Brazil's Barão de Cocais waits as dam nearby

at risk of collapse
Will Grant, BBC News, Barão de Cocais, Brazil
23rd May 2019
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-48391767

Image copyright REUTERS

The embankment of the Gongo

Soco mine is at imminent risk of
collapse

The thick layer of mud which buried 270 people in Brumadinho has barely dried. Certainly, the scars of
Brazil's worst mining disaster are still raw.

Yet, within just four months, another community in the south-eastern state of Minas Gerais faces being obliterated
from the map by a torrent of mining waste.

The monitors in the hastily-assembled civil defence headquarters in Barão de Cocais display real-time images of the
stricken mine, Gongo Soco, and the associated Sul Superior dam about 1.5 km (one mile) from it.
All eyes in the room are nervously fixed on the mine as it teeters on the brink. Mining company Vale, which owns the
complex, warned last week that the embankment could collapse at any time this week.

"The wall of the Gongo Soco mine could rupture any day," says José Ocimar of the civil defence authority. "That
could create an impact and a vibration which could trigger the collapse of the dam below."
It is a grim assessment for the communities living nearby although hundreds of people in the immediate impact
area have already been evacuated.

"We can't be completely sure of what's going to happen but we're taking the necessary precautions to prevent the loss
of human life," insists Mr Ocimar.

Brazil's mining dams: A disaster waiting to happen?

The small mining town of Barão de Cocais of some 30,000 residents lies in the path of the potential mudslide. Dotted
around the quiet central plaza are the details which show that something is amiss.
The pavements of the streets inside the flood zone have been painted orange. Some shops, banks and even the post
office have been closed for days, and an evacuation route has been marked out with signs.

It is unsettling, says Talita, a 21-year-old apprentice. "Everyone is tense. Everyone is scared. We don't know how to
react," she says, gesturing at a group of workmates sitting on the park benches.

"It's sad to see people desperate and so unsure of anything, of when it will collapse or if they'll have a home to return
to. Even if there will be clean water to drink."

The pavements of the streets inside the

areas that could be flooded have been
painted orange

In the worst-case scenario, Barão de Cocais would have about one hour and 15 minutes to evacuate. In a recent drill
the town was cleared within about 50 minutes.

But some fear it was not a realistic reflection of the panic that would happen if the alarm catches them off guard. Or
worse still, while they are sleeping.

Both the Córrego do Feijão mine, where Brumadinho was located some 60km from here, and Gongo Soco are owned
by the Vale, Brazil's largest mining company, which refused our request for an interview.

The firm has traditionally been a source of work in Barão de Cocais but people are angry at what they see as its
relentless pursuit of profit.

"I'm afraid I don't have a good impression of Vale," says Gilmar dos Santos, a car mechanic. "It seems the company
put their profits above everything else. People's lives are just not a priority."

Mr Santos is worried about his family's ability to flee in a hurry. His elderly parents are particularly vulnerable.

Some shops and even the post office have been closed
for days

We walk to a nearby house to visit his mother, Cilta Maria, as she waters the orchids in her garden. A vigorous woman
in her 80s, she admits she would have real difficulty in evacuating the home she has lived in for 48 years.

"I'm trying to stay calm. We get apprehensive and worried so every night one of my kids comes to sleep here. If
something happens, they're already here. But it's hard."
 Cilta Maria says she would have real difficulty in evacuating her
home

This is not least because her husband, Raimundo, has advanced stage Alzheimer's. He sits smiling passively into the
mid-distance, unaware of the impending disaster threatening his town.

Cilta Maria resents having to go through this at their age. "We never thought this would happen here in Barão. They
told us the mine was development, was progress. And now I guess we're suffering the consequences."

Image copyright REUTERS

The Brumadinho dam collapsed in January

without warning

Meanwhile, for the family members of the victims of Brumadinho, watching the crisis unfold at Gongo Soco has
caused new distress. For them, it is evidence that nothing has been learned from the deaths of their loved ones just
weeks ago.

Rimarque Cangussu's daughter, Marcelle Porto, was a doctor working in Brumadinho at the time and the first victim
to be formally identified. "It was a terrible, overwhelming blow, a loss that I'll never recover from," says Mr
Cangussu, a civil engineer, adding that there is a pattern of negligence taking place.

He points to the collapse at a Vale mining dam in Mariana in 2015, Brazil's worst environmental disaster. To the
questionable mining practices and poor safety standards at Brumadinho. To the assurances given by Vale, the state and
federal government that changes would be made to prevent a repeat.

None of it, he says, has made the slightest difference.

"It wouldn't surprise me if there's a similar tragedy in Barão de Cocais. It is a sensation of impotence, indignation and
dismay that things don't work as they should."