Samarco’s disaster could stimulate stricter rules for the construction of tailings dams, such as the one that collapsed in Mariana city, Minas Gerais, in November 2015.
According to a media report, a Minas Gerais state law to ban upstream tailings dams, the same type of dam that collapsed in November 2015, could be approved this year.
Anderson Silva de Aguilar, subsecretary for environmental regulation in the state of Minas Gerais, said the state needs stricter laws for the dams in response to what happened in Mariana.
A media report said the proposed law should be applied to the new dams and to the expanding of the existing ones that use the upstream design. Upstream dams cost half the price of other dams, but present higher risks.
Aguilar also said Samarco is unlikely to resume operations in 2016 and may not in 2017 either.