The Renova Foundation organized a workshop to discuss and define the action plan on the allocation of material resulting from the collapse of the Fundão dam
The workshop “Tailings Management”, organized by the Renova Foundation on January 24 and 25, outlined the first guidelines for the plan for managing the tailings in the Doce River basin. National and international experts and environmental agencies worked together to produce the material, the result of discussions and the exchange of knowledge among the participants.
Given the complexity of the Fundão dam collapse, a joint development is needed to define the best decisions to be made regarding the tailings management. Discussions during the workshop revolved around possible solutions, ranging from the stabilization of the waste to its full withdrawal, leading to the deployment of recovery techniques for the areas.
Today (25), the participants were divided into six discussion groups to address the following topics: Area Division, Alternatives Impact Assessment, Socioeconomic Aspects, Ecological Risk and Human Health, Soil/Land Destination, Alteration in the River System, Water Turbidity, Chemical Characteristics, Biodiversity and Environmental Recovery.
Tailings Management Workshop held on January 24 and 25 at Fundação Dom Cabral. | Photo: Thiago Fernandes
In January, the Renova Foundation presented public authorities a letter proposing the removal of 11 million cubic meters (14.4 million cubic yards) of tailings. This is one of the phases for handling the in total 20 million cubic meters (26.2 million cubic yards) deposited in the area between the Fundão dam (Mariana/MG) and the hydroelectric plant Risoleta Neves (Rio Doce/MG). The first 11 million cubic meters (14.4 million cubic yards) to be removed are distributed as follows: 10 million cubic meters (13.1 million cubic yards) are in the area of hydroelectric plant Risoleta Neves (Rio Doce/MG), 900 thousand cubic meters (1177.2 thousand cubic yards) are in the community of Bento Rodrigues (Mariana/MG) and 170 thousand cubic meters (222.4 thousand cubic yards) have already been removed from Barra Longa (Mariana/MG).
The remaining volume of approximately 9 million cubic meters (11.8 million cubic yards), referring to the area between the Fundão dam and the hydroelectric plant Risoleta Neves, added to the volume of all other affected areas along the 650 km (404 miles) Doce River basin, will be incorporated in this management plan. Experts and environmental agencies will continue to work on the plan over the next 45 days.
Representatives of the Dom Cabral Foundation to part in the first workshop, Renova technicians, a representative of the technical boards of the Inter-federative Committee, environmental agencies and consultants and academics who are references in their fields. Until completion – in 45 days – new meetings will be held to broaden the views and enhance the debate.