Atlantic Monthly
Red Sludge From Brazilian Dam Collapse Reaches the Atlantic
Earlier this month, on November 5, two dams retaining tons of iron-mining waste near the Brazilian town of Bento Rodrigues burst, releasing a massive flood of thick, red toxic mud that flattened buildings and trees, smothered the small town, and left at least six dead. The wave of toxic sludge—tested and found to contain high levels of mercury and arsenic, according to a BBC report—then moved downstream, into the Rio Doce (Doce River), and spent two weeks making its way several hundred miles downstream, finally reaching the Atlantic Ocean. According to Reuters: “Scientists say the sediment, which may contain chemicals used by the mine to reduce iron ore impurities, could alter the course of streams as they harden, reduce oxygen levels in the water and diminish the fertility of riverbanks and farmland where floodwater passed.”
An aerial view of the Rio Doce (Doce River), which was flooded with mud after a dam owned by Vale SA and BHP Billiton burst, at an area where the river joins the sea, on the coast of Espirito Santo in Regencia Village, Brazil, on November 23, 2015. #
Ricardo Moraes / Reuters
General view from above of the failed dam in Mariana, Brazil, on November 10, 2015. #
Ricardo Moraes / Reuters
Residents observe the Bento Rodrigues district covered with mud after the dam collapse in Mariana, Brazil, on November 6, 2015. #
Ricardo Moraes / Reuters
The window of a damaged house in Bento Rodrigues district after the dam burst, on November 9, 2015. #
Ricardo Moraes / Reuters
