The Fundão dam failure: Iron ore tailing impact on marine benthic macrofauna

Nascimento, Rodolfo Leandro; Alves, Paulo Ricardo; Domênico, Maikon Di; Braga, Adriane Araújo; Paiva, Paulo Cesar; Orlando, M. T. D.; Cavichini, Athur Sant'Ana; Longhini, Cybelle Menolli; Martins, César C.; Neto, Renato Rodrigues; Grilo, Caroline Fiório; Oliveira, Kyssyanne Samihra Santos; Quaresma, Valéria da Silva; Costa, Eduardo Schettini; Cagnin, Renata Caiado; Silva, Cesar Alexandro da; Sá, Fabian; Longo, Leila de Lourdes

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.156205

Cited by 15 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Among the marine samples that could indicate the presence of mining contaminated sediment, the sampling in January 20 (Figure 4) stands out due to the similar REE tailings fingerprint in the entire monitored shelf, including Abrolhos, in an unprecedented way in this work. This is attributed to the high flow of the river in this rainy month, with sediment dispersion by waves and winds over long distances (Coimbra et al, 2020; Francini‐Filho et al, 2019; Magris et al, 2019; Marta‐Almeida et al, 2016), which poses a risk to these habitats that harbor a rich marine diversity (Nascimento et al, 2022). Although there is an indication of the tailings' occurrence in Abrolhos, the concentrations of REE (ƩREE = 31.8 mg/kg) are near half than tailings content (ƩREE = 61.7 mg/kg), showing that the possible contaminated sediment is less deposited in this region.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Doce River is located in southeastern Brazil and extends approximately 650 km 2 , where the Fundão Dam was located upstream. It is responsible for a significant sediment input on the adjacent continental shelf (Bastos et al, 2015; Quaresma et al, 2015) that can reach environmental protection areas such as APA Costa das Algas/RVS Santa Cruz in the south (Magris et al, 2019; Marta‐Almeida et al, 2016; Nascimento et al, 2022) and Abrolhos National Park in the north (Coimbra et al, 2020; Francini‐Filho et al, 2019).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Rare earth elements as tracers of iron ore tailings on the Brazilian eastern continental shelf

Cagnin,

Costa,

Longhini

et al. 2023

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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Iron ore tailings are stored in large dams and pose risks to the environment around the world. In Brazil, the rupture of these dams has become frequent and generated environmental and social concern. Rare earth elements are good tracers of sediment sources and our results indicated chronic contamination of the seabed sediment from the marine region affected by the Fundão Dam tailings since 2015, including areas of environmental protection. This research, carried out between November 2018 and September 2021, with a database of 575 samples, showed a greater contaminated material in the marine region adjacent to the Doce River mouth. Although data suggest prior mining contamination of the Doce River basin, the Fundão episode was an empirical and massive example of the environmental damage caused by these human activities over the centuries, showing that the impact remains in the shallow marine environments for years.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rare earth elements as tracers of iron ore tailings on the Brazilian eastern continental shelf

Cagnin,

Costa,

Longhini

et al. 2023

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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“…Francini-Filho et al (2019) showed no evidence of tailings impact in the Forgotten Reef area during the first year after the disaster. Environmental impact and monitoring studies conducted along the AESCS indicate a medium-term tailing dispersion northward, along the coast (Quaresma et al, 2021;Nascimento et al, 2022). It seems that even if the Doce River plume may reach the Forgotten Reef area, so far no clear evidence of tailings impact on the coral reefs were observed.…”

Section: Benthic Habitat Mapping Guidance For Marine Management and C...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…far. Plankton and benthic communities were altered due to dissolved and particulate iron ore tailings input (Bonecker et al, 2022;Nascimento et al, 2022;Rocha et al, 2022), levels of toxicity in fish were high during the first years until a better condition was reached (Bevitoŕio et al, 2022), and water and sediment quality were found to be as highly contaminated during the first 3 to 4 years and after that (Orlando et al, 2020;Quaresma et al, 2021), a variation on the environmental quality status is influenced by prevailing seasonal hydrological and meteo-oceanographic conditions (Longhini et al, 2022).…”

Section: Benthic Habitat Mapping Guidance For Marine Management and C...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of benthic habitat mapping for science and managers: A multi-design approach in the Southeast Brazilian Shelf after a major man-induced disaster

Menandro

Lavagnino²,

Vieira³

et al. 2022

Front. Mar. Sci.

