A fortnight after the collapse of the BHP dam, the coast of the Brazilian state of EspÃrito Santo is turning brown with the toxic mining waste from an iron ore mine.
Since the November 5th accident at the Fundão dam controlled by the Samarco mining company, the approximately 50m cubic metres of mining residue has slowly been winding its way down the Rio Doce.
A tide of sludge wiped out several communities in the state of Minas Gerais before reaching the Rio Doce, killing 12 – 11 individuals are still missing, presumed dead.
Vast amounts of plant and animal life along a 650km stretch of the river have already been exterminated, and turbidity has been heightened in the river, which has served to drastically reduce the amount of oxygen in the water.
Hundreds of thousands of residents are still dependent on bottled water as the national water agency, ANA, has banned the use of the river water for human consumption due to concern of toxins.
The tide is expected to spread along a 9km stretch of the coastline, and will threaten a lot of wildlife and marine life in the area, including the endangered leatherback turtle resident in the Comboios nature reserve, one of their only regular nesting sites.
According to Joca Thome, the national coordinator of the marine conservation organisation Tamar, the pollution looks like a pool of brown gelatine spreading out to sea in one of the worst calamities to hit the area.
Local fishermen in the coastal village of Regência have installed protective barriers along the estuary of the Rio Doce and diggers have been working very hard in an attempt to widen the mouth of the river in the hope that the mud will drift out to sea as quickly as possible.
By Saturday afternoon however, the sludge had reached the estuary and the first dead fish began floating to the surface on Sunday.
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