Seeking justice for the affected communities of Vale’s mining disasters in Mariana and Brumadinho
In 2015 and 2019, the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais experienced two severe mining tragedies in Mariana and Brumadinho, due to the same mining company: Vale. Since then, the affected communities have been seeking justice, via the criminal punishment of the responsible parties, and a fair compensation for the loss of their loved ones, their homes and their livelihoods. Both ENDS supports local CSOs by amplifying their quest for justice within an international audience and, more specifically, by raising awareness amongst Dutch investors in Vale about the high risks this company’s activities pose for people and the environment.
What happened in Mariana and Brumadinho?
On November 5th, 2015, an upstream tailings dam (a construction that retains and stores mining waste materials) in Mariana, collapsed and released 44,5 million cubic meters of mining waste into the environment, killed 19 people (5 community members and 14 mine workers) and destroyed the homes of approximately 600 residents. The toxic mud travelled 668 kilometers contaminating Doce River - a crucial water source for the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo – and spilling into the Atlantic Ocean. The environmental catastrophe affected 49 municipalities and more than 280,000 habitants that relied on the Rio Doce for its drinking water, agriculture, fishing and livestock.
Only 3 years and a bit later, an even bigger tragedy happened when on January 25th, 2019, the upstream tailings dam in Brumadinho collapsed, killing 272 people (254 mine workers and 16 residents including 2 pregnant women) and releasing 12 million cubic metres of waste into the surrounding areas including the Paraopeba River towards the Três Marias Reservoir; an extension of more than 250 kilometers of affected river, spread over 26 municipalities.
A long pursuit for justice in Brazil and Europe
In both disasters, the mining company Vale is involved: the tailings dam in Mariana was operated by Samarco (a joint venture between mining companies Vale and BHP Biliton), whereas the dam in Brumadinho was owned by Vale alone. Nonetheless, the company has been able to evade any criminal liability and they have promoted and signed reparation agreements with Brazilian authorities and local governments for restoration and reconstruction of the affected areas. However, those agreements have been largely criticised due to lack of participation of the affected communities in the process and inadequate compensation, Moreover, for those who lost their loved ones, their homes and their livelihoods, the criminal liability of those responsible for these irreparable losses is the only way to find some closure. For that reason, there have been several attempts to bring Vale to justice in Brazil and Europe.
In the case of Mariana, two lawsuits have been started in the home countries of the involved mining companies: against BHP Biliton in the United Kingdom and against Vale in the Netherlands. The court case against BHP increased the international attention to the over 700,000 plaintiffs affected by the Mariana tragedy who hope for some justice with its final court session in March 2025.
In the case of Brumadinho, the attempts to bring Vale to justice can be followed in the “Observatory of Criminal Actions on the Brumadinho Tragedy”, an important project in which our partner, Instituto Cordilheira, helps affected communities to understand the ongoing legal proceedings.
Call to investors: hold corporations accountable and divest
Another important way to hold these mining companies accountable is via investor action. Under the OECD's “Guidelines for Institutional Investors” and the “Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises”, investors are expected to take action and influence their investee companies to mitigate adverse impacts on environment preservation and human rights.
Both ENDS has held several meetings with Dutch investors in Vale (e.g. pension funds, banks, insurance companies) to ask them to hold the company accountable for negligence, preferably via divestment. We have shown them the effects of the mining disasters in Brazil by hearing first hand the experience of our local partners and by showing the impressive documentary “Illusion of Abundance”. We keep sharing information that shows, in our view, that Vale has not done enough in the past and in the present to prevent these disasters, and that they have failed to fairly compensate and clean up.
Despite our engagement with investors and the recurring warning signs, so far investors have been hesitant to divest. At every annual shareholder meeting of Vale, there are several critical speeches and questions posed to the company that keep being ignored.
When will the next tragedy happen?
Although the type of dam that collapsed in Mariana and Brumadinho – an upstream tailings dam for which there is increasing scientific evidence that they are unstable and pose a high risk for the environment – should have been dismantled in 2021 by law, Vale is still operating several of these upstream tailings dams with a high likelihood for collapse. In Mariana, Samarco has re-started their operations with an expansion project which places mining waste piles less than 1 km away from where the tragedy took place.
Meanwhile, communities are still mourning and living in a contaminated environment. For them, the question remaining is not if, but when the next tragedy will happen.
Looking ahead
Mariana and Brumadinho dam disasters are unfortunately powerful cautionary tales about the importance of corporate accountability and an urgent need to discuss corporate risk assessments consequences. In this context we’re also involved in the Financial Exclusions Tracker, a website that tracks which companies are being excluded by institutional investors, pension funds and banks due to human rights, public health, and sustainability, among other issues. For the second year in a row, Vale is one of the listed companies most commonly excluded by investors because of human rights violations and risks.
Both ENDS stands with the victims of the Mariana and Brumadinho disasters. Together with our local partner organisations we share their call for justice, and raise awareness amongst investors about their responsibility to hold companies like Vale accountable.
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