On November 5, 2015, at around 3:30 p.m., the Fundão Dam, located in the Germano Industrial Complex in Mariana (MG), collapsed. The dam was managed by Samarco Mineração S/A, a company controlled by Vale S/A and BHP Billiton.

The disaster caused severe environmental and social impacts across 45 municipalities in the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo. A wave of mining waste buried the subdistrict of Bento Rodrigues, killing 19 people. Approximately 32 million cubic meters of tailings were released, followed by another 13 million cubic meters in the subsequent days, eventually reaching the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Espírito Santo.

The toxic sludge traveled nearly 700 kilometers along the Rio Doce basin, containing potentially hazardous metals, and affected approximately 2.2 million people.

The Rio Doce Project, conducted by Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV) since 2018, aims to support the Federal Prosecution Service (MPF) in diagnosing socioeconomic damages and establishing parameters for the full reparation of affected communities.

FGV’s research combined:

• Intensive data analysis and interdisciplinary collaboration;
• Systematic listening to affected populations;
• Quantitative and qualitative tools, including:
• Data mining and Big Data analysis;
• Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques.

This work enabled the proposal of comprehensive reparative measures and reconstructive actions to mitigate impacts on housing, income, health, culture, and traditions.

To achieve universalization goals, it is essential to foster an environment of legal certainty and sound regulatory governance, ensuring a better understanding of alternative regulatory structures for the sanitation sector and the incentives generated by each.

Through intensive data analysis, combined with field research and listening to affected communities in their diversity, the Rio Doce Project mobilized a team of 164 professionals—including 141 researchers and 23 administrative staff—across five FGV schools:

• FGV Direito SP (São Paulo Law School)
• FGV Direito Rio (Rio de Janeiro Law School)
• FGV EAESP (São Paulo School of Business Administration)
• FGV EESP (São Paulo School of Economics)
• FGV EMAp (School of Applied Mathematics)

The result was the largest mapping ever conducted in Brazil on socioeconomic damages caused by disasters, and one of the most comprehensive studies on technological disasters worldwide.

The results highlight the profound impacts of the Fundão Dam collapse on the territory and affected populations, in areas such as:

• Health
• Employment and income
• Housing
• Education
• Public administration
• GDP
• Rights of children and adolescents
• Rights of traditional and Indigenous communities
• Women’s rights and racial equity

Additionally, the study provides essential information for assessing the effectiveness of the ongoing reparation process.

Authorship

Researchers: Oscar Vilhena Vieira, Leandro Alves Patah, André Portela F. de Souza, Antônio José M. Porto, Eduardo Massad, Flavia Silva Scabin, Mario Prestes Monzoni Neto.

Organization

Federal Prosecution Service of Brazil

Support

Samarco

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