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Ricardo Vescovi, president of Samarco SA: compensation for victims of dam burst 2015, Minas Gerais, Brazil
MARIANA .
hat diese Petition erstellt, an folgende Zielperson/Zielgruppe:
Ricardo Vescovi, president of Samarco SA
Dam collapse in Brazil (2015) destroys towns and turns river into muddy wasteland
On Thursday, November 5th, two dams holding millions of cubic meters of mining waste gave way– launching one of the worst environmental disasters in Brazilian history.Over 25,000 Olympic swimming pools worth of mud – contaminated with arsenic, lead, chromium and a variety of other heavy metals* – quickly overtook the nearby mining community of Mariana in Minas Gerais state. At least seventeen people were killed. Hundreds more have been displaced by the wall of sludge released in the dam collapse.The mud surged through rural communities and into the Rio Doce, the major river in southeast Brazil. Since November 5th, it has been slowly working its way downstream — contaminating the drinking water of hundreds of thousands of people and turning protected forest and habitat into a desert of mud. The tragedy will continue to spread over 500 kilometers as contaminants from the sludge make their way towards the Atlantic coast, eventually endangering the Abrolhos National Marine Park.
Who is responsible&quest
Since the disaster, Greenpeace Brazil has been working alongside local organisations to monitor the damage and demand a complete and independent investigation over the disaster’s cause, as well the immediate financial compensation to the victims so they can try to put their lives back together.The mining company in charge of the dam, Samarco (controlled by Vale and Anglo&dashAustralian BHP Billiton), has acted irresponsibly in the face of this tragedy. There was no contingency plan for a situation like this, and at&dashrisk communities were never prepared for a disaster of this magnitude. So far these companies have been fined one billion Brazilian reais (US&dollar261 million), but this doesn’t begin to cover the costs of the disaster. Meanwhile, authorities in Minas Gerais state continue to cater to corporate interests over the public good. The operational license for the dam that collapsed was not recommended because of risk of destabilisation. Yet this year the government of Minas Gerais has proposed new legislation to accelerate environmental licenses for the mining sector. The state already has more than 700 waste dams, but only four public employees to monitor them.
Thousands of lives are being radically affected – fishermen, ranchers, city&dashdwellers and the Krenak Indigenous people. The environment between Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo states suffers immeasurably. There is no time to lose in supporting the victims, investigating and punishing those responsible for this tragedy and in minimizing the effects on the environment.
Article by Greenpeace&colon
https&colon//www.greenpeace.org/archive&dashinternational/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/Minas&dashgerais&dashmining&dashdam&dashcollapse&dashmud&dashflood&dashrio&dashdoce/blog/54787/
On Thursday, November 5th, two dams holding millions of cubic meters of mining waste gave way– launching one of the worst environmental disasters in Brazilian history.Over 25,000 Olympic swimming pools worth of mud – contaminated with arsenic, lead, chromium and a variety of other heavy metals* – quickly overtook the nearby mining community of Mariana in Minas Gerais state. At least seventeen people were killed. Hundreds more have been displaced by the wall of sludge released in the dam collapse.The mud surged through rural communities and into the Rio Doce, the major river in southeast Brazil. Since November 5th, it has been slowly working its way downstream — contaminating the drinking water of hundreds of thousands of people and turning protected forest and habitat into a desert of mud. The tragedy will continue to spread over 500 kilometers as contaminants from the sludge make their way towards the Atlantic coast, eventually endangering the Abrolhos National Marine Park.
Who is responsible&quest
Since the disaster, Greenpeace Brazil has been working alongside local organisations to monitor the damage and demand a complete and independent investigation over the disaster’s cause, as well the immediate financial compensation to the victims so they can try to put their lives back together.The mining company in charge of the dam, Samarco (controlled by Vale and Anglo&dashAustralian BHP Billiton), has acted irresponsibly in the face of this tragedy. There was no contingency plan for a situation like this, and at&dashrisk communities were never prepared for a disaster of this magnitude. So far these companies have been fined one billion Brazilian reais (US&dollar261 million), but this doesn’t begin to cover the costs of the disaster. Meanwhile, authorities in Minas Gerais state continue to cater to corporate interests over the public good. The operational license for the dam that collapsed was not recommended because of risk of destabilisation. Yet this year the government of Minas Gerais has proposed new legislation to accelerate environmental licenses for the mining sector. The state already has more than 700 waste dams, but only four public employees to monitor them.
Thousands of lives are being radically affected – fishermen, ranchers, city&dashdwellers and the Krenak Indigenous people. The environment between Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo states suffers immeasurably. There is no time to lose in supporting the victims, investigating and punishing those responsible for this tragedy and in minimizing the effects on the environment.
Article by Greenpeace&colon
https&colon//www.greenpeace.org/archive&dashinternational/en/news/Blogs/makingwaves/Minas&dashgerais&dashmining&dashdam&dashcollapse&dashmud&dashflood&dashrio&dashdoce/blog/54787/
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