By Luciana Magalhaes and Samantha Pearson
This article is being republished as part of our daily
reproduction of WSJ.com articles that also appeared in the U.S.
print edition of The Wall Street Journal (April 11, 2019).
BELO HORIZONTE, Brazil -- Prosecutors plan to file criminal
charges against Vale SA and employees of the mining giant over the
deadly collapse of a mine-waste dam in January, the lead
investigator told The Wall Street Journal.
José Adércio Leite Sampaio, the prosecutor heading the probe,
said investigators have gathered enough evidence to affirm that
Vale employees directly involved in the operation of the mine knew
the dam was unsafe. He didn't name the individuals.
About 300 people died near the town of Brumadinho in
southeastern Brazil on Jan. 25 when the dam collapsed, ranking as
the world's deadliest mining disaster of its type in more than 50
years.
"At this point, we know that the operational side knew [that the
dam was at risk of collapse], but did Vale's directors know?" Mr.
Sampaio said in an interview.
Prosecutors are preparing to file charges for crimes related to
the disaster, which could include murder, manslaughter,
environmental damage and false representation, he said.
Over the next two to three months, prosecutors expect to
determine if senior Vale officials, who were based at the regional
office as well as the miner's headquarters in Rio de Janeiro, also
knew the dam was at risk of collapse, he said.
Meanwhile, prosecutors are preparing possible criminal charges
of false representation against employees of TÜV SÜD, the German
inspection firm that certified Vale's dam near Brumadinho as safe
four months before it collapsed. Mr. Sampaio said individuals at
Vale also could be charged with that crime.
An investigation in February by the Journal found TÜV SÜD and
Vale employees knew for months of dangerous conditions at the dam
on the outskirts of the town of Brumadinho. Yet TÜV SÜD employees
certified the dam as safe, expressing worry about losing contracts
with Vale, a major client, the investigation found.
When prosecutors conclude their probe they will file the
criminal charges to a judge, who will hear from the workers'
defense teams before ruling. If found guilty, the defendants can
appeal the decision to higher courts -- a process that can take
years in Brazil.
TÜV SÜD and Vale said they are cooperating with the authorities
and carrying out their own separate investigations into the dam's
collapse. A lawyer representing TÜV SÜD employees said he would
only comment if he is officially notified of the charges.
Vale said it trusted TÜV SÜD to audit the dam correctly.
Mr. Sampaio said evidence gathered in the probe -- including
witness interviews, messages, internal documents and minutes from
meetings -- show that Vale carries a larger share of the blame for
the Jan. 25 collapse. "Comparatively, the culpability of Vale is
far larger than that of TÜV SÜD, both from the point of view of
criminal and civil law," Mr. Sampaio said.
Prosecutors previously told the Journal that both companies
could be held liable under Brazil's anticorruption civil law since
Vale submitted TÜV SÜD's safety certificates to government
regulators as proof the dam was stable.
The collapse of Vale's dam near Brumadinho, which obliterated
the mine's busy lunchroom and a nearby hotel, came about three
years after another dam jointly owned by Vale and BHP Group
collapsed less than 100 miles away in the town of Mariana, killing
19 people. Both dams were so-called upstream dams -- the most
widespread and cheapest method to store tailings, or mine waste,
and the most prone to failure, industry experts said.
Vale said last week that its safety inspectors had refused to
guarantee the stability of at least 18 of its other dams and dikes
in Brazil, as a crisis of confidence in the miner's structures
deepens following the Jan. 25 dam collapse.
Prosecutors are also investigating high-risk dams belonging to
other miners in the country as part of an investigation into more
than 100 structures, authorities told the Journal in March.
Andressa de Oliveira Lanchotti, a state prosecutor involved in
the probe, said in an interview that she isn't convinced another
dam won't collapse in Brazil's southeastern mining state of Minas
Gerais.
"Until the whole system is changed, with stricter rules
introduced and a greater control of this high-risk business, and
this is put into practice, there is no way to guarantee that more
dams won't collapse," she said.
After the 2015 tragedy in Mariana, Vale's management vowed to
take every possible precaution to make sure none of its other dams
would fail in the future, adopting the company slogan "Mariana,
never again."
Mr. Sampaio said one of the most disheartening findings of the
investigation into the Brumadinho disaster is the similarities with
what authorities found during the probe into the 2015 disaster.
"Imagine this investigation has 10 chapters," he said. "Right
now, we're on chapter three and the first three chapters are almost
an exact copy of what happened in Mariana -- measures that could
have been adopted and weren't, actions taken by the company that
were not in keeping with adequate safety standards."
Write to Luciana Magalhaes at Luciana.Magalhaes@wsj.com and
Samantha Pearson at samantha.pearson@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 11, 2019 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
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