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#Post#: 150--------------------------------------------------
Brazilian Mining Dam Collapses Unleashing Torrent of Debris
DIR By: Satanica
Date: January 25, 2019, 1:10 pm
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HTML https://weather.com/news/news/2019-01-25-brazilian-mining-dam-collapses-vale-sa
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[img]
HTML https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1088831822035935232/pu/img/NrcmMG98zW7_EDsi?format=jpg&name=small[/img]
> A mining dam collapsed in southeastern Brazil on Friday and
sent a torrent of potentially hazardous debris downstream that
caused widespread destruction.
>
> The collapse occurred near Vila Ferteco in the Brazilian state
of Minas Gerais and was confirmed by Vale SA, the company that
operates the dam.
>
> Information about injuries and deaths is unknown at this time,
but video from social media showed widespread destruction and
people trapped in a mountain of mud-choked debris. Vale SA said
that debris had impacted the village of Vila Ferteco and the
area surrounding the dam.
>
> Rescue operations are underway.
>
> In one video cars, train cars and pieces of structures are
tossed about the river of debris. In others, a helicopter drops
down on top of the detritus an attempt to pluck several people
trapped, covered head to toe in the muck.
>
> The cause of the collapse is unknown at this time, but weather
didn't appear to be a factor.
>
> The area of the collapse is below average for rainfall over
the last 30 days, receiving just over an inch of rain since Jan.
1, according to senior weather.com meteorologist Jon Erdman.
>
> Mining dams can either hold water or potentially hazardous
byproducts of the mining process, according to the Canadian Dam
Association.
>
> This is not the first time a serious mining dam collapse has
hit Minas Gerais, Brazil. Another dam operated by Vale SA
collapsed in 2015 killing at least 19 while also polluting
waterways with toxic waste, the Associated Press reports.
>
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Video at the link.
#Post#: 429--------------------------------------------------
Re: Brazilian Mining Dam Collapses Unleashing Torrent of Debris
DIR By: Satanica
Date: January 28, 2019, 11:19 am
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HTML https://www.reuters.com/article/us-vale-sa-disaster/death-toll-rises-to-58-as-hope-dims-after-brazil-dam-collapse-idUSKCN1PL0DN?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29
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> BRUMADINHO, Brazil (Reuters) - Brazilian rescuers searched
into the night on Sunday for hundreds of people missing after a
burst mining dam triggered a deadly mudslide, as the death toll
rose to 58 and was expected to keep climbing more than two days
after the disaster.
>
> Rescuers worked past sunset to search a bus thought to have
bodies inside and a home where three bodies were already found,
state fire department spokesman Pedro Aihara told reporters.
>
> The collapsed dam at Vale SA’s Corrego do Feijao mine buried
mining facilities and nearby homes in the town of Brumadinho,
killing dozens and leaving the community in shock.
> [....]
> After announcing the latest number of confirmed dead, state
civil defense agency spokesman Flavio Godinho told reporters he
expected the death toll to continue rising.
>
> Just over 300 people were still missing, with the list of
those unaccounted for being constantly updated, Godinho said.
Most of the missing are presumed dead, officials said.
>
> The cause of the dam burst remained unclear. Recent
inspections did not indicate any problems, according to the
German firm that conducted the inspection.
>
> Avimar de Melo Barcelos, the mayor of Brumadinho, blasted Vale
for being “careless and incompetent,” and blamed the mining
company for the tragedy and the state of Minas Gerais for poor
oversight. He vowed to fine the miner 100 million reais ($26.5
million).
>
> Vale Chief Executive Officer Fabio Schvartsman said in a
television interview on Sunday the disaster happened even after
the company followed experts’ safety recommendations.
>
> “I’m not a mining technician. I followed the technicians’
advice and you see what happened. It didn’t work,” Schvartsman
said. “We are 100 percent within all the standards, and that
didn’t do it.”
> [....]
> Vale’s board of directors suspended its planned shareholder
dividends, share buybacks and executive bonuses in light of the
disaster, according to a securities filing on Sunday.
>
> The board also created independent committees to investigate
the causes of the dam burst and to monitor relief efforts.
>
> In 2015, a tailings dam collapsed at an iron ore mine
belonging to Samarco Mineracao SA, a Vale joint venture with BHP
Group, less than 100 km (60 miles) to the east. The resulting
torrent of toxic mud killed 19 people, buried a small village
and contaminated a major river in Brazil’s worst environmental
disaster on record.
>
> Fears of another dam burst in Brumadinho on Sunday triggered
evacuation sirens in the town before dawn, adding to the anxiety
of residents waiting for word about lost relatives and friends.
>
> Firefighters halted searching and evacuated thousands from
their homes until the afternoon when civil defense authorities
ruled out the risk of another dam burst, calling off the
evacuation and reinstating search-and-rescue efforts.
>
> Aihara initially said 24,000 people would be evacuated, but
later lowered the total to 3,000. In all, 24,000 people have
been affected by the disaster, he said.
> [....]
> The Brazilian government ordered Vale to halt operations at
the Corrego do Feijao mining complex. On Sunday, courts nearly
doubled to 11 billion reais the amount of Vale assets frozen in
anticipation of damages and fines.
>
> Federal prosecutor Jose Adercio Sampaio told Reuters on
Saturday that state and federal authorities had failed to apply
more stringent regulation to the hundreds of tailings dams
around the country.
>
> Schvartsman said all of Vale’s tailings dams were checked
after the 2015 disaster and periodic reviews carried out.
>
> ($1 = 3.7695 reais)
>
>
>
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#Post#: 545--------------------------------------------------
Re: Brazilian Mining Dam Collapses Unleashing Torrent of Debris
DIR By: Satanica
Date: January 29, 2019, 9:44 am
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HTML https://apnews.com/f8d48cc1ed1e4a7e9a34ac72d384e36e
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> Brazilian authorities issued arrest warrants Tuesday for five
people in connection with a dam collapse that killed at least 65
people and left nearly 300 missing as it plastered part of a
small city with reddish-brown mud and iron ore mining waste.
> [....]
> Three of the warrants were for people who worked for Vale SA,
the mining company that owned and operated the waste dam that
collapsed, according to the company. In a statement, Vale said
it was cooperating with authorities in the investigation.
>
> A German company that has inspected the dam said two of its
employees had been arrested. The Munich-based TUEV company Sued
declined to specify whether the arrested staff were from its
German headquarters or its Brazilian branch.
>
> In ordering the arrests, Minas Gerais judge Perla Saliba Brito
wrote that the disaster could have been avoided.
>
> It’s not believable that “dams of such magnitude, run by one
of the largest mining companies in the world, would break
suddenly without any indication of vulnerability,” the judge
wrote in the decision, according to news portal UOL.
> [....]
> Meanwhile, Col. Evandro Borges from the military police told
reporters that the official death toll was 65, though more
bodies had been recovered Tuesday and that an updated death toll
would be provided later in the day. He said 288 remained
missing, most of them Vale employees.
>
> Many employees were eating lunch last Friday when the dam
collapsed, burying a cafeteria and other company buildings.
>
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