by RAUL ZIBECHI
PHOTO/Upside Down World
A decade-long mining boom has left a string of complications–environmental liabilities, social polarization and loss of governmental legitimacy. Meanwhile it has not resolved a single underlying problem.
“It’s not an accident,” members of the Mining Victims Movement (Movimiento de Afectados por la Minería, MAM) declared immediately following the Nov. 5 dam rupture that unleashed a river of contaminated sludge in Mina Gerais. The spill destroyed villages, left more than 20 dead or missing and affected thousands more.
“The corporations are completely responsible for this,” says Mario Zonta. Zonta noted that the companies do not monitor the reservoirs where they store toxic wastes, like the ones that broke this month.
The social and environmental tragedy was caused by the Samarco mine in Minas Gerais State, Brazil. Two dams in the open-pit iron mine broke, and the sludge buried the village of Bento Rodrigues (just over 20 kilometers from the city of Mariana and 120 from state capital Belo Horizonte), where 600 people lived. Samarco is owned by Vale and BHP Billiton.
The 500 people rescued by firefighters after being trapped in toxic sludge should have been put through a decontamination process after suffering direct exposure to toxic substances. “The accidents and impacts of mining companies are permanent, and the companies continue with the same arrogant posture, talking about social and environmental responsibility,” a statement from dozens of social organizations reads.
“Vale has been in Minas Gerais for 70 years,” Zonta states.. “There is enough experience to prevent this kind of event, so we hold them responsible for the deaths and disappearances” (Brasil de Fato, November 6, 2015).
A soil analysis 300 kilometers away from the dams revealed incredible concentrations of iron, manganese, and aluminum– thousands of times higher than normal concentrations (R7 Noticias, November 11, 2015). According to toxicologists, the most dangerous metal is manganese. It can cause muscle disorders and bone and intestinal problems and aggravate heart problems.
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