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Seabed mapping is currently the baseline information for ocean management and conservation, and is an indispensable item within research and Marine Spatial Planning. Here, we use a case study and published data along the southeast Brazilian continental shelf to illustrate the concepts and ideas of potential benthic habitat mapping and the importance of having maps on different scales and the potential for using a multi-design approach. The case analysis presented here uses a regional map and distinct criteria (seabed geodiversity and biodiversity, and potential influence of a tailings plume) to define three areas along the continental shelf to be mapped in a high-resolution, as part of a marine monitoring program. The background of the case study is a tailing dam failure disaster that led to the input of iron ore tailings in the ocean, leading to a major environmental disaster. Three areas were chosen, including: a Marine Protected Area (MPA Costa das Algas), a major fishing ground (the Doce River prodelta/depocenter), and an understudied reef area (Forgotten Reefs). Potential benthic habitat mapping was carried out using acoustic surveys (multibeam echosounder acquiring bathymetry and backscatter) and ground-truthing (sediment samples and seafloor image). Results detailed the potential habitats throughout the three areas, providing primary information for the study of benthic habitats and their distribution. The multi-design approach indicated that although a regional analysis can indicate potential vulnerability as a first assessment approach, high-resolution potential habitat mapping (herein, 20 m or finer) is beneficial to evaluate and produce a higher-confidence level for decision-makers. Having an overall view of what and where to collect new and finer data would be best to identify vulnerable areas that, in this case study, could be threatened by plume dispersion and tailings accumulation. Our results support the delineation of priority areas aiming for monitoring, protection and guiding for other studies, besides the consolidation of habitat importance and the integration of various datasets through a hierarchical classification scheme. Although Brazil has never produced a regional or national habitat map for the entire continental margin, there are already conditions to plan, execute and maintain a habitat mapping program, partnering with Universities, Government Institutions (e.g., the Brazilian Navy), and the private sector. In the context of the UN Decade of Ocean Science targets, it is urgent to plan and implement a national database capable of supporting a habitat classification effort on a broader national scale, with the flexibility to support a multi-design or a multi-scale approach.

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“…Immediately following the incident, environmental impacts were documented, including increased metal concentrations in the water and sediments downstream from the dam, loss of aquatic biodiversity, fragmentation of habitats, destruction of native vegetation and areas of permanent preservation, and changes in water quality, among other impacts (Duarte et al, 2021;Escobar, 2015). However, since the initial incident, the concentrations of metals that were attributed to the tailing dam failure have generally decreased in most of the Rio Doce basin (Instituto Mineiro de Gestão das Águas [IGAM], 2020[IGAM], , 2021Nogueira et al, 2021), although some datasets have reported increased concentrations of metals in water, sediment, and biota samples from the estuarine and marine regions (Gabriel et al, 2021;Nascimento et al, 2022). Although elevated tissue concentrations of some metals have been reported in fish in samples collected three years after the dam rupture (Ferreira et al, 2020;Passos et al, 2020), water and sediment toxicities appear to be decreasing (Vergilio et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Has the Rio Doce “time bomb” been defused? Using a weight‐of‐evidence approach to determine sediment quality

Abessa

Burton

Cervi³

et al. 2023

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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The Fundão mine tailings dam rupture of 2015, in the Rio Doce basin, Brazil, resulted in the deposition of tailings downstream of the dam. It has yet to be determined if metals associated with the tailings have contributed toxicity to organisms, burying a time bomb that could be ticking. Currently the data on toxicity to benthic and aquatic organisms have not been assessed sufficiently to allow an informed assessment using an approach based on weight‐of‐evidence. This study was conducted to ascertain if sediments at “hot spots” that received Fundão tailings reflected elevated concentrations of metals and if these concentrations were sufficient to result in toxicity to freshwater organisms. The lines‐of‐evidence considered included assessing metals concentrations in relation to sediment quality criteria, establishing biogeochemical characterizations, completing an evaluation of potential metal release upon resuspension to provide information on bioavailability, and identifying acute and chronic toxicity effects using sensitive native species for waters (water flea, Daphnia similis) and sediments (burrowing midge larvae, Chironomus sancticaroli). Only porewater concentrations of iron and manganese exceeded Brazilian surface water criteria, whereas most trace elements exhibited no enrichment or elevated environmental indexes. The concentrations of bioavailable metals were assessed to be low, and metal concentrations did not increase in the overlying water upon resuspension; rather, they decreased through time. Toxicity testing in resuspended waters and bulk sediments resulted in no acute or chronic toxicity to either benthic or aquatic species. The low metal bioavailability and absence of toxicity of the tailings‐enriched sediments was attributed to the strong binding and rapid removal of potentially toxic metal ions caused by oxyhydroxides and particles in the presence of iron‐rich particulates. The findings of these sediment hot‐spot studies indicate the Fundão dam release of tailings more than six years ago is not causing the current release of toxic concentrations of metals into the freshwaters of the Rio Doce. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2023;00:1–11. © 2023 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

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The Fundão dam failure: Iron ore tailing impact on marine benthic macrofauna

Cited by 15 publications

References 69 publications

Rare earth elements as tracers of iron ore tailings on the Brazilian eastern continental shelf

Rare earth elements as tracers of iron ore tailings on the Brazilian eastern continental shelf

The role of benthic habitat mapping for science and managers: A multi-design approach in the Southeast Brazilian Shelf after a major man-induced disaster

Has the Rio Doce “time bomb” been defused? Using a weight‐of‐evidence approach to determine sediment quality

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