BHP's deadly dam collapse linked to ramping up production

Updated

When millions of cubic metres of mining waste burst from a dam at BHP's joint-venture iron ore mine in Brazil, 19 people died, livelihoods were destroyed, and an environmental disaster was created that will cost billions of dollars to repair. Now, Four Corners has seen evidence of problems at the mine dating back almost a decade.

It was sheer luck the death toll wasn't in the hundreds when a lethal torrent of sludge spewed from the Fundao dam, wiping out the village of Bento Rodrigues in November.

A Brazilian prosecutor describes Samarco — the company joint-owned by Australia's BHP Billiton and Brazilian mining giant Vale SA — as exhibiting "repeated, continual negligence". Police are seeking the arrest of six Samarco executives who face charges of qualified homicide.

BHP, the world's biggest mining company, has distanced itself from the operations of the mine.

But Four Corners has seen evidence of a long history of problems at the BHP-owned dam dating back to the beginnings of its construction in 2007, and learned that independent testing of water samples from the river system has found levels of arsenic and lead 10 to 20 times higher than Brazilian regulations allow.

Brazilian state police now allege the disaster was partially caused by the mine ramping up production to offset the falling iron ore price. Brazilian authorities say the dam collapse has produced the biggest environmental disaster in the country's mining history.

And the Brazilian government has threatened to sue for $7.2 billion, adding to BHP's investor woes.

No time to run

The village of Bento Rodrigues lay just a few kilometres below the dam wall.

Paula Alves says people who lived there had long feared the dam would collapse:

When we had meetings with Samarco, we would ask, 'Hey, guys, is there any risk of the dam bursting?' They would say, 'You can relax. This dam will never burst. There is no risk'. Paula Alves

When it did burst, the people of Bento had only minutes to escape.

Prosecutor Carlos Eduardo Pinto says Samarco had no warning system in place.

"People were told of the dam burst by phone. It is unimaginable to think that you are in your home, you hear a big noise, and wait for the phone to ring before you get out."

Many didn't even get the call. Instead, their only warning came from Paula Alves, who rode her small motorbike through the streets, honking the horn, and screaming at people to run.

And run they did; scrambling for higher ground as the wall of mud surged through the village.

Priscila Barros had no time to run. She was looking after two young children; her son Kayque, and her niece Emanuele. With her house caving in around her, she grabbed a child in each arm — but she couldn't hold onto them in the torrent.

"I screamed, calling my children, but nobody answered. I could only see cars going down, metal, concrete walls, I don't know," she said.

They shouldn't think they can come and shut me up. They will not. Priscila Barros

Priscila and her son Kayque still bear the scars from being dragged for kilometres by the mud.

But her five-year-old niece Emanuele did not survive.

"The last hug I gave her, was when I tried to hold her and Kayque," she wept.

"That was the last time I felt her in my arms."

Priscila Barros was also 32 weeks pregnant. After she emerged from the mud, she lost her baby.

BHP and Samarco have offered bereaved families a payment of almost $37,000. But Priscila and her husband Weslei were denied compensation for her miscarriage.

"They say my child is not considered as being born alive," she told Four Corners.

"It was alive, it was just not born yet. This hurts a lot. I will fight for my rights. They shouldn't think they can come and shut me up. They will not."

Having destroyed Bento — and seriously damaged other towns downstream — the sludge entered the Doce River, polluting the water and killing fish and wildlife all the way to the Atlantic coast, 600 kilometres away.

'A dam doesn't break by chance'

The mine was operated by Samarco, a joint venture between BHP and the Brazilian mining giant Vale SA, who each own 50 per cent of the company.

The Melbourne headquarters of Australian mining giant BHP is a world away from the small Brazilian village of Bento Rodrigues, but what happened in this faraway place could cost BHP billions.

BHP's chief executive, Andrew Mackenzie, told Four Corners his company is committed to rebuilding the lives and communities that were affected:

People have been killed. People have lost loved ones. And that's something that we have to bear as a company, as an owner of that dam, forever. BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie

But Brazilian prosecutors are looking for more than just reparations.

Four Corners has seen evidence of a long history of problems at the BHP-owned dam, dating back to the beginning of its construction in 2007.

"A dam doesn't break by chance," says Carlos Eduardo Pinto, a prosecutor with the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais.

"There is repeated, continual negligence in the actions of a company owned by Vale and BHP."

BHP faces a restitution bill in the billions of dollars, and the likelihood of lawsuits and litigation for years to come.

Four Corners has learned that independent testing of water samples from the river system has found levels of arsenic and lead 10 to 20 times higher than Brazilian regulations allow.

"The population use this water, so they are drinking this water," says Professor Vivian da Silva Santos, a toxicologist at the University of Brasilia.

