Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Sep 6;7(1):10706.
doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-11143-x.

The environmental impacts of one of the largest tailing dam failures worldwide

Vanessa Hatje  1 , Rodrigo M A Pedreira  2 , Carlos Eduardo de Rezende  3 , Carlos Augusto França Schettini  4 , Gabriel Cotrim de Souza  5 , Danieli Canaver Marin  6 , Peter Christian Hackspacher  6
Affiliations

The environmental impacts of one of the largest tailing dam failures worldwide

Vanessa Hatje et al. Sci Rep. .

Abstract

The impacts of the SAMARCO iron tailing spill along more than 650 km, between the dam and the plume of the Doce River in the Atlantic, were assessed by the determination of toxic metals. The tailing spill caused a substantial increase in suspended sediment loads (up to 33,000 mg L-1), in addition to large depositions of waste along the Doce basin. The highest estimated transport of dissolved metals was observed for Fe (58.8 μg s-1), Ba (37.9 μg s-1) and Al (25.0 μg s-1). Sediments reached the highest enrichment factors (EFs) for Hg (4,234), Co (133), Fe (43), and Ni (16), whereas As (55), Ba (64), Cr (16), Cu (17), Mn (41), Pb (38) and Zn (82) highest EFs were observed for suspended particulate matter (SPM). Iron, As, Hg, Mn exceeded sediment quality guidelines. Therefore, the risk of occurrence of adverse effects is highly possible, not only due to the dam failure, but also due to the Fe mining and the artisan Au mining. Heavy rain episodes will likely cause enhanced erosion, remobilization, and transport of contaminated particles, sustaining high inputs of SPM and metals for the years to come and threatening the ecosystem services.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Sample locations along Doce Riven Basin, Minas Gerais, and Espírito Santo states, Brazil. This figure was prepared using ArcGIS (ArcMap 10.1; http://desktop.arcgis.com/).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Distribution of suspended particulate material (SPM) in Doce River basin. Squares and triangles represent, respectively, data collect 5 days after the accident and historic means (IGAM, 2015).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Concentrations of dissolved trace elements along the Doce River downstream Samarco dam. Only the stations along the flow of the tailing slurry are presented.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Concentrations of particulate trace elements along the Doce River downstream Samarco dam. Only the stations along the flow of the tailing slurry are presented.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Bioavailable and pseudo-total concentrations of selected metals along the Doce River downstream Samarco dam. Only the stations along the flow of the tailing slurry are presented. For Fe and Cr, pseudo-total digestion concentrations are shown on the left y-axis and bioavailable fraction in the right y-axis.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Principal component analysis of water, suspended particulate material and sediment samples along Doce River basin.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Partitioning Coefficient (Kd) as a function of suspended particulate concentrations (log SPM concentrations) for the Doce River watershed.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Singer PC, Stumm W. Acidic Mine Drainage: The Rate-Determining Step. Science. 1970;167:1121–1123. doi: 10.1126/science.167.3921.1121. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lewin, J. & Macklin, M. In International Geomorphology Part 1 (ed. Gardiner, V.) 1009–1027 (John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 1986).
    1. Mackin, M. et al. The chemical and physical impacts of recent mine tailing dam failures on river system: key issues for sustainable catchment management in former and present metal mining areas. In Proceedings of a SEminar on Proposed EU Directive on Mining Waste 18–24 (Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, 2002).
    1. Macklin MG, et al. A geomorphological approach to the management of rivers contaminated by metal mining. Geomorphology. 2006;79:423–447. doi: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2006.06.024. - DOI
    1. Grimalt JO, Ferrer M, MacPherson E. The mine tailing accident in Aznalcollar. Sci. Total Environ. 1999;242:3–11. doi: 10.1016/S0048-9697(99)00372-1. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types