Severe impacts of the Brumadinho dam failure (Minas Gerais, Brazil) on the water quality of the Paraopeba River

Thompson, Fabiano L.; Oliveira, Braulio Cherene de; Cordeiro, Marcelle Candido; Masi, Bruno Pereira; Rangel, Thiago Pessanha; Paz, Pedro H C; Freitas, Thamyres; Lopes, Grasiele; Silva, Bruno Sergio; Cabral, Anderson S.; Soares, Maria Carolina S.; Lacerda, Diego; Vergílio, Cristiane dos Santos; Lopes-Ferreira, Mônica; Lima, Carla; Thompson, Cristiane; Rezende, Carlos Eduardo de

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.135914

Cited by 157 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The unicellular algae were more sensitive because growth inhibition was observed at all sampled sites, especially beyond Brumadinho (S3), where water rich in tailings induced complete inhibition of algae growth. The oscillations in algal growth after the dam failure was a likely result of both eutrophication and the existence of secondary pollution in a deeply impacted region 23 , with large areas of mining, plantations, livestock and the proximity of urban centers 20 . The incidences of immobilization in microcrustaceans and fish deaths also demonstrate the toxicity of the Paraopeba River water and sediments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metal concentrations and biological effects from one of the largest mining disasters in the world (Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil)

Vergílio

Lacerda

Oliveira

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

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105

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The rupture of the Brumadinho mining tailings dam in Brazil is considered one of the largest mining disasters in the world, resulting in 244 deaths and 26 missing people, in addition to the environmental consequences. The present study aims to evaluate the concentrations of multiple elements and the biological effects on water and sediments of the Paraopeba River after the Brumadinho Dam rupture. The tailings are formed by fine particulate material with large amounts of Fe, Al, Mn, Ti, rare earth metals and toxic metals. In the water, the levels of Fe, Al, Mn, Zn, Cu, Pb, Cd and U were higher than those allowed by Brazilian legislation. In the sediments, Cr, Ni, Cu and Cd levels were higher than the established sediment quality guidelines (TEL-NOAA). The differences in metal concentrations in the water and sediments between the upstream and downstream sides of the dam illustrate the effect of the tailings in the Paraopeba River. Toxicological tests demonstrated that the water and sediments were toxic to different trophic levels, from algae to microcrustaceans and fish. The fish exposed to water and sediments containing mine ore also accumulated metals in muscle tissue. This evaluation emphasizes the necessity of long-term monitoring in the affected area. In less than four years, two major environmental tragedies involving mining dams occurred in Brazil. The first incident is considered the industrial disaster with the greatest environmental impacts in Brazilian history and the largest of the world involving tailings dams. The rupture of the Fundão Dam in the subdistrict of Bento Rodrigues, 35 km from the municipality of Mariana in Minas Gerais State on November 5, 2015, resulted in 19 deaths due to the release of more than 40 million m 3 of tailings that were transported to the mouth of the Doce River 1. The 668 km length of affected water by Fundão tailings is the largest ever recorded 2. The second incident occurred on January 25, 2019, when a tailings dam ("Dam B1") failed at Córrego do Feijão mine in the city of Brumadinho, also in Minas Gerais State, releasing approximately 12 million m 3 , which directly affected the administrative area of the company and parts of the nearby communities 3 , resulting in 244 deaths and 26 missing people, as some bodies were completely buried in the mud and never found 4. Although the previous evaluation by the Brazilian Mining Agency classified Dam B1 in Brumadinho as "low risk of collapse and high potential of associated damage" 5 , the rupture of the Brumadinho Dam led to the release of iron ore tailings into the Feijão stream that is a tributary of the Paraopeba River 6 (Supplementary Video, Fig. 1). Along the way, the volume of tailings led to an immediate increase in water turbidity (Supplementary Fig. S1a), impacts on the water supply in the municipalities provided by the Paraopeba River, and damage to fauna and

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Metal concentrations and biological effects from one of the largest mining disasters in the world (Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil)

