Vale Says Samarco Dam Break Contained Toxic Elements
28 November 2015 - 4:23AM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Kiernan
RIO DE JANEIRO--Brazilian mining giant Vale SA acknowledged for
the first time on Friday the presence of toxic elements in a river
flooded with mud and mine waste following the disastrous failure of
a dam at its joint venture, Samarco Mineração SA.
The admission comes two days after a United Nations report
alleging "high levels of toxic heavy metals and other toxic
chemicals" in the river and criticizing the mining companies and
the Brazilian government for their "defensive" public response to
the incident.
As many as 12 people died when the sludge inundated towns in the
area. At least 11 people are still missing.
Samarco, Vale and its joint-venture partner BHP Billiton Ltd.
say the tsunami of mud unleashed by the Nov. 5 dam break comprised
water, mud, iron-oxide and sand, none of which are harmful. In a
news conference Friday, Vale executives continued to stress that
was the case. But Vania Somavilla, Vale's executive director of
human relations, health and safety, sustainability and energy, said
the mud may have upset toxic elements settled in the bed of the Rio
Doce, or along its banks.
The Brazilian federal government, citing "more than 40" water
samples taken since Samarco's dam collapsed, reiterated this week
that "there was not an increase in the presence of heavy metals in
the water and sediments."
But tests by a municipal water agency along the river, which
were sent to a U.N. special rapporteur on hazardous wastes, showed
high levels of toxic heavy metals and other toxic chemicals on Nov.
10.
Also this week, the Minas Gerais state institute of water
management, known as IGAM, published the results of its own, more
extensive tests on the Rio Doce, after prosecutors ordered it to do
so.
The findings? Levels of arsenic, lead, aluminum, chromium,
nickel and cadmium many times higher than the legal maximums at
various points along the river. The tests were taken between Nov. 7
and Nov. 12, as the mud from Samarco's dam crawled downstream.
Write to Paul Kiernan at paul.kiernan@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 27, 2015 12:08 ET (17:08 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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