Brazilian miner and iron ore producer Vale reportedly knew the Brumadinho dam had a high risk of collapsing, according to a media report by Reuters citing an internal corporate document. The document reportedly said Vale knew about the risks last year.
The iron ore dam burst on January 25, killed 165 people thus far, but numbers should increase as chances of finding survivors have decreased to almost zero, according to officials.
The internal Vale report, dated October 3, 2018, said the Brumadinho dam had twice the chance of collapsing than the maximum level of risk tolerated under internal guidelines. However, , an external auditor said in late 2018 that the dam was safe.
Vale said the report, known as Geotechnical Risk Management Results, includes the opinion of expert engineers, who are demanded to work under rigorous proceedings when they find risks. Vale also said this week it hired a number of experts, through its legal advisor Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, to evaluate the technical causes of the burst.
The experts include professors at institutions like the University of Alberta, Johns Hopkins University, Queensland University, and Geosyntec Consultants.