Vergílio

Lacerda

Oliveira

et al. 2020

Sci Rep

Self Cite

105

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“…No entanto, elementos qualitativos estão presentes (Flick, 2013), por meio da revisão de literatura sobre o rompimento da barragem de rejeitos B1, em Brumadinho, características da bacia do rio Paraopeba, e discussão dos resultados do monitoramento. O rio Paraopeba, no trecho impactado pelo desastre ambiental decorrente do rompimento da barragem de rejeito, está enquadrado como Classe 2 pela Deliberação Normativa do Conselho Estadual de Política Ambiental (Copam) nº 14, de 1995(Minas Gerais, 1995 A pluma de aproximadamente 12 milhões de metros cúbicos de rejeitos destruiu 133,27 hectares de vegetação nativa da Mata Atlântica e ainda 70,65 hectares de áreas de preservação permanente às margens dos cursos hídricos (Thompson et al, 2020). O rompimento da barragem B1 causou a morte de 259 pessoas e deixou 11 desaparecidos, números atualizados até o momento da elaboração desse trabalho (Defesa Civil de Minas Gerais, 2019).…”

Section: Materiais E Métodosunclassified

Monitoramento da qualidade da água do rio Paraopeba e entorno após o rompimento da barragem de rejeitos em Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Ramos

Silva

Lima

et al. 2020

RSD

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Este trabalho tem como objetivo discutir os dados de monitoramento da qualidade da água do rio Paraopeba e em captações de água para consumo humano situados em suas margens realizados pelo Instituto Mineiro de Gestão das Águas – IGAM e pela Secretaria de Estado de Saúde de Minas Gerais – SES-MG posteriores ao rompimento da barragem B1 da Mina do Córrego do Feijão, sob responsabilidade da empresa VALE S. A. (Brumadinho – MG), ocorrido no dia 25 de janeiro de 2019. Além das vidas humanas perdidas e do grande impacto ao meio ambiente, a lama atingiu diversas captações de água para o abastecimento público, além de impactar na renda familiar de diversos ribeirinhos que utilizavam a água do rio para agricultura e dessedentação de animais. Os dados do monitoramento do IGAM apontam para violações aos parâmetros turbidez, ferro dissolvido, manganês total e alumínio dissolvido durante todo o período monitorado; chumbo total e cobre dissolvido no período chuvoso, e ainda zinco, mercúrio e níquel no primeiro trimestre do monitoramento. Já os dados do monitoramento da SES-MG apontam para violações relacionadas a antimônio, arsênio, bário, cromo, chumbo, mercúrio e selênio, além de alumínio, ferro e manganês. Diante dos resultados apresentados em ambos monitoramentos, sugere-se a manutenção da suspensão da utilização da água bruta do rio Paraopeba e de captações próximas às suas margens para qualquer finalidade, além da continuidade dos monitoramentos, que subsidiará a tomada de decisão pelos órgãos responsáveis.

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“…For example, the Feijão tailings dam in Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil, collapsed on 25 January 2019, causing 259 deaths and 11 missing person cases [7]. Furthermore, approximately 10 million cubic meters of tailings-water mixtures flowed into the surrounding streams and rivers, causing serious ecological and environmental damage [8,9]. According to statistics, there have been approximately 50 tailings dam accidents in the past 20 years, and the frequency of accidents is on the rise [10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Experimental Study of Mesostructure Deformation Characteristics of Unsaturated Tailings with Different Moisture Content

Geng

Wang

Wei

et al. 2020

Water

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A portion of the accumulated tailings in a tailings pond exhibits an unsaturated state. The mechanical properties of unsaturated tailings affect the safety and stability of tailings dams. To investigate the effect of moisture content on the deformation characteristics of unsaturated tailings in the mesoscale, a special testing apparatus is applied to experimentally study the settlement deformation and mesostructure evolution of unsaturated tailings under continuous load. The results show that the mesostructure deformation of unsaturated tailings with different moisture contents under load is the same and can be divided into four stages: pore compression, elastic deformation, structure change, and further compaction. However, the critical pressures of the four stages are significantly different; there is an optimal moisture content corresponding to the maximum deformation resistance. Moreover, the influence of the liquid bridge regime on the mesostructure deformation of unsaturated tailings is discussed in this paper.

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Severe impacts of the Brumadinho dam failure (Minas Gerais, Brazil) on the water quality of the Paraopeba River

Cited by 157 publications

References 11 publications

Metal concentrations and biological effects from one of the largest mining disasters in the world (Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil)

Metal concentrations and biological effects from one of the largest mining disasters in the world (Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brazil)

Monitoramento da qualidade da água do rio Paraopeba e entorno após o rompimento da barragem de rejeitos em Brumadinho, Minas Gerais, Brasil

Experimental Study of Mesostructure Deformation Characteristics of Unsaturated Tailings with Different Moisture Content

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