Rupture of mine reservoir brings disaster in Brazil

November 2015

Brazil

Rupture of mine reservoir brings disaster in Brazil

A deadly deluge of iron-ore waste equivalent in volume to 24,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools flattened a village in Brazil this month, then choked out aquatic ......

Argentina

Organic farming growing roots in an unlikely place

Farming in Argentina has seen dizzying expansion over the past two decades. That’s thanks largely to burgeoning Chinese demand for soybeans for use in animal ......

Costa Rica

Park rangers in Costa Rica feel left in lurch

Six years ago Costa Rican park ranger Mauricio Steller fired his service weapon during an altercation with poachers on a remote beach in the country’s ......

Mexico

CEC advisory chair eyes complaints process

The idea was novel at the time: tying the environment to a trade pact. But two decades on, the environmental side accord to the North ......

Uruguay

Farm runoff spells water worries in Uruguay

Last March, as he began a second, non-consecutive term as Uruguay’s president, Tabaré Vázquez faced a crisis over dirty drinking water in the southeastern department ......

Around the Region

Cuba, U.S. sign accord on marine conservation

The diplomatic thaw between Cuba and the United States paid its first dividend for ocean life when the two nations on Nov. 18 agreed to ......

Centerpiece (Free Read)

Region brings contradictions to climate talks

When Latin American officials head to the United Nations climate summit in Paris this month, they’ll present a contradictory portrait of their region. That’s because ......

Q&A

Villalonga goes from Greenpeace to City Hall to Congress

Juan Carlos Villalonga, 55, has been a longtime catalyst of Argentina’s environmental movement. In 1985 he cofounded the Environmental Workshop, a nonprofit advocacy group, in ......

Rupture of mine reservoir brings disaster in Brazil

Brazil

A deadly deluge of iron-ore waste equivalent in volume to 24,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools flattened a village in Brazil this month, then choked out aquatic life in a major river and threatened sea-turtle habitat in the middle of nesting season as its destructive plume reached the Atlantic Ocean. The spill of 62 million cubic meters of slurry occurred Nov. 5, when a mine reservoir burst in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. Brazilian Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira described the accident as “the country’s biggest environmental catastrophe,” and Ibama, her ministry’s enforcement arm, imposed the nation’s largest-ever environmental fine—R$250 million (US$67.3 million)—on the mine’s owner and operator, Samarco Mineração. The deluge killed 12 people and left 11 others... [Log in to read more]

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November 2015

Brazil

Rupture of mine reservoir brings disaster in Brazil

A deadly deluge of iron-ore waste equivalent in volume to 24,800 Olympic-sized swimming pools flattened a village in Brazil this month, then choked out aquatic ......

Argentina

Organic farming growing roots in an unlikely place

Farming in Argentina has seen dizzying expansion over the past two decades. That’s thanks largely to burgeoning Chinese demand for soybeans for use in animal ......

Costa Rica

Park rangers in Costa Rica feel left in lurch

Six years ago Costa Rican park ranger Mauricio Steller fired his service weapon during an altercation with poachers on a remote beach in the country’s ......

Mexico

CEC advisory chair eyes complaints process

The idea was novel at the time: tying the environment to a trade pact. But two decades on, the environmental side accord to the North ......

Uruguay

Farm runoff spells water worries in Uruguay

Last March, as he began a second, non-consecutive term as Uruguay’s president, Tabaré Vázquez faced a crisis over dirty drinking water in the southeastern department ......

Around the Region

Cuba, U.S. sign accord on marine conservation

The diplomatic thaw between Cuba and the United States paid its first dividend for ocean life when the two nations on Nov. 18 agreed to ......

Centerpiece (Free Read)

Region brings contradictions to climate talks

When Latin American officials head to the United Nations climate summit in Paris this month, they’ll present a contradictory portrait of their region. That’s because ......

Q&A

Villalonga goes from Greenpeace to City Hall to Congress

Juan Carlos Villalonga, 55, has been a longtime catalyst of Argentina’s environmental movement. In 1985 he cofounded the Environmental Workshop, a nonprofit advocacy group, in ......