Brazil's federal government has reached a significant settlement with mining companies responsible for a devastating 2015 dam collapse, considered the country's worst environmental disaster. Samarco, a joint venture of Vale and BHP, will pay 132 billion reais ($23 billion) over 20 years to compensate for the human, environmental, and infrastructure damage caused by the release of toxic mining waste into a major river in Minas Gerais state. The disaster claimed 19 lives and caused extensive destruction in the region.
President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva criticized the mining companies for prioritizing profit over safety, emphasizing the need to rectify a disaster that could have been prevented. The toxic sludge, equivalent to 13,000 Olympic-size swimming pools, contaminated waterways and coastal areas over a vast distance.
