Controversies over Mining Safety: Effects of Dam Failures on Documents and Debates in Brazil

Abstract

This paper examines how the safety and stability of mining dams have been enacted in documents and public debates after the dam failures in Mariana and Brumadinho (Minas Gerais, Brazil). The documents considered here refer to the federal law that created the National Mining Agency (ANM, due to its initials in Portuguese), the Minas Gerais State Policy for Dams Safety and ANM’s Resolutions and Technical Notes, among others. The public debate addresses a community forum that took place in 2019 in Araxá (Minas Gerais). In order to complement and provide background to certain matters that arose during the debate, this paper presents excerpts from three interviews conducted in Araxá, in early 2020, with actors who were directly involved and affected by the mining operations in the municipality. The paper describes three mechanisms that enact dam safety assessment: i) the reliance on the technique; ii) uncertainty over the technique; and iii) that which exceeds the norm and the technique. Although there is an effort to “stabilize dams” that derives from the emphasis on construction methods, the findings of this research indicate that the associations between humans and nonhumans raise new questions and uncertainties, shedding light on the formulation of other ways to integrate and conceive science(s) and technique(s) in our society.