The agreement give scope to transfer to Vale, “in a veiled way”, the management of national parks in Minas Gerais
Public prosecutor MARCIO VIEIRA SOUTO COSTA FERREIRA
According to the prosecutors, the judge “has nothing to do with the disaster” of Brumadinho, despite being responsible for the case of another disaster involving Vale, which occurred in Mariana three years earlier. They said that the agreement has the potential to transfer to Vale the management of some national parks located in Minas Gerais.
This is because the document provides for the allocation of R$ 150 million ($26 million) to seven national parks in Minas. According to the prosecutors, the terms for the agreement give scope to transfer to Vale, “in a veiled way”, the management of conservation units.
Vale have not responded to requests for comment on the decision.
Earlier this month, federal prosecutor Edison Vitorelli told Reuters that the miner has not complied with a number of commitments signed with authorities to prevent a third disaster.
Twenty-nine dams that Vale uses to store mining waste still present elevated safety risks, according to Vitorelli.
Some of the mines linked to the dams that Vitorelli’s team regard as unsafe are vital to Vale’s plans to recover lost iron ore production and grow capacity to 450 million tonnes per year, a level that would make it once again the world’s largest producer of the steel-making raw material.
