On November 5, 2015, an iron ore tailings dam collapsed in the municipality of Mariana, Minas Gerais, spilling the equivalent of 25,000 Olympic swimming pools of toxic sludge — destroying entire towns and resulting in 19 deaths. It also devastated the Rio Doce. At the time, authorities and politicians called for stricter environmental laws and harsh punishments to the companies responsible for the tragedy.
Three years later, the investigation that followed the 2015 tragedy led to a lawsuit for environmental crimes, manslaughter, and bodily harm...