Four Vale dams (VALE3) in Minas leave emergency situation

Four dams are leaving the list of structures in the OK (VALE3) who are in an emergency situation in the state of Minas Gerais.

As informed today (5th) by the mining company, new statements were obtained attesting to the stability condition of each one of them.

With the issuance of the document by an independent consultancy, the B5/MAC dams, in Nova Lima; Marés II, in Belo Vale; Santana, in Itabira; and Paracatu, in Catas Altas are no longer considered critical. There are still 25 structures of the mining company in an emergency situation.

According to a note released by Vale, the improvement in the situation of these structures is good news for the population before the rainy season, when the risks increase.

In the first weeks of this year, for example, storms in Minas Gerais put residents of areas close to critical dams on alert.

Different mines had their operations paralyzed as a safety measure and a dam under the responsibility of the French company Vallourec overflowed in Nova Lima, interdicting the federal highway BR-04.

“Vale’s main dams are monitored 24 hours a day, seven days a week by the company’s Geotechnical Monitoring Centers, in addition to receiving regular inspections by internal and external teams, who act promptly when preventive or corrective actions are required. In addition, with the aim of developing and strengthening a culture of prevention in the communities where it operates, Vale, in partnership and alignment with the Municipal Civil Defenses, complies with a schedule of sirens tests and simulated exercises to guide the population in case of emergencies involving dams“, adds the note.

Of the 25 Vale structures that still generate concern, three of them are currently at level 3, which means imminent risk of rupture: B3/B4 in Nova Lima; Superior South, in Barão de Cocais; and Forquilha III, in Ouro Preto. As work progresses, the mining company’s promise is that the dams will leave the highest emergency rating by 2025.

Safety

In addition to improving the safety conditions of structures considered critical, Vale must de-characterize all those erected by raising upstream.

This is the same method used in the structures that collapsed in the cities of Brumadinho, in 2019, and Mariana, in 2015, generating tragedies of great proportions. State Law 23.291/2019 even set a deadline that expired this year.

In view of the non-compliance, Vale signed an agreement with the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais (MPMG), agreeing to pay compensation of R$ 236 million.

The current schedule provides for the completion of all processes by 2035. Of the 30 structures originally listed by the mining company, 12 have already been 100% de-characterized.

In five of them, the works were completed this year, three of them last week, including an auxiliary dike of the B5/MAC dam, which contributed to the improvement of their safety conditions.

fine comb

The number of dams in an emergency situation in Minas Gerais has grown since 2019, after the collapse of Vale’s dam in Brumadinho, which caused 270 deaths and caused destruction in the Paraopeba River basin.

In response to the tragedy, a fine-toothed comb was driven by enforcement agencies such as the National Mining Agency (ANM) it’s the public ministry.

Several dams have lost their stability declarations, which requires the shutdown and automatic activation of emergency level 1.

In the most serious cases, classified as level 2 or 3, mining companies were forced to organize the evacuation of the entire perimeter that would be flooded in an eventual tragedy and repair the population.

In many places, affected residents are still fighting in court over reparations.

Vale has made a commitment to adapt all its dams by 2025 to the Global Industry Standard for Tailings Management (GISTM), which establishes requirements for the safe management of tailings disposal structures and aims to avoid any harm to people and the environment.

According to the mining company, the improvement in the situation of the four dams is already a step in that direction.

“They are the result of a profound transformation in the management of Vale’s tailings disposal structures, driven by lessons learned from the Brumadinho dam failure and by the best and strictest international GISTM practices,” said the mining company.

The stability condition of the four structures was attested after various interventions. The B5/MAC and Paracatu dams proved to be safer after actions related to the de-characterization works.

On the Santana dam, reinforcement works were carried out, while on the Marés II dam, new instruments were installed and geophysical interventions considered fundamental were carried out.

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