The Fire Department of Minas Gerais backed down after initially confirming that the dam at Mina de Pau Branco, in the Metropolitan Region of Belo Horizonte, would have broken this Saturday (8).
After investigations, the spokesman of the corporation, Pedro Aihara, informed that there was no rupture, and a structure to contain the water accumulated by the rains overflowed.
At 10:59 am on Saturday (8), the firefighters gave the press the initial information that the Santa Bárbara dam, in Mina de Pau Branco, in the municipality of Nova Lima, had failed.
At 11:40 am, the corporation backtracked and explained that the dam did not burst, and that in fact a dam overflowed because of the heavy rains that hit the region.
“There is no type of disruption of a structural problem. Simply an overflow situation. There are no fatal victims, no communities that are at risk right now”, said Lt. Pedro Aihara.
A stretch of highway BR-040 at the site was affected by the flow of mud and water. Firefighters reported that one person was injured.
The concessionaire Via 040, responsible for the road, informed that there is a “total ban on the highway for material carried by the mining company due to excessive rainfall”.
There is a 2km traffic jam in both directions, with no release forecast. On-site teams work to remove material carried by the water.
According to the Meteorology and Water Resources System of Minas Gerais (SIMGE), this weekend’s forecast for the Belo Horizonte region is unstable weather, with persistent rain
The forecast is that the region of the capital of Minas Gerais will accumulate between 60mm and 80mm of rain, which can cause floods, landslides, floods and flooding, according to SIMGE.
This Saturday morning (8), around 8 am, MG’s Civil Defense alerted on Twitter for the possibility of “mass movements in the next 3 hours” in a list of municipalities that includes Nova Lima.
The dam is the responsibility of the Vallourec group. THE CNN contacted the company.
In a statement, Vallourec informed that “there was an overflow of a dyke located in the Pau Branco mine, in Nova Lima.”
“This is not a dam failure. Teams are working at the site and, soon, more information will be passed on”, complements the statement.
A CNN also tries to contact the city of Nova Lima, but there has been no return so far.
In June 2021, the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais filed a Public Civil Action against Vallourec. According to the MP, in April of last year, the National Mining Agency (ANM) inspected the dam and suggested the classification of “level 1” of criticality.
On December 23, the company had released a statement in which its Mining unit, located in the Pau Branco mine, informed that the Santa Bárbara dam had its criticality level changed from “level 1” to zero again after carrying out works.
“With this change, we returned to the initial classification, which attests to the stability of the dam,” wrote Vallourec in the statement. The company added that the work was carried out in the structure of the dam, which guarantees the flow of water without the risk of erosion.
Heavy rains hit Minas Gerais in recent weeks
Reference: CNN Brasil
