From Samarco in Mariana to Vale in Brumadinho: mining dam disasters and Public Health

摘要

Brumadinho, Minas Gerais State. Friday, January 25th, 2019. At 12h 28min 25s, the tailings dam (B1) of the Córrego do Feij?o mine, owned by Vale S.A., ruptures. Immediately thereafter, the company's president, Fabio Schvartsman, declared "the environmental damage will be much smaller than that of Mariana, but the human tragedy will likely be bigger" 1. On the first day, it was established that 13 mil lion m3 of mining rejects had been released into the environment. After one month of searches, the number of deaths exceeds 300, with 179 located bodies and 131 missing persons. In this specific case, the term "missing" can also represent an attempt to downplay the magnitude of the event, since there is no hope of finding these individuals alive more than a month after the event.