What has Vale learned after multiple disasters?

In 2012, human rights abuses and environmental transgressions earned Brazilian mining giant Vale the inglorious title of the “worst company in the world” by Swiss sustainable development group Public Eye (previously called the Berne Declaration). Vale is the world’s largest iron ore and nickel producer, but it also is in the phosphate and nitrogen industry, as well as copper, coal, manganese, and alloys.

By any standards, its laundry list of crimes should mean significant legal consequences. But for the Brazilian economy, Vale is simply too big to fail. Now, in the wake of Brazil’s worst mining disaster, Brazilian federal prosecutors are running up against a company seemingly still unwilling to make significant changes.

In 2019, the Brumadinho dam collapse unleashed a deadly torrent of mining waste that killed at least 270 people and displaced thousands. It was the worst environmental disaster in Brazilian history — and Vale’s second dam collapse in less than four years. In 2014, a different collapse killed 19 people and literally buried entire villages.

The Brazilian Report has shown that, in both cases, Vale ignored its own data about the state of its dams and avoided minor investments that might have prevented both tragedies — or, at least, reduced their impact. 

Now, 18 months after Brumadinho, federal prosecutors in Minas Gerais believe the company has failed to make real changes and are seeking a court order to remove Vale executives accused of disregarding safety...