Vallourec Tubos do Brasil – Mineração unit informs that, on December 21, 2021, the criticality level of the structure called Santa Bárbara dam, located at Mina Pau Branco (Brumadinho/Piedade do Paraopeba) was changed from one to zero. With this change, the initial classification was returned, which attests to the dam’s stability.
To return to zero criticality, work to adjust the spillway (a structure that guarantees the flow of water from the dam without the risk of erosion) has been carried out in recent months. The intervention, carried out in compliance with NBR 13028/17 and in accordance with the requirements of regulatory and supervisory bodies, enhanced the spillway’s capacity, sizing it to receive intense rainfall, with a Reference Rate (TR) of ten thousand years – the so-called decamillennial recurrence rain. Vallourec informs that there was no expansion or heightening of the dam.
The completion of the work resulted in the issuance of the Declaration of Stability Condition (DSC) by an independent external audit and the closure of the emergency level was communicated to competent bodies, in accordance with current legislation. “It is important to point out that the Santa Bárbara dam is used to control rainwater (sediments) and does not receive any kind of waste from the production process. The adaptation works were completed on December 21, and the interventions carried out continue to be monitored within the scope of the environmental licensing process. We reiterate our commitment to the safety of the community and the transparency of information”, explains the corporate manager for the Environment at Vallourec, Leonardo Maldonado.
In April of this year, after a joint inspection with a team from the National Mining Agency (ANM), a change in the criticality level of the structure had been requested. The change was demanded after changes in the agency’s evaluation criteria, which, until then, accepted the pumping solution. Thus, with the work carried out, as explained above, the criticality level of the structure returned to its initial classification, which attests to the stability of the dam.
Vallourec also informs that, since November 2015, all waste from the production process has been filtered through equipment called Press Filters. In them, water is removed from the waste and allows this dry material, after filtration, to be deposited in sterile piles, through a technique called stacking and dry co-disposition. As a result, the need for a waste dam at Vallourec was eliminated over six years ago.
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