Why coal ash and tailings dam disasters occur

Santamarina, J. Carlos; Torres-Cruz, Luis Alberto; Bachus, Robert C.

doi:10.1126/science.aax1927

Cited by 158 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 3 publications

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“…As a consequence of two recent dam failures in southeastern Brazil (2015 and 2019), people have been killed, biodiversity has been eroded, ecosystem services have been compromised or eliminated entirely, and water supplies and the quality of life for tens of thousands people have been degraded (Silveira et al, 2019). Such tailing dam failures are recurrent tragedies in mountains worldwide [Bowker and Chambers, 2017;Santamarina et al, 2019;World Mine Tailings Failures (WMTF), 2019].…”

Section: Anthropocene Degradation Of Mountainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Humboldtian Approach to Mountain Conservation and Freshwater Ecosystem Services

Callisto

Solar

Silveira

et al. 2019

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Tackling complex environmental issues requires transdisciplinary solutions that cannot be achieved, unless we integrate scientific disciplines and communicate science directly with civil society actors, decision-makers, and stakeholders. Alexander von Humboldt offered an approach to integrate knowledge across disciplines aiming to broadly understand human-environmental issues, yet current scientific practices largely ignore that holistic transdisciplinary approach. Here, we develop a conceptual framework for sustaining mountain environmental integrity and securing their ecosystem services based on transdisciplinarity. We use headwater systems located in old tropical mountains as examples of meta-ecosystems because they supply water for multiple human uses and are home to disproportionately high levels of species richness and endemism. We describe the vulnerability of mountains to global changes in the Anthropocene and discuss difficulties in implementing sustainable development goals for them. Specifically, we indicate the importance of mountains to human water supplies and the conflicts between anthropogenic disturbances and riparian stream meta-ecosystems for providing ecosystem services particularly failures. We also argue that the interplay between academia and other sectors of society must improve and increase the permeability of scientific knowledge into policy-and decision-making, which is crucial for improving natural resource management and sustaining ecosystem services. We argue that the prioritization of tropical montane headwater systems is a feasible, desirable and strategic issue to be included in the global sustainability agenda. Failure to implement sustainable development goals in global mountains is likely to continue resulting in catastrophic events with harsh consequences for both humans and global biodiversity.

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Section: Anthropocene Degradation Of Mountainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Humboldtian Approach to Mountain Conservation and Freshwater Ecosystem Services

Callisto

Solar

Silveira

et al. 2019

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…In 2015, the Fundão mine tailing dam failure in Brazil released 32 million m 3 of toxic tailings, polluted 650 km of rivers and flowed into the Atlantic Ocean, causing serious environmental consequences (Burritt and Christ, 2018). About 4 years later, more than 232 people died in the failure of the Feijão tailing dam, which belongs to the same company as the Fundão mine (Santamarina et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of mud flow from a tailing dam failure across complex terrain

Tang

Chen

2020

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. A tailing dam accident can cause serious ecological disaster and property loss. Simulation of a tailing dam accident in advance is useful for understanding the tailing flow characteristics and assessing the possible extension of the impact area. In this paper, a three-dimensional (3-D) computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach was proposed for reasonably and quickly predicting the flow routing and impact area of mud flow from a dam failure across 3-D terrain. The Navier–Stokes equations and the Bingham–Papanastasiou rheology model were employed as the governing equations and the constitutive model, respectively, and solved numerically in the finite volume method (FVM) scheme. The volume-of-fluid (VOF) method was used to track the interface between the tailings and air. The accuracy of the CFD model and the chosen numerical algorithm were validated using an analytical solution of the channel flow problem and a laboratory experiment on the dam-break problem reported in the literature. In each issue, the obtained results were very close to the analytical solutions or experimental values. The proposed approach was then applied to simulate two scenarios of tailing dam failures, one of which was the Feijão tailing dam that failed on 25 January 2019, and the simulated routing coincided well with the in situ investigation. Therefore, the proposed approach does well in simulating the flow phenomenon of tailings after a dam break, and the numerical results can be used for early warning of disasters and emergency response.

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“…The historical failure rate of tailing dams and the associated risks demand improvements in material characterization, the design of the containment structure, construction practices, and monitoring technology (Santamarina et al 2019). The critical state line (CSL) provides a robust frame of reference for the assessment of mine tailings (Carrera et al 2011;Castro et al 1982;Fourie and Papageorgiou 2001;Jefferies and Been 2015;Li et al 2018;Vermeulen 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The critical state line of nonplastic tailings

Torres-Cruz

Santamarina

2020

Can. Geotech. J.

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The probability of failure of tailing dams and associated risks demand improvements in engineering practice. The critical state line provides a robust framework for the characterization of mine tailings. New experimental data for nonplastic platinum tailings and a large database for tailings and nonplastic soils (grain size between 2 and 500 μm) show that the critical state parameters for nonplastic tailings follow the same trends as nonplastic soils as a function of particle-scale characteristics and extreme void ratios. Critical state lines determined for extreme tailings gradations underestimate the range of critical state parameters that may be encountered in a tailings dam; in fact, mixtures with intermediate fines content exhibit the densest granular packing at critical state. The minimum void ratio emin captures the underlying role of particle shape and grain size distribution on granular packing and emerges as a valuable index property to inform sampling strategies for the assessment of spatial variability. Mineralogy does not significantly affect the intercept Γ100, but it does affect the slope λ. The friction coefficients M of tailings are similar to those of other nonplastic soils; while mineralogy does not have a significant effect on friction, more angular grains lead to higher friction coefficients.

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Why coal ash and tailings dam disasters occur

Abstract: Knowledge gaps and management shortcomings contribute to catastrophic dam failures

Cited by 158 publications

References 3 publications

A Humboldtian Approach to Mountain Conservation and Freshwater Ecosystem Services

A Humboldtian Approach to Mountain Conservation and Freshwater Ecosystem Services

Three-dimensional numerical simulation of mud flow from a tailing dam failure across complex terrain

The critical state line of nonplastic tailings

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