The Renova Foundation, with support from Samarco, BHP¹ and Vale, is working to rebuild and restore the Doce River basin after Samarco’s Fundão tailings dam failure in 2015. 

The Doce River basin runs over 850 kilometres from Minas Gerais state to the Atlantic Ocean in Espírito Santo and is of great importance to the local communities and economy. 

Gisele Krüger, a contractor in BHP's Non-Operated Joint Ventures team, said:  

“It can’t be understated just how important the Doce River is to life in this part of Brazil. Thousands of people live alongside it and it contributes to GDP through the agricultural, mining and other industries.” 

The environmental recovery process began shortly after the dam failure, with riverbank stabilisation, soil correction and revegetation techniques applied to over 800 hectares. More sophisticated monitoring points and automatic stations were installed along the river in 2017 to track water quality.  

Water quality in the affected river has been restored to pre-event levels and is safe for consumption after undergoing conventional treatment in public supply systems. Forest restoration is being carried out in partnership with the region's rural producers, with the intention to cover over 40,000 hectares of permanent preservation areas. 

“From an environmental perspective, important strides have been made to restore the basin,” Gisele Krüger added. 

For more information, visit the Samarco Reparations page.  

^{1 In the context of this article, BHP refers to BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda (BHP Brasil), which is our registered entity in Brazil.}