The logo of the French group Vallourec, on May 12, 2017, in Paris (AFP / Archives / ERIC PIERMONT)
The French group Vallourec was fined 288 million reais (around 45 million euros) for “environmental damage”, three days after the overflow of a mining dam in Brazil, local authorities announced Tuesday.
The government of the state of Minas Gerais (south-east) said in a statement to have “notified Vallourec of the environmental damage caused by the overflow of a sediment containment dike from the Pau Branco mine”, located in Nova Lima, in the suburbs of Belo Horizonte.
This notification also provides for “the suspension of activities (of the dam) until the presentation of documents attesting to its stability”.
The overflow of the dam, which occurred on Saturday, in the iron mine was caused by the heavy rains which fell in the region of Minas Gerais in recent days.
The tons of mud which had flowed from the dike caused the interruption of the traffic of the highway BR-40, which connects Belo Horizonte to Rio de Janeiro, for two days.
In a press release sent to AFP, Vallourec “confirmed having received the notification of the fine, which is being analyzed by its technical team”.
According to the government of Minas Gerais, the French pipe manufacturer is “repeat offender”: another fine was imposed on it in 2020, “for failure to meet deadlines in sending documents about dikes”.
Monday, Vallourec had assured “to spare no effort (…) to minimize the disturbances caused” by the overflow of the dam in this mine where it has been producing iron ore since the 1980s.
Heavy rains in Minas Gerais caused floods and landslides that killed ten people on Sunday and Monday, according to local authorities.
All mine operators in the region were ordered Tuesday to provide detailed data on the stability of their dams within 24 hours and residents of some localities began to be evacuated facing the risk of possible ruptures.
In early 2019, the rupture of a mining dam in Brumadinho, another town in Minas Gerais, left 270 people dead and caused untold damage to the environment.
© 2022 AFP
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