Danos socioambientais no Brasil: riscos e alternativas

Abstract

The collapse of the ore tailings dam in Fundão, municipality of Mariana, in the state of Minas Gerais, at the end of 2015, owned by the mining companies Samarco Mineração SA and the multinationals Vale S / A and the Anglo-Australian BHP Billiton do Brasil Ltda., Was a unique disaster in many senses. It was the biggest environmental catastrophe in Brazil so far, one of the biggest in the world, with human, social, economic and environmental impacts of enormous proportions. It has also been unique, so far, in the way it has created a model for repairing and compensating for the multiple and complex damages caused over almost 700 km, from Mariana-MG to the mouth of the Doce River in the Atlantic Ocean, located in Regência Augusta , in the municipality of Linhares in the state of Espírito Santo. Among the many aspects that stand out in the model created for repair, through of the extrajudicial agreement signed between the Brazilian State and the offending mining companies, the established governance system stands out. In a context of internal political and economic crisis in the country, in the process of negotiating the Agreement, mining companies ensured control and conduct of repair, in his hands, having an Interfederative Committee (CIF) at the top, as supervisor, but without veto power, and a private law Foundation (Fundação Renova), controlled by mining companies, as executor. Almost six years after the disaster, it is possible to take stock, among the several that have already been offered, with a special focus on the legal and governance issues of this model. This is one of the central objectives of this book, but not only that, because what we are offering here is the product of interdisciplinary research work, which brought together several perspectives, whether in the model mentioned; whether in the company responsible for the dam, Samarco, and its owners, Vale S. A. and BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda; whether in broader reflections in terms of the legal and sociological debate involving the process, the before, during and after, of what it means to make choices (normative, economic, political) that put us under the constant risk of socio-environmental damage. Thinking about alternatives for doing so implies getting to know several of these aspects better and that is what this book proposes to do.