BHP Billiton Says Tailings from Brazil Dam Spill Were Chemically Stable
November 25 2015 - 9:28PM
Dow Jones News
By Rhiannon Hoyle
SYDNEY--Waste from a dam that failed at a mining operation
jointly owned by BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Vale SA (VALE) is
chemically stable, BHP said Thursday, after a pair of United
Nations experts said the mud spilled contained "high levels of
toxic heavy metals and other toxic chemicals."
The Nov. 5 failure of the dam operated by Samarco Minerao SA, a
joint venture between BHP and Vale, swallowed entire communities
and polluted hundreds of miles of waterways in southeast
Brazil.
"The tailings that entered the Rio Doce were comprised of clay
and silt material from the washing and processing of earth
containing iron ore, which is naturally abundant in the region,"
BHP said in a statement. "Based on available data, the tailings are
chemically stable. They will not change chemical composition in
water and will behave in the environment like normal soils in the
catchment."
On Wednesday, U.N. special rapporteurs John Knox and Baskut
Tuncak cited new evidence showing the presence of toxic waste in
the mud, contradicting repeated statements by the Brazilian
government and the mining companies responsible for the dam that
said the contents known as tailings that were released are harmless
and consist mostly of mud and sand.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 25, 2015 21:13 ET (02:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Vale (NYSE:VALE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Vale (NYSE:VALE)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024