safety: who is responsible for inspection?
Agência Nacional de Águas (Brasil). Relatório de segurança de
barragens 2018/Agência Nacional de Águas. Brasília: ANA, 2019. 103 p.
ANEEL - National Electric Energy Agency
ANA - National Water Agency
ANM - National Mining Agency
Hydroelectric
generation
Disposal of
mineral waste
Disposal of
industrial
waste
It's in federal
river
State water
resources
management
body
Entity that
provided the
environmental
license for
installation and
operation
YES YES YES YES
NO NO NO NO

6. Dams in Brazil
• Brazilian management structure for dam safety: who is responsible for inspection?
Agência Nacional de Águas (Brasil). Relatório de segurança de
barragens 2018/Agência Nacional de Águas. Brasília: ANA, 2019. 103 p.
ANM - National Mining Agency
National Dam Safety Policy (Law n. 12.334/10)
I - height of the massif, counted from the lowest point of the foundation to the
crest, greater than or equal to 15m (fifteen meters);
II - total capacity of the reservoir greater than or equal to 3,000,000m³ (three million
cubic meters);
III - reservoir containing hazardous waste according to the applicable technical
standards;
IV - category of associated potential damage, medium or high, in economic, social,
environmental or loss of human life terms, as defined in art. 6th.

7. ESPINDOLA,E.L.G.,2016–personalarchive

8. ESPINDOLA,E.L.G.,2016–personalarchive

9. Impacts of
dams disasters
ESPINDOLA, E.L.G., 2016 – personal archive
Who are the
affected people?
According to the civil defense, affected people refer to
all individuals who are directly or indirectly affected by
the disaster. This adds up to more than 300 thousand
people affected, including dead, wounded, sick,
homeless, displaced and disappeared, in addition to the
environmental damage not mentioned.

10. ESPINDOLA, E.L.G., 2016 – personal archive
“The rupture of the Fundao Dam, of Samarco mining
company, in the municipality of Mariana/MG, which
occurred on November 5, 2015, was considered the
largest worldwide accident with dams, both for the
volume of waste dumped and for the size of the area
directly and indirectly affected. Within a framework of
disturbances regarding the environmental quality and
economy of 35 municipalities in Minas Gerais and 4
municipalities in Espirito Santo, a total of 1,265
homeless people were reached, directly affected by the
mud from the dam, and 1,295 fishermen deprived of
their activities”
SILVA, DIEGO CORREIA DA SILVA. Análise sociológica dos processos de vulnerabilidade socioambiental no contexto de desastre do
rompimento da Barragem do Fundão, em Mariana-MG. 2019. 111p. Tese (Doutorado em Ciências da Engenharia Ambiental) – Escola de
Engenharia de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, São Carlos, 2019.

11. Dam rupture
Posterior effects
Dissemination of
particulate matter
Air pollution
Respiratory,
infectious, skin and
eye diseases
Ex.: skin allergies,
tetanus & diarrhea
Gastric and intestinal
problems
Heavy metal
poisoning
Water
Deficiency of basic
sanitation
Susceptibility to
diseases of direct
water contamination
Ex.: diarrhea,
leptospirosis &
hepatitis A
Contamination of
rivers, aquifers and
watersheds
Heavy metal
poisoning
Death of fishes and
other water animals
Mud
Soil covering
Bioaccumulation of
metals in animals
Heavy metal
poisoning
Human
contamination
through
consumption
Immediate effects
Drowning (human
and other animals)
Injuries and other
accidents
Destruction of
human made areas
Destruction of native
vegetation
Proliferation of
insect-borne
diseases
Mental health diseases
(Ex.: depression,
anxiety, stress &
trauma), alcoholism
Social
Economic
Environmental

13. Researches
•Resettlement of affected people
•Mental health
•Traditional, indigenous and quilombola communities affected
•Chronic effects of exposure to high levels of harmful chemical substances
Social
•New technologies to dispose of tailings in dams
•Overburdening of local health institutions and systemsEconomic
•Samarco's environmental actions
•Ecotoxicological assessment of the iron mining waste to aquatic
organisms
•Effects of deposition of mining tailings on colonization of benthic
macroinvertebrates in aquatic ecosystems
•Bioindicators
•Water monitoring
Environmental

14. “The mining disasters have
individual and institutional
culprits: persons, companies,
and government agencies.
Agents that cause crimes and
violate numerous human
rights of a huge population
contingent”.
ESPINDOLA, E.L.G., 2016 – personal archive
HELLER, Léo. Desastres de mineração e saúde pública no Brasil:
lições (não) aprendidas. Cad. Saúde Pública, Rio de Janeiro, v.
35, n. 5, e00073619, 2019.

15. Thank you!
isaespindola@hotmail.com
Research Grant nº 2017/17997-9 and 2019/10125-1 - São Paulo Research
Foundation (FAPESP)
“The opinions, hypotheses and conclusions or recommendations expressed in
this material are the responsibility of the author (s) and do not necessarily
reflect the vision of FAPESP”