A decade after brazil’s mariana dam disaster, rio doce communities still struggle with contaminated water

Ten years after one of Brazil’s worst environmental disasters, communities along the Rio Doce River continue to live with the toxic legacy of the Fundão tailings dam collapse. In November 2015, the dam burst in Mariana, Minas Gerais, releasing millions of tons of mining waste that flowed down the Rio Doce to the Atlantic Ocean, devastating ecosystems and communities along its path.

Today, residents like Lucimar Dias dos Santos Silva—known locally as Preta—still see yellow stains marking their water tanks and discolored water flowing from their taps. Preta lives in Brejo Grande, a village in the quilombo community of Povoação, located in Espírito Santo state near the Rio Doce’s mouth. Quilombos are historic communities founded by descendants of escaped enslaved people during Brazil’s colonial period.

The remote village of Brejo Grande, accessible only by dirt road and situated 37 kilometers from the nearest urban center, has always faced challenges with seasonal flooding. But the mining disaster transformed these water issues into a health crisis that has “shattered” lives throughout the quilombo communities. The area is home to approximately 1,800 Quilombolas among Povoação’s total population of 3,274 residents.

Surrounded by 24 lakes and vast fields, Brejo Grande represents just one of many communities still grappling with water contamination a decade after the disaster. The ongoing crisis highlights the long-term environmental and social impacts of industrial disasters on Brazil’s most vulnerable populations.