Brasilia (AFP)
The Brazilian conglomerate Vale has agreed to pay more than $ 7 billion in "social and environmental" damage, two years after the Brumadinho mining disaster that killed 270 people, under an agreement rejected by the victims.
Authorities in Minas Gerais, where Brumadinho is located in southeastern Brazil, said on Thursday that the deal reached with one of the world's leading iron ore groups around the January 25, 2019 disaster was the most big compensation agreement never signed in Latin America.
They warned, however, that "the amount (of the agreement) is only an estimate" and that it "could be increased, if necessary".
In early 2019, the rupture of the mine waste retention dam had released millions of tonnes of ore residue that had engulfed 270 people and an entire region, causing a major disaster for flora and fauna.
Eleven bodies have never been found at the huge devastated site near the small town of Brumadinho, with a population of 40,000, despite searches that lasted for months.
The government of Minas Gerais had asked for much more in damages than the 37.7 billion reais obtained: it wanted 55 billion reais (10.2 billion dollars) including 28 billion reais for moral damages.
Of the total amount of the agreement, 5.8 billion reais have already been paid by Vale in compensation.
The authorities of Minas Gerais specified that this agreement "signifies the recognition of the responsibility of the company" Vale, "imposes on it new obligations" and does not prejudge "the individual actions which could be brought for compensation".
Vale announced in a statement that "this agreement seals (its) commitment to pay full compensation for Brumadinho and support the development of Minas Gerais".
The conglomerate will notably have to pay 9.1 billion reais in direct aid to bereaved families, 6.5 billion in “environmental rehabilitation projects” and 4.7 billion in “socio-economic rehabilitation projects”.
Among the environmental projects, Vale will have to finance the decontamination of the Paraopeba River and the reforestation of the area submerged by tons of residue with native trees and plants cloned in partnership with a local university, Vale said.
- "Vale wins" -
As soon as the agreement was announced, victims of the tragedy protested before the Court of Justice in Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais, criticizing the amount, far too low according to them, of the damages.
"The amount that has been negotiated here does not cover the damage caused to all families, the deaths, and the destruction of the environment," said Joceli Andrioli, coordinator of the MAB movement "Movement of the victims of dams".
"This agreement is absurd, it is Vale who comes out on top," he added.
"The affected people did not participate in the agreement," he concluded, announcing that the protesters would take the case to the Federal Supreme Court in Brasilia.
Isis Taboas, lawyer for the environmental NGO Aedas, said the agreement violated "the internationally recognized principle that victims should be at the center" of discussions.
After advancing the day before due to an imminent agreement (+ 3.16%), Vale's shares were stable Thursday at the end of the day on the Sao Paulo Stock Exchange.
The disaster had weighed down the group's accounts in 2019, with a net loss of $ 1.68 billion.
Since then, Vale has shown good health, driven by the surge in iron ore prices under the effect of strong demand from China.
According to Ativa Investiments, quoted by the Bloomberg agency, these compensations will not affect the mining group's investment projects.
Sixteen executives, including 11 from Vale including its ex-president, Fabio Schvartsman, have been charged with intentional homicide and environmental crimes.
Vale had already been involved in another tragedy in 2015 in Minas Gerais, which left 19 dead in Mariana and caused unprecedented environmental damage in Brazil, already due to the rupture of a mine dam.
On November 5, 2015, the Fundao dam, managed by Samarco, a joint venture of the Brazilian group and Anglo-Australian BHP, had suddenly released into nature 40 million cubic meters of highly toxic waste.
© 2021 AFP