National and international experts and representatives of environmental agencies discuss the issue on January 24 and 25 in Nova Lima (MG)
In January, the Renova Foundation filed a letter with the bodies that make up the Tailings Management Technical Board – the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama), the State Department for the Environment (Semad) and State Environmental Institute (IEMA) – that informs about the intention to withdraw up to 11 million cubic meters (14.4 cubic yards) of iron ore tailings deposited along the stretch between the Fundão dam and the hydroelectric plant Risoleta Neves, located in the town Rio Doce (MG).
The filed document shows the areas of which the Foundation and the bodies agree and have made advanced decisions regarding the tailings due to the dam collapse, the best alternative being their withdrawal. The remaining volume needs more discussion with an environmental, technical, social and temporal basis, so that viable decisions can be made.
Recovery actions carried out by the Renova Foundation after the collapse of the Fundão dam. | Photo: Leo Drumond / NITRO
For the development of the tailings management plan, Renova holds the workshop “Tailings Management”, at the Dom Cabral Foundation in Nova Lima (MG). The event is aimed to discuss solutions and contributions to the preparation of the action plan. National and international experts with expertise in various areas like environment, waste, social assistance, water and land recovery will be meeting in a technical seminar to learn about the studies carried out on the challenge of this issue and its singularities, on the first day of the event (24).
In line with the debate and an collective development, on the 25th (Wednesday), the event will be attended by representatives of the Dom Cabral Foundation, technicians of Renova, a representative of the technical boards, consultants and academics, references in their fields, in addition to environmental agencies.
Convergent and divergent points will be raised for the development of a joint strategy for the next steps in the environmental remediation process of the material deposited along the areas impacted by the dam collapse. After all, the removal of waste is one of the most important programs of Renova.
On the second day, the event will be covered online, broadcasted by the Renova Foundation website (www.fundacaorenova.org), where all stakeholders on this subject can send questions or comments.
PROGRAM:
9 am to 9:45 am – Institutional presentation and explanation of the workshop objectives
The Renova Foundation and the Dom Cabral Foundation
9:45 am to 1:00 pm – Discussion and dynamics for the set up of the guidelines for the Tailings Management Plan, The Renova Foundation and the Dom Cabral Foundation
1 pm to 5 pm – Lunch
2 pm to 3:45 pm – 2nd half of discussions and dynamics
3:45 to 5 pm – Contributions for the development of the Tailings Management Plan and Schedule Definition
5 pm – Closure