Doce River Large-Scale Environmental Catastrophe: Decision and Policy-Making Outcomes

Lima, Ana T.; Bastos, Felipe A.; Junior, Fernando Jakes Teubner; Neto, Renato Rodrigues; Gomes, Helena I.; Barroso, Gilberto F.

Abstract

A tailings dam failed on 5 November 2015, flooding the Doce River, Brazil, with 34 Mm3 of tailings and killing 19 people, together with massive riverine life annihilation, water-use impairments, and fisheries interruption. A total of 663.2 km of river channel were directly affected, leaving over 600 people homeless and impacting protected coastal areas with threatened marine species. Following the disaster, a series of political and management decisions were taken, impairing ecosystem recovery—even four years post-disaster. In this chapter, we discuss governmental actions after the Fundão tailings dam rupture and its environmental impact on the Doce River watershed. The creation of a new governance structure that would theoretically deal with river basin reclamation is evaluated according to the decision-making powers of each stakeholder. Results show that there is a bias towards fund management, diminishing effective institutional diversity in the decision-making process. A vulnerability analysis shows that administrative improbity substantially increases basin vulnerability. Despite the efforts in creating new environmental governance systems to address post-disaster ruptures, Brazil has a high threshold to surpass: the implementation of regulations. Lack of equanimity in the governance structure, combined with frail law enforcement, might be the primary overall impairment in developing economies.

Citation

Lima, A. T., Bastos, F. A., Junior, F. J. T., Neto, R. R., Gomes, H. I., & Barroso, G. F. (2021). Doce River Large-Scale Environmental Catastrophe: Decision and Policy-Making Outcomes. In A. A. R. Ioris (Ed.), Environment and Development: Challenges, Policies and Practices (133-173). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55416-3_5

• Online Publication Date: Jan 5, 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Deposit Date: Jan 18, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 6, 2023
• Publisher: Springer
• Pages: 133-173
• Book Title: Environment and Development: Challenges, Policies and Practices
• ISBN: 9783030554156
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-55416-3_5
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/5244346
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-55416-3_5