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disasters: report
by Zoe Sullivan on 19 December 2017
Between 2008-2017 it’s estimated that more than 340 people died, communities have been ravaged,
property ruined, rivers contaminated, fisheries wrecked and drinking water polluted by mining tailings
dam collapses. Estimates from the year 2000 put the total number of tailings dams globally at 3,500,
though there are likely more that have not been counted.
A new United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) report states that as mining production
escalates globally to provide the minerals and metals required for a variety of industrial needs, including
green technologies, it is urgent that nations and companies address tailings dam safety.
The UNEP report recommends that mining companies strive for a “zero-failure objective” in regard to
tailings dams, superseding economic goals. UNEP also recommends the establishment of a UN
environmental stakeholder forum to support stronger international regulations for tailings dams, and the
creation of a global database of mine sites and tailings storage facilities to track dam failures.
One idea would be to eliminate types of tailings dams that are just too dangerous to be tolerated. For
example, mining experts say there is no way to insure against the failure of “wet tailings disposal” dams,
like the Samarco dam that failed in 2015 – Brazil’s worst environmental disaster ever. As a result, they
recommend storing all future tailings waste via “dry stock disposal.”
The Imperial Metals Mount Polley gold and copper mine tailings dam disaster in British Columbia, Canada, dumped 24 million
cubic meters (more than 31 million cubic yards) of mine waste and sludge into neighboring Lake Polley and polluting
the Hazeltine Creek watershed. Photo courtesy of the Multinationals Observatory
It’s estimated that more than 340 people have been killed since 2008 in mining tailings dam failures –
preventable environmental disasters that also saw the ruination of communities and property, the contamination
of rivers, destruction of fisheries, and pollution of drinking water supplies.
Spurred by those calamities, the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) has issued a report stressing
the need for increased tailings dam safety (https://gridarendal-
website.s3.amazonaws.com/production/documents/:s_document/371/original/RRA_MineTailings_lores.pdf?
1510660693) around the globe. Tailings dams store pools of toxic mining waste.
UNEP notes that large quantities of minerals and metals will be required in the near future for a variety of
industrial needs, including the development of green technologies that support the UN´s 2030 Sustainable
Development Goals (SDGs). The report offers two key recommendations and a number of policy actions to
dramatically reduce tailings dam fatalities and accidents.
The first recommendation: Mining companies should strive for a “zero-failure objective,” superseding economic
goals. UNEP cites an expert panel convened in the wake of a major tailings dam failure in British Columbia,
Canada, the Mount Polley gold and copper mine (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/mount-
polley-investigation-ndp-1.4233234), which dumped 24 million cubic meters (more than 31 million cubic yards) of
mine waste and sludge into neighboring Lake Polley
(https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/aug/13/mount-polley-mine-spill-british-columbia-canada). The
panel concluded that “safety attributes should be evaluated separately from economic considerations, and cost
should not be the determining factor.”
The second key UNEP recommendation: Establish a UN environmental stakeholder forum to support stronger
international regulations for tailings dams.
Payal Sampat of Earthworks, a US-based NGO, notes: “Mine waste storage facilities are like ticking time
bombs, putting communities and waterways in harm’s way in the event of catastrophic failure.”
Aftermath of the Samarco tailings dam failure that sent a wall of toxic mud into the village of Bento Rodrigues, Brazil, killing 19
people and contaminating more than 500 miles of the Doce River. The UN report says that many such disasters are preventable if
Mining companies strived for a “zero-failure objective,” superseding economic goals. Photo by Romerito Pontes licensed under the
Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license
A record of disaster
The UNEP report was prompted by multiple serious accidents occurring around the world over the past decade.
It points to China and Canada as the two countries with the worst recent safety record. Canada has had seven
accidents since 2011, while China has had eight. Chile registered five separate tailings dam failures in 2010,
according to the report, while the U.S. saw five tailings dam accidents over the past decade.
Other countries have experienced disasters and grief. In Minas Gerais state, Brazil, on November 5, 2015, the
Fundão dam collapsed releasing 50 million tons of toxic iron tailings into the Doce River – the nation’s worst
environmental disaster ever. The dam held back waste from the Germano mine run by Samarco
(http://www.samarco.com), a joint venture of BHP Biliton (http://www.bhp.com/) and Vale
(http://www.vale.com/brasil/EN/Pages/default.aspx), two of the world´s largest mining firms. Nineteen people
died when the slurry engulfed the town of Bento Rodrigues. Survivors fled for their lives to high ground and
were left homeless. More than 500 miles of the river was contaminated, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
Ugo LaPointe of Mining Watch Canada (https://miningwatch.ca/) told DeSmog Canada
(https://www.desmog.ca/) that these major disasters represent just a portion of the problem: “This is just a
glimpse of what we know. A lot of the data is missing. We need an international database of mining spills and
mining failures. If you don’t collect that solid data, you are not in the best position to correct the problems.”
Along with increased international regulation of tailings dams, UNEP’s Safety is No Accident report also calls
for the establishment of a first-of-its-kind global database of mine sites and tailings storage facilities to
facilitate the tracking of dam failures. Research cited from the year 2000, estimates that there are 3,500 tailings
dams around the globe, though that figure is likely low considering that there are around 30,000 industrial
mines planet-wide. No one knows how many tailings dams there may be, or their current condition.
The UNEP report also calls for financial securities firms to give mining companies an economic incentive to
prioritize safety. Suggestions include a global insurance pool, mandatory financial securities for the life of
every mine, and a global financial assurance system for mine sites.
La Tortolas tailings dam high in the Andes Mountains of Chile. The dam was built in a seismically active area, but is designed to
resist earthquakes. Photo by Lodecop licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license