This Valentine’s Day, tell BHP Billiton and Vale to clean up and compensate Brazilians for their toxic mine waste disaster.
Three months ago, the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil was hit with one of the country’s biggest environmental disasters: a gusher of toxic mine waste.
The disaster smothered the town of Mariana with 50 million tons of toxic sludge, turning the Rio Doce river orange and eventually spilling into the Atlantic Ocean. At least 15 people were killed.
The long-term ecological impacts of this toxic spill remain unknown. Brazil’s environment ministry estimates it will take 30 years to clean up this disaster.
This Valentine’s Day, we’re sending the mine’s co-owners, BHP Billiton and Vale — two of the world’s largest mining companies — an anti-Valentine.