Território do medo e os aspectos da gestão de risco das barragens de rejeitos na mineração: o caso da comunidade de Vargem da Lua em São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo-MG

Abstract

Mining tailings dams have a recurring space in the memories and perceptions of families who live downstream of these structures in Minas Gerais. The current scenario of dam failure, such as those that occurred in Mariana (2015) and Brumadinho (2019), was added to the recurring error triggering of the warning systems of these tailings containment structures in other territories of the Iron Quadrangle. Invisible mud plays a defining role in the sudden changes in these territories of fear, where people do not know if they will have to leave their homes or live with the daily risk in the Self-Rescue Zone/ Secondary Security Zone (ZAS/ZSS) of these mining dams. This is the context in which the community of Vargem da Lua fits, located in the city of São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo, in the region of the Piracicaba River Watershed. The rural community has been in a territorial environmental conflict since 2008, when the mining company VALE/SA entered towards its territory. In the current conjuncture of articulations that determine the National Policy for the Safety of Dams in Minas Gerais, we understand that the regulatory policies for the management of dams in the State permeate a broader neo-colonialist political scenario, as it offers guarantees, financing and a free pass for the extractive process. in the territories that are being affected by mining activity.