Incompatibilidades entre barragens de rejeito de minério e abastecimento público de água na Região Metropolitana de Belo Horizonte: o caso do manancial de Bela Fama, bacia do alto Rio das Velhas, MG

Abstract

The public supply source of Bela Fama is the most important source of water in Belo Horizonte, representing about 70% of the municipal supply. Its water contribution area, in turn, features a series of dams to contain ore tailings, that in the event of a rupture, would compromise the capture of water. In this sense, considering the history of failures of ore tailings dams in Minas Gerais in recent decades and the constitutive risk that each structure has of breaking, the present work proposes to investigate possible incompatibilities between dams and the public supply source. In order to do so, the legal framework on ore tailings dams is analyzed, highlighting the legal changes that occurred after the recent cases of ruptures in Minas Gerais. In addition, the structures present in the Bela Fama contribution basin were mapped, highlighting their legal context - whether they are included in the National Dam Safety Policy, as well as the Category of Risk, Associated Potential Damage and if they have the Declaration of Stability Condition. A theoretical foundation is also undertaken on the difficulties and limitations surrounding the protection of sources, reflecting on the coexistence of different uses of water upstream of the capture point intended for public supply. The results obtained point to a scenario of vulnerability of the Bela Fama water source in the face of dams, especially those that are abandoned and do not have a Declaration of Stability Condition attested. This scenario is a consequence of several factors, including the lack of consideration of the water supply sources during the environmental licensing process, the delegation of the management of the structures to the mining companies, the inability of the environmental agencies to inspect all the dams and the power dynamics that permeate the mining sector.