Brazil has finalized a 170 billion reais ($29.85bn) compensation agreement with miners BHP, Vale, and Samarco for the Mariana dam collapse in 2015, considered one of the worst environmental disasters.
The agreement, signed on Friday, aims to address the extensive damage caused by the collapse of the Fundão tailings dam, which released a massive wave of mining waste.
The dam collapse at Samarco’s iron ore mine, a joint venture between Vale and BHP, unleashed a wave of tailings in the disaster that killed 19 people, left hundreds homeless, flooded forests, and also polluted the length of the region’s Doce River.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attended a ceremony in Brasilia with the government said, “The first installment of 5 billion reais ($878m) must be paid within 30 days to mark the signing of the agreement.”
The agreement allocates 132 billion reais ($23 billion) for compensation, with 100 billion reais ($17.5 billion) designated as “new resources” that are to be paid to public authorities within 20 years by the companies involved in the tragedy.
As per reports, the government also said in a statement that the agreement’s resources of 32 billion reais ($5.6bn) will enable local authorities to compensate families for financial losses and fund environmental recovery in affected areas, focusing on the states of Minas Gerais, where the dam is located, and Espirito Santo.