Thread by @newsroom

Morning! Today, @guardian reports that Samarco, the mining company responsible for Brazil’s Fundao Dam disaster, was aware of the threat six months prior to the incident and failed to take action, leading to the country’s worst environmental disaster.
theguardian.com/world/2018/feb…

Prosecutors claim the company focused on cutting costs and increasing production, instead of taking measures to prevent the disaster that destroyed the neighborhood of Bento Rodrigues, in the city of Mariana.
(Photo: @PortalMigalhas)

When the Fundão dam failed on November 5, 2015, it unleashed approx 40 million liters of water and sediment contaminated by iron ore extraction, ultimately polluting the water supply for hundreds of thousands of people.

The tsunami of mud also destroyed local wildlife and contaminated the Doce River.

https://twitter.com/robertsneagle/status/665692491740508161/video/1

By the time it was over, more than 600km of land were damaged by the flood of contaminated mud and sediment.
(📷: @Sandro_Costa_B)

The dam disaster was also deadly: 19 people died in the incident. The @guardian report includes the testimonies of Wesley Isabel and Darcy Santos, who lost their sons when the mud engulfed their homes.

So far, none of the 375 families that lost their homes have been relocated. “It was not only walls and bricks .. My wedding was celebrated there,” said one of the survivors of the disaster.
reuters.com/article/us-bra…

Two years later, Samarco still not has accepted responsibility for what happened. In 2016, Samarco’s former CEO and other 21 people were charged for the deaths and also for environmental damage.
reuters.com/article/us-val…

Nevertheless, Samarco is ready to resume its operations in the area.
reuters.com/article/vale-s…

So far, Samarco has only paid a tiny fraction of the fines levied by the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. Nor have they paid the $105 million in fines imposed by the Brazilian government’s environment agency.
brasil.elpais.com/brasil/2017/08…

“It is a lot of injustice,” said Sandra Quintão to the @guardian, whose small restaurant was swallowed by the mud.

While many of the victims of the dam disaster continue to struggle to find new homes, Brazil’s President Michel Temer is looking to boost mining, including near the Amazon.
(📷: @CulturesResist)