Flood in Vale mining area damaged Brazilian river, state government says

Overflowing water in a mining area owned by Brazil’s Vale (NYSE: VALE) caused environmental damage as it reached the local Maranhao River, Minas Gerais state government said in a statement on Monday.

The overflow on Sunday, in two nearby but separate areas hit by heavy rain and owned by Vale, also led to a flood at a site owned by steelmaker CSN.

The incidents, near the towns of Ouro Preto and Congonhas, left no injuries, the companies and Minas Gerais’ government said.

Vale must implement emergency measures to clean the affected area and monitor the river, the state government said, adding the company will also have to submit an environmental recovery plan to restore the affected waterway.

Vale did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the statement, but had previously said local communities had not been affected.

The flooding occurred on the anniversary of the January 25, 2019 burst of Vale’s Brumadinho dam, which unleashed an avalanche of muddy mining waste, killing an estimated 270 people while ravaging local rivers and communities.

Vale said that there was no connection between the latest accident and the tailings dams it has in the region.

(Reporting by Fabio Teixeira; Editing by Jamie Freed)