I don't know if the treatment is sufficient to mitigate all these metals (in the water). We have to be concerned about that because these metals can lead to problems in long-term exposure. Toxicologist Prof. Vivian da Silva Santos

It couldn't have come at a worse time for the big Australian, which last week announced a half-yearly loss of $8 billion, and slashed its dividend to shareholders.

And there are also serious questions about BHP's own role in the disaster.

Such as: how did BHP — which had two of its own executives on the Samarco board — not know of the ongoing problems with the dam?

"We're obviously doing an investigation of all of the communications that happened during the course of the dam," Mr Mackenzie told Four Corners.

"But what I would say to you is that until that time, Samarco was seen as a company that was very keen to embrace the highest standards in the world."

But on that day last November, Samarco — and the Fundao dam — failed catastrophically.

What if, instead of collapsing on a weekday afternoon, the dam had failed in the middle of the night?

"Everybody would have died," says Bento resident Paula Alves.

"We wouldn't know where to run to. We would have died while sleeping."

Was it preventable?

There are numerous investigations going on into the cause of the dam's collapse.

But police, prosecutors, and experts point to the most likely problem being liquefaction.

Put simply, it means too much water in the tailings — the ground rock and effluent generated by the mining process — which weakens the structure of a dam wall.

Samarco acknowledges there were drainage problems in the early phase of its construction, forcing it to be shut down for a year-and-half for repairs.

But state police allege the main problem came later — when the mine ramped up production to offset the falling iron ore price, and expanded the dam.

Instead of planning a new dam, with a new structure, they looked for a patchwork solution. Prosecutor Carlos Eduardo Pinto

The axis of the dam wall was changed — from a straight line, to an 'S' shape. Police allege that in 2014 and 2015, as the volume of waste went up, the amount of water drained out of the dam decreased.

When cracks appeared on the new dam, Samarco called back in the designer of the original project, Joaquim Pimenta de Avila, as a consultant. When he inspected it, he says he found what he believed was the beginning of a rupture.

"When I came back and after some visits saw the cracks, it was my duty to warn them then about that, and recommend how to take care of that," he says.

Mr de Avila says he told the company to install more devices to monitor water levels in the dam, but doesn't know if his advice was ever followed.

He says the collapse could have been prevented.

"If the observations show that the water level is rising, they have to drill wells and pump out to lower the water level. With that condition, I am convinced you would not have liquefaction there."

BHP's chief executive, Andrew Mackenzie, won't comment on allegations there had been ongoing problems at the dam; nor will he speculate on possible causes for the collapse, saying instead he will wait for BHP's own investigation to be completed.

He did announce at last week's earnings report that BHP's head of iron ore, Jimmy Wilson — the vice-chairman of the Samarco board — will leave BHP. But Mr Mackenzie made no connection to the Samarco disaster.

In the meantime, Mr Mackenzie says BHP's priority is looking after those affected.

'They don't let me buy anything'

BHP has expanded its team in Brazil from a handful of employees to around 30.

But the day-to-day task of rebuilding those lives and homes is not being handled by BHP.

That's being done by Samarco — the company that caused the disaster in the first place.

Ten people will go past you, look in your eyes, intimidate you and go. Business owner Antonio Luis

It's repairing homes, roads, and bridges in towns that were affected by the mud. Planning is already underway to build an entire new village for the refugees of Bento Rodrigues.

Children are back in school, and the victims who lost their homes and livelihoods are being given an allowance based on Brazil's minimum wage.

But it's not going smoothly. Priscila Barros still hasn't received compensation for her miscarriage, although BHP says Samarco is now reviewing her case.

BHP chief executive Andrew Mackenzie says the recovery effort led by Samarco presents a "very complex problem".

And while he concedes that Samarco's handling of the clean-up "has not been perfect", he says progress is being made and that "trust still seems to be shown by a large amount of the community".

In Barra Longa, about an hour's drive from Bento Rodrigues, Antonio Luis lost his riverside hotel and restaurant to the mud. He's been out of business ever since and is growing increasingly frustrated waiting for the company to fit out a new restaurant so he can get back to work.

"They don't let me buy anything,' he says. "I've got to ask them, 'I need a stove, I need this and that.' It's creating a dependency.

"When you go to Samarco to ask something, they leave you there, waiting for an answer. Ten people will go past you, look in your eyes, intimidate you and go.

"When you get to talk to the person, you haven't got the energy anymore. That's how they are treating us."

BHP says Antonio's temporary restaurant is now open.

You can watch 'Catastrophic Failure' on Four Corners on ABC TV at 8.30pm tonight.

Topics: mining-environmental-issues, mining-industry, business-economics-and-finance, environmental-health, environmental-impact, disasters-and-accidents, environment, brazil, australia

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