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Weeks after a double-dam collapse affected thousands of hectares of Brazilian land and water, a mud flow of toxic waste has now reached the Atlantic Ocean. The collapse has been dubbed the worst environmental disaster in Brazilian history.

Eco catastrophe, broken dams' toxic sludge reaches Atlantic


Daksha Rangan
Digital Reporter

Wednesday, November 25, 2015, 10:12 AM - Weeks after a deadly double-dam collapse affected thousands of hectares of Brazilian land and water, a mud flow of toxic waste has now reached the Atlantic Ocean, Brazil’s environmental agency Ibama reports.

On Nov. 5, the two mining dams burst, releasing thick, reddish, toxic mud raging through the small Brazilian town of Bento Rodrigues, crippling agriculture, destroying hundreds of homes, and leaving an estimated 11 dead, 12 still missing.

The collapse has been dubbed the worst environmental disaster in Brazilian history.

The dams’ toxic mud has since travelled upwards of 500 kilometres down the Doce River before reaching Brazil’s coast, now posing a severe threat to thousands of marine wildlife and plant species.

The mining waste has since been tested and is confirmed to contain high levels of mercury, arsenic, chromium, and manganese, the BBC reports.

Samarco, owner of the two collapsed tailings dams, built barriers along the river banks in an effort to protect plants and wildlife, but has insisted the waste is “harmless.”

Ibama continues to work to measure the extent of environmental damage left in the toxic mud-flood’s wake.

SOURCE: Ibama | BBC | Al Jazeera | The Atlantic

RELATED: See the devastation on the Doce River after the mining dam burst

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