RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazilian mining giant Vale said Saturday that communities in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais have been ordered to evacuate after independent auditors found that one of its dams could collapse at any moment. On Friday, the company raised the level of risk at a mining waste dam in the city of Barao de Cocais to three, the highest grade. The contamination of rivers with mining waste, or tailings, which contain high levels of iron-ore and other metals is of great concern and can last for years or even decades, experts say. Brazilian environmental group SOS Mata Atlantica said Friday it had proof of water contamination in the large Sao Francisco river as a result of the Brumadinho dam collapse. SOS Mata Atlantica was among the environmental groups that studied the impact of another dam rupture also in Minas Gerais in 2015.

Source: Washington Post March 23, 2019 21:33 UTC