Bento Rodrigues dam disaster

The Bento Reodrigues dam disaster happened on  5 November 2015, when a dam at a Germano iron ore mine broke. The disaster is also known as  Mariana dam disaster, or Samarco dam disaster. It happened in a mine near Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The flooding devastated the downstream villages of Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu de Baixo,  from Bento Rodrigues, killing 19 people. The damage caused by the tailings dam collapse is the largest ever recorded with pollutants spread along  of watercourses.

The failure of the dam released 43.7 million cubic metres of mine tailings into the Doce River. A  toxic brown mudflow polluted the river and beaches near the mouth when it reached the Atlantic Ocean 17 days later. The disaster created a humanitarian crisis as hundreds were displaced and cities along the Doce River suffered water shortages when their water supplies were polluted.

The total impact of the disaster, including the reason for failure and the environmental consequences, are officially under investigation and remain unclear. The owner of the Bento Rodrigues dam, Samarco, was subject to extensive litigation and government sanctions. In 2016, charges of manslaughter and environmental damage were filed against 21 executives, including Samarco's former CEO and representatives from Samarco's owners, Vale and BHP Billiton, on its board of directors. Controversy over the investigation grew after a 2013 report, indicating structural issues in the dam, was leaked.

 References 

Category:2010s disasters in South America
Category:2010s in Brazil
Category:2015 in South America