Brasilia, May 20.- The imminent risk of the collapse of the Sur Superior dam, of the Gongo Soco mine, located in the state of Minas Gerais (southeast), keeps the inhabitants of the Barón de Cocais municipality tense and terrified today.
According to the national coordinator of the Movement for Popular Sovereignty in Mining (MAM), María Júlia Andrade, the greatest concern is with the possibility that the breaking of a slope generates a seismic movement that compromises the reservoir at one time.
According to Andrade, the way in which the information is being issued by the company Vale, owner of the deposit, is inadequate, which generates 'panic and terror' in the local population.
The coordinator warns that a very big concern persists, after coming to light that there is a slope of the mine cellar on the verge of collapse.
He explained that 'this problem already existed, but it was only known now. And the biggest problem is that this cava is located very close, about 300 meters, of the dam, which was at maximum risk more than three months ago.
In the evaluation of the MAM, 'information (on risks) is given dropper and panic and terror are widespread (in the region). People do not know if the risk is real, if the dam is going to break or not, only that there is a panic and fear from a clock bomb over their heads. '
'A tide of mud will envelop the whole city. Many already think about what to do next, knowing that tourism will cease to exist, as well as mining activity. The city may succumb, 'businessman Luís Felipe Eboli predicted, cited by state agency Agencia Brasil.
For Eboli, most people living in the region estimate that Baron de Cocais 'will end ... the population already knows that the city itself will not exist anymore.'
On Saturday, there was a second emergency drill that brought together about 1,600 people, a figure that represents 26.7 percent of the more than six thousand expected.
The action was intended to reinforce the guidelines and training of the resident population in the so-called Secondary Security Zone of the municipality.
The Public Ministry of Minas Gerais predicted that the dam could be broken between May 19 and 25.
Before the omen, the Prosecutor's Office recommended that Vale immediately adopts a series of measures to clarify the population of Baron de Cocais about the risks of the deposit breaking.
On January 25, the containment dams of the Córrego do Feijão mine deposit, belonging to Vale, went bankrupt and more than 12 million cubic meters of mineral and mud waste swept away everything in its path. Due to this phenomenon there are 300 dead and disappeared.
The company faces a severe public pressure due to this misfortune and some politicians and inspectors request a criminal case.
The causes of the disaster have not yet been defined, but the main line of research is the abnormal accumulation of water and the failure of the dam's drainage system.