Mapping industrial disaster recovery: Lessons from mining dam failures in Brazil

Industrial disasters are a test of human and ecological resilience and offer a complex set of choices for restorative activity after their occurrence. Unlike natural calamities, industrial disasters have greater human agency associated with their prevention and remediation. In this paper, we analyze two major disasters that occurred within a period of five years in Brazil involving similar mine tailings dams, particularly the role of participatory processes in shaping reparation. We examine the lessons from the divergent compensation mechanisms instituted afterwards and the reasons for community dissatisfaction. Our analysis reveals that ex post efforts at community participation in disaster recovery have gaps in participation. We identified some specific aspects to explain the gaps in participatory processes: power relations, role of the public sector, the timing of the process, and access to information and representation. There is danger of these recovery processes getting “lost in participation” and delivering suboptimal outcomes. There is a major trust deficit between industry and communities legacies in Latin America, further exacerbating the challenge. We conclude with global lessons from this case that can be incorporated into international processes such as creation of a new global institute and certification body on mining waste facilities, as recommended by the Global Tailings Review, which was initiated as a result of these disasters.