An Independent Scientific and Technical Advisory Panel (ISTAP) will be created this year to support recovery efforts following BHP and Vale’s Samarco mine disaster in Brazil.
The Fundao tailings dam burst in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais in 2015, killing 19 people and creating flooding and environmental damage in the region.
The new panel will be established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), one of the world’s top scientific and conservation organisations.
It will advise the Renova Foundation, which was formed by Samarco and joint venture partners BHP Billiton and Brasil and Vale, to manage the remediation and compensation programs related to the dam failure.
It will include Brazilian and international experts in water and wastewater management; riverine and coastal remediation; and ecosystem impacts and its finding will assist the Renova Foundation develop and implement a rant of strategies to address the social and environmental issues created by the dam failure.
The information the panel gathers will be based on scientific evidence and the panel’s reports and recommendations.
The panel is set to begin its work in middle of 2017.