This November marked ten years since the collapse of the Fundão Dam, in the district of Bento Rodrigues, in Mariana, Minas Gerais, in what is considered the largest environmental disaster in Brazil's history. The mud left 19 people dead and spilled 60 million cubic meters of iron ore tailings through the Doce River and its tributaries, which eventually reached the coast of Espírito Santo.

Researcher Euzeneia Carlos, from the steering committee of INCT Participa, is the coordinator of the Center for Participation and Democracy (NUPAD) at the Federal University of Espírito Santo (UFES) and has studied the Mariana and Rio Doce disaster for years. She has published articles such as 'Disaster in the Rio Doce: networks of relations of the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB)', with Alexsander Fonseca de Araújo, and organized the book 'Disaster and misgovernance in the Rio Doce', alongside Adrian Gurza Lavalle.

On the occasion of the ten-year anniversary of the dam collapse, Euzeneia Carlos gave an interview to TV Universitária at UFES in which she talks about the impacts and what needs to be done to mitigate them.

'Integrated and cross-sectoral public policies are necessary for environmental recovery, socioeconomic restructuring, the guarantee of water and food security, and health protection,' states the researcher. She mentions that the productive activities of the municipalities were disrupted—such as fishing, agriculture, tourism, and trade—as well as the lifestyles of Krenak, Tupinikim, and Guarani Indigenous communities and quilombola communities.

Regarding participation, one of the main research lines of INCT Participa, Euzeneia Carlos says that the ComRioComMar research network implemented a social technology in the affected territories in Espírito Santo to promote the participation of the people affected. 'The objective was to build a Participatory Diagnosis of the social impacts of the disaster and the solutions for reparation for those affected, as part of the Network's research activities,' she says.

Euzeneia also addressed public policies for environmental and social reparation and the barriers to a fair and effective reparation. Recently, the British Court sentenced the Anglo-Australian BHP for the tragedy—the largest mining company by market value in the world—in a volume of compensation that could reach R$ 260 billion, distributed among 620,000 litigants, including municipalities and entities. The payment of compensation is estimated to take three to five years.

However, in November 2024, the Federal Court acquitted Samarco—a company controlled by Vale and BHP Billiton, which operates the dam—for 'lack of sufficient evidence to establish the criminal liability' of each defendant involved in the case, in what Euzeneia Carlos calls the 'logic of impunity and environmental injustice.' It is possible that there will be legal resistance from those who lost this year's process in London.

Social movements and civil organizations have been promoting public protests and negotiation tables for 10 years for the right to recognition as affected and for full reparation.

Watch the full interview starting in mid-December. INCT Participa will make the video available when it is ready