Page 78 - Annual Report 2020

1.8 Samarco continued
Resettlement Other socio-economic programs
One of Fundação Renova’s priority social programs is the relocation Fundação Renova continues to implement a wide range of
and rebuilding of the communities of Bento Rodrigues, Paracatu socio-economic programs in areas such as health and social
de Baixo and Gesteira. A key to the success of this program is the protection, education, small business development, economic
participation of affected community members, their technical diversification, Indigenous peoples and traditional communities
advisers, State Prosecutors, municipal leaders, regulators and (i.e. sand-gold miners):
other interested parties. • Fundação Renova is working on two fronts in the area of health:
The process of collective resettlement involves designing new (i) conducting a human health risk assessment to quantify
towns on land that has been chosen by the community, to be potential risk associated with the environmental impact of the
as close as possible to the previous layout. It requires attending Fundão dam failure prior to conducting the epidemiological and
to the wishes and needs of the families and communities, while toxicological studies, as recommended by the Health Technical
also meeting permitting requirements. Chamber and Sub-Secretariat of Health Surveillance and Security
In Bento Rodrigues, the public school, other public buildings and and (ii) supporting the public management of municipalities by
strengthening existing municipal structures in clinical care and
infrastructure are under construction and, as of June 2020, 35 of the
222 homes were under construction. Progress has been slower than social protection.
anticipated primarily due to delays in the permitting process. The full • Fundação Renova seeks to foster the local economy on
return to regular numbers of field staff and construction capacity the following fronts:
is uncertain and dependent on the evolving nature of the pandemic, • encouraging local employment opportunities in its own
safety protocols implemented to prevent exposure to COVID-19 on workforce and through its contractors
site and any restrictions imposed by authorities in the region. • promoting the economic diversification of municipalities,
By June 2020, construction of infrastructure and public buildings especially those that rely on mining
in Paracatu de Baixo was under way and eight of the 96 planned • encouraging mechanisms to stimulate economic development
houses were under construction. • restoring productive capacity to micro and small companies
In December 2018, land was purchased for the resettlement of • Actions to protect and restore the quality of life of Indigenous
peoples and traditional communities aim to repair and
37 families of Gesteira following a protracted negotiation with the
landowner. The urban plan is being designed with the community. compensate for the social, cultural, environmental and
economic impacts.
Families of Gesteira also have the option of a ‘letter of credit’ so
they can choose to buy a property elsewhere. • Fundação Renova has listening, dialogue and social participation
as guiding practices for its actions with the affected
In addition to these three community resettlements, 14 families communities. More than 110,000 people have attended
from the rural area chose to rebuild their houses on their previous collective meetings.
property, and of these, eight houses have been rebuilt and • Additional compensatory actions are underway to construct new
delivered to the families. water and sewage treatment facilities and improve existing ones
A total of 126 families have chosen not to join the collective that were impacted by Fundão failure. Rio Doce was an industrial
resettlement of their previous community. Fundação Renova is river before November 2015, with inadequate and inefficient
assisting them and 46 properties have been purchased for these water and sewage treatment. Raw sewage was, and continues
families (as of June 2020). to be, discharged directly into the river.
Financial assistance and compensation Environmental remediation
Fundação Renova had paid R$2.5 billion in indemnification Fundação Renova successfully concluded works to stabilise the
and financial aid up to June 2020. impacted land areas by June 2019. The riverbanks and floodplains
Fundação Renova has distributed about 14,750 financial assistance were vegetated, river margins stabilised and, in general, water and
sediment qualities returned to historic conditions. Long-term
cards to those whose livelihoods were impacted by the dam failure, remediation work is continuing with landowners and regulators
including registered and informal commercial fisherfolk who had to re-establish agricultural production and riparian margins with
their activities affected due to the imposition of fishing restrictions native vegetation.
in the Rio Doce in Minas Gerais and ban along the coast of Espírito
Santo. The monthly payments are designed to provide support to The tailings have low concentrations of trace metals; however, the
affected people and their families pending the re-establishment of background concentrations of some elements are elevated in the
conditions that enable them to resume their economic activities. area due to natural conditions or previous human activity. BHP has
Fundação Renova is also undertaking a substantial mediated continued working with Fundação Renova to make sure robust data
is collected, the assessment methodologies are consistent with
compensation program to fairly compensate all individuals
impacted by the dam failure. It comprises two key components: Brazilian and international standards, and clear causes for any
potential health impacts are identified so that health authorities
• More than 270,000 people participated in the water damages have accurate information to support their decision-making.
program to compensate for temporary water interruption and
were paid a total of approximately R$280 million. Results from water and sediment quality, aquatic habitat and fish
• The general damages component covers all other impacts, surveys demonstrate that the river ecology downstream of the
including loss of life, injury, property, business impacts, loss Candonga reservoir and along the coast has recovered from any
of income and moral damages. More than 10,000 families have tailings-related impacts. Upstream of the Candonga reservoir,
been paid a total of approximately R$910 million. sediment volumes in the river channel have slowed the recovery
of habitats and aquatic fauna diversity and abundance compared
Compensation represents approximately 32 per cent of Fundação to downstream of the reservoir. However Fundação Renova’s work
Renova’s R$4.7 billion CY2020 budget. is intended to support natural system dynamics of the river to
Of the 19 fatalities, 16 families have been fully indemnified and one enhance the recovery of habitats and aquatic ecology.
partially. The remaining two families are still in legal negotiations. In December 2019, Fundação Renova successfully and safely
removed the Linhares barrier in the Pequeno River, allowing the
free flow of water between the river and the Juparanã lake.

76 BHP Annual Report 2020