Five Brazilian cities in the state of Minas Gerais plan to sue Vale for BRL 677 million ($134.8 million), so the miner can repair the Brumadinho dam break, a media report from O Tempo said. The five cities suing Vale are Betim, Igarapé, Juatuba, Mário Campos and São Joaquim de Bicas, which are all located near the Brumadinho site where a dam collapsed in January 2019, killing 259 people.
The cities claim they suffered the most with the dam break. “We’re negotiating with Vale a fair compensation, as (Vale) destroyed our biodiversity, killed fishes and made all this mess – a penalty that will last 50 to 100 years (for us),” said Betim mayor, Vittorino Medioli.
Medioli said his city administration wasn’t called by Vale to negotiate indemnities.