Citation

Garcia LC, Ribeiro DB, de Oliveira Roque F, Ochoa-Quintero JM, Laurance WF. Ecol. Appl. 2016; 27(1): 5-9.

Affiliation

Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science, and College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland, 4878, Australia.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Ecological Society of America)

DOI

10.1002/eap.1461

PMID

27770593

Abstract

In November 2015, a large mine-tailing dam owned by Samarco Corporation collapsed in Brazil, generating a massive wave of toxic mud that spread down the Doce River, killing 19 people and affecting biodiversity across hundreds of kilometers of river, riparian lands, and Atlantic coast. Besides the disaster's serious human and socioeconomic tolls, we estimate the regional loss of environmental services to be ~US$5.21 billion/year. Although our estimate is conservative, it is still six times higher than the fine imposed on Samarco by Brazilian environmental authorities. To reduce such disparities between estimated damages and levied fines, we advocate for an 'environmental bond policy' that considers potential risks and environmental services that could possibly be impacted by irresponsible mining activity. Environmental bonds andinsurance arecommonly used policy instrumentsin many countries, but there are no clear environmental bond policies in Brazil. Environmental bondsare likely to be more effective at securing environmental restitution than post-disaster fines, which generally are inadequate and often unpaid. We estimate that at least 126 mining dams in Brazil are vulnerable to failure in the forthcoming years. Any such event could have severe social-environmental consequences, underscoring the need for effective disaster-management strategies for large-scale mining operations. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Language: en