Abstract
Mining dam failures have increased worldwide since the 1980s. Two large mining dam failures occurred recently in Mariana and Brumadinho, both in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. We hypothesize that there were significant differences in legal post-disaster decisions. The aim of this article is to understand the similarities and differences of post-disaster actions and controversies in Mariana and Brumadinho. We reviewed 686 news reports about court decisions and settlement agreements from the websites of state and federal courts and judicial institutions. After classifying the reports using an adapted protocol from a media health observatory, we conducted a thematic analysis. Our analysis suggests that there were significant differences in legal post-disaster decisions in the cases of Mariana and Brumadinho. In Mariana, there was privatization of post-disaster management, with the creation of the Renova Foundation, a mediated indemnity program, lack of access to information for those affected, and uncertainties in health and resettlement issues. In Brumadinho, there was faster implementation of the recovery and compensation measures, faster recognition of affected parties, and stronger participation of the population since the first hearings. Even though there were particularities in post-disaster management, the ultimate goal of the corporations responsible for the disasters was to protect their profits.
Highlights
According to Pádua [1], the Brazilian intellectual tradition relegated environmental issues as secondary in political debates and limited them to superficial environmental discussions because that debate was assumedly foreign to Brazilian realities
After conducting descriptive statistical analysis, we developed a timeline for post-disaster lawsuits and settlement agreements to assess when they appeared in the reports, which might indicate changes in post-disaster debates, and the chronology of implementation of legal decisions in the two cases (Figure 7)
We analyzed in this article the differences and similarities in post-disaster management according to news reports of legal actions taken in the disasters in Mariana and Brumadinho
Summary
According to Pádua [1], the Brazilian intellectual tradition relegated environmental issues as secondary in political debates and limited them to superficial environmental discussions because that debate was assumedly foreign to Brazilian realities. The first essay by Lisboa [2] included political reflections about the environmental development of the country and colonial gold mining exploration. Destructive environmental practices, rudimentary and unproductive agriculture, and mining exploration were dominant in that period. After observing the environmentally unfriendly practices of unskilled and poorly educated Brazilian miners, Lisboa [2] noted that to overcome that confrontation, new mineral production procedures and direction for mineralogy could be established in the country. He suggested that mining work be performed by environmental philosophers
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