The openMovements series invites leading social scientists to share their research results and perspectives on contemporary social struggles.
Author's photos.November 2015 was marred by the biggest environmental tragedy Brazil has known. It was also the biggest mining disaster in the world, caused by the rupture of Samarco's mining company tailings dam in Mariana, located in the state of Minas Gerais, in southeastern Brazil. Any analysis of the consequences of this disaster requires that we rethink our definition of environmental impacts, as well as who to identify as the affected parties and how those legitimate actors come forward who are to act in the mediation processes that begin in the wake of a disaster like this one.
According to the survey carried out by Lindsay Land Boweker, this is the biggest disaster in tailings dams in terms of the amount of waste in the last 100 years. The mud tailings killed people and animals, destroyed cities in the state of Minas Gerais and, following the course of the Doce river (fifth largest in Brazil), crossed the state of Espírito Santo, reaching the sea. The Doce basin is 853 km long with approximately 3.4 million people living in the region. Once the mud reached the river mouth, it entered the sea and so far experts are not able to tell what the direction of that waste will be, nor its dynamics in the ocean. It is estimated that the mud may reach Caribbean beaches profoundly affecting marine life, to the point of extinguishing some species.
