Brazilian miner Vale and contractor TUV SUD reportedly made dam inspections difficult, according to a local prosecutor investigating the Brumadinho disaster, which killed at least 210 people.
According to several media reports, public prosecutor William Garcia said Vale used TUV SUD to make inspections at the site difficult. TUV SUD attested the safety of the failing dam. Garcia said the German-based contractor has been corrupting the dam certification process in Brazil.
“TUV SUD’s work in Brazil is within the corruption law,” the prosecutor said in a conference in Belo Horizonte. “TUV SUD’s involvement was key to making inspections and control (measures) by regulators difficult.”
Garcia said public prosecutors opened an investigation in 2015, following the Mariana disaster, which killed 19 people in Minas Gerais state. At the time, prosecutors determined all dams in Brumadinho should also be inspected, including Vale’s failing B1 dam—TUV SUD issued a stability certificate for the dam in June 2018.
Shortly after, prosecutors sent a request for detailed analysis about the structure. Five months later, a Vale lawyer filed a request to prevent the prosecutors from continuing a detailed analysis, following the safety certificate issued by TUV SUD.
Vale denied any wrongdoing and said the blame is on TUV SUD, as the miner believed the company’s safety assessment was accurate.