MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Brazil plans to sue mining companies US$ 7.2bn on toxic mud spill
Brazil's federal and state governments plan to sue the owners of the Samarco iron ore-miner for 20 billion Reais ($7.2 billion) in damages caused by the burst of a tailings dam, Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira told reporters on Friday. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesSure the companies should be fined but it doesn't really hurt them. If those responsible faced a sentence in a really tough jail it might just dissuade them.
Nov 29th, 2015 - 02:18 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Iibama the environmental agency should have been monitoring the activities of these companies on a continuous basis. Why didn't they? Or has someone been paid off to turn a blind eye to what was going on?
Very good point.
Nov 29th, 2015 - 07:36 pm - Link - Report abuse 0How and why would the UN human rights agency know anything about water toxicity?
Nov 29th, 2015 - 09:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0We need to disband the UN.
Useless bureaucrats always sticking thier nose where it doesn't belong.
Brazil has to expel incompetent companies of 5 eyes. Starting with the North American and English.
Nov 30th, 2015 - 09:39 am - Link - Report abuse 0They are technologically outdated companies that endanger the environment and the health of populations where they operate.
About the quality of the products that the countries of the 5 eyes produce: terrible and low duration.
The proof of the incompetence of the companies of the 5 eyes is that they do not work within the minimum safety standards. Except when the state puts auditors 24 hours a day on his heels. People filthy!
Can't see BHP and Vale stumping up cash to keep Samarco going if the figures for cleanup and fines grow to high.........Its a very profitable mine but if the liabilities grow beyond reasonable cost they will strip the company and start afresh - especially on todays prices for Iron Ore.,......So outcomes may not be what Brasilians are hoping for....
Nov 30th, 2015 - 01:05 pm - Link - Report abuse 0Waste...Dirty or Toxic??? not sure about that!
What very few people are aware of is the fact that Samarco is not a fully privatized company. And obviously not the “BRasshole”@4. Will explain why :
Nov 30th, 2015 - 03:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0In 1997, ex-President FHC partially privatized the Cia Vale do Rio Doce, but the Government remained with the so-called “golden shares”, which gave it the power to determine the company's future. In 2001, the government sold its controlling power, which in effect, put the company in private hands. But in 2003 - shortly after Lula got into power - the BNDES was used by the government to buy control back again. ...with the same purpose in mind as when Petrobras was nationalized in 2007. The PT then started placing their political appointees in all key positions. Lula pressured the then president of Vale Rio Doce (still a FHC appointee) to order ships and equipment from Brazilian shipyards, despite the highly inflated prices in comparison to the costs if ordered from S. Korean shipyards. He refused, so Lula, increasing the pressure, eventually got his way in 2009, replacing Vale's president with his cronie. With that, the government (read PT) had full control of the Cia. Vale do Rio Doce and, as majority shareholder and controller of the CRVD, which in turn is 50% shareholder of Samarco, the PT dictates the Company's interests. Therefore, to all effects, Samarco is controlled 50% by the Federal Government.... which attends who's interests ??? the PT's.......
That is why fat D didn't visit the site of the disaster for over a week, and the Mayor of Mariana, jointly with the Minister for the Environment (both 'petistas'), made an official announcement that Samarco had been the victim and that the the whole event had been a lamentable accident, a fatality that no one could forsee. Knowing the above, now it all makes sense.
Nice explanation Jack Bauer.
Nov 30th, 2015 - 04:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0The stench of PT is always unfortunately to be found.
@7 Tik Tok
Nov 30th, 2015 - 06:29 pm - Link - Report abuse 0There's a popular saying here, referring to someone who always f*cks things up, and which freely translated, is :
“If they don't shit on the doorstep when they enter, they shit on the way out”
Very appropriate for the PT, who also shit in the middle ; They always leave a trail of shit behind them. That's why you can smell their putrid stench a mile a away.
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