RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian police arrested three employees and two contractors for embattled mining giant Vale SA as an investigation into a dam rupture that has killed at least 65 and left a path of destruction in the state of Minas Gerais widens.
The two contractors worked for German consultancy firm TUEV SUED, which had recently carried out safety studies concluding the tailings dam was stable. The Vale employees were allegedly directly involved in obtaining the licensing for the mining project, the public prosecutors office for Minas Gerais state said in a statement on Tuesday. The individuals are under temporary arrest for 30 days, it said.
A cabinet meeting took place in Brasilia this morning to discuss the situation of other tailings dams in Brazil. On Monday, Vice President Hamilton Mourao didn’t rule out changes in Vale’s management, saying they need to be discussed by the company’s board. The court decisions, the environmental fines, as well as increased scrutiny over Vale and other miners are likely to pose new challenges to mining activity in Brazil.
COMPLEX OFFENSES
Judge Perla Saliba Brito from the Minas Gerais state court, who ordered the arrests carried out this morning, also determined the search and seizure of documents and mobile phones as part of an investigation into alleged environmental crimes committed by the people, according to a court decision.
The arrests are necessary to “elucidate complex offenses, some off them perpetrated clandestinely,” the judge wrote in her decision.
In a separate action, a government crisis committee determined last night that federal regulators audit hundreds of tailings dams in Brazil to determine their safety, and whether buildings surrounding the most vulnerable ones should be removed.
OUTSIDE CONSULTANTS
TUEV SUED’s Sao Paulo offices said police were conducting part of their investigation at the branch. The company’s spokesman in Germany Thomas Oberst said that the company inspected the tailings dam in September and “found it to be operating well.”
Vale said Tuesday it is cooperating with authorities on the warrants served this morning and will continue to support the investigation.
Brazil’s system of monitoring how mining waste is safely stored involves the miners themselves paying independent consultants to inspect the dams used. The companies then present these reports to local officials as part of the process of guaranteeing structures are safe.
HUNDREDS MISSING
The police action comes four days after the Brumadinho dam ruptured and sent mining waste barreling down a valley in Minas Gerais, burying buildings and vehicles in several meters of mud. Hundreds remain missing. The accident echoed a similar one involving Vale and its partner BHP Group that occurred just over three years ago, becoming Brazil’s worst-ever environmental disaster.
Vale has seen its stocks and bonds plunge since the accident and it has been downgraded by ratings companies and analysts.