A Dam Massive Problem
A tale of corporate irresponsibility and environmental havoc to expose the true and unseen scale of waste: it’s not what you think
On January 25, 2019, the scene at the Córrego do Feijão iron ore mine in Brumadinho, Brazil, was anything but routine. Then, during their lunch break in the cafeteria, miners were jolted by a sudden crack. Some dismissed it as a harmless noise; others thought it was just a burst tire. But others probably knew they were taking their last breaths of air in this world.
Up the slope from the cafeteria, the dam was on the verge of collapse.
The weakened structure was holding back 11,700,000 square meters (1.5 times the size of Central Park) of hazardous waste rock, ore, and water — a toxic slurry ready to wreak havoc. Built from settled tailings, the dam was essentially compacted dirt formed into stepped mounds over decades.
There’s no possible way to describe the miners’ terror. They were well aware that these ‘upstream’ dams, prevalent in Brazil, are prone to liquefaction. A sudden shift in load or vibration could swiftly transform the sludge from a near-solid to a liquid state. Once that shift occurred, there was no turning back.
