BHP denies Brazil river spill is toxic
MINING giants responsible for a dam spill in Brazil earlier this month have rejected accusations by the UN that “20 000 Olympic swimming pools of toxic mud” spewed into a river.
The collapse on November 5 of a waste-water dam at the Samarco iron ore mine owned by BHP Billiton, the world’s biggest mining corporation, and its Brazilian partner, Vale, triggered a flood of muddy water that killed at least 13 people and left 11 missing, according to the latest toll.
The question now is what’s in the reddish sludge gushing down the Doce River from the mine and out into the Atlantic.
Two UN environment experts issued a statement on Wednesday accusing the Brazilian government and Samarco’s owners of failing to confront — or even acknowledge — a toxic disaster. Fifty million tons of waste, including “heavy metals and other toxic chemicals”, were released, the experts said.
“The scale of the environmental damage is the equivalent of 20 000 Olympic swimming pools of toxic mud waste contaminating the soil, rivers and water system of an area covering over 850km,” said John Knox, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and the environment.
“It is not acceptable that it has taken three weeks for information about the toxic risks of the mining disaster to surface,” Knox and Baskut Tuncak, the UN special rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances and wastes, said in a statement.
“The steps taken by the Brazilian government, Vale and BHP Billiton to prevent harm were clearly insufficient. The government and companies should be doing everything in their power to prevent further harm, including exposure to heavy metals and other toxic chemicals,” they said.
But Australia’s BHP Billiton said the water and debris posed no danger.
“The tailings that entered the [Doce River] were comprised of clay and silt material from the washing and processing of earth containing iron ore, which is naturally abundant in the region,” it said in a statement on Thursday.
“Based on available data, the tailings are chemically stable.”
The Brazilian navy announced that a research ship had arrived in the area and would spend the next four days collecting samples for environmental analysis.
According to Knox, the scale of the problem is already tragically clear.
The river watershed “is now considered by scientists to be dead and the toxic sludge is slowly working its way downstream towards the Abrolhos National Marine Park where it threatens protected forest and habitat”, he said.
“Sadly, the mud has already entered the sea at Regencia beach, a sanctuary for endangered turtles and a rich source of nutrients that the local fishing community relies upon.” — AFP