Mud from Brazil mining disaster now contaminating the Atlantic Ocean

In response to the environmental disaster caused by the collapse, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff called for the recovery of the River Doce to be a specific objective.

Their findings contradict repeated statements by the Brazilian government and the mining companies responsible for the dam that the chemicals released by the accident were harmless.

“This is not the time for defensive posturing”.

“It’s unacceptable that three weeks had to go by before information about the toxic risks of the catastrophe came to light”, the U.N.’s office in Brazil said in a statement.

Toxic mud that spewed from a mine site when a dam in south-west Brazil burst two weeks ago has reached the Atlantic Ocean.

The flood of mud unleashed by the dam burst at the Samarco mine all but erased a nearby hamlet, with eight deaths directly attributed to the disaster, another four bodies yet to be identified and another 11 people still missing.

The failure occurred at an earthen dam operated by Samarco Mineração SA, a joint venture between global mining giants Vale SA and BHP Billiton PLC.

The company also widened the river mouth to speed up the flow of the mud where the toxins are expected to stretch to a wider area and become diluted.

Mine co-owner BHP Billiton disputed the claims.

BHP reiterated on Thursday the tailings that entered the Rio Doce were made up of clay and silt from processing earth containing iron ore and were “chemically stable”.

“They will not change chemical composition in water and will behave in the environment like normal soils in the catchment”.

A spokeswoman for Samarco, in an emailed statement, reiterated that the tailings from its dam consist “basically” of water, iron-ore particles and quartz.

However Mr Knox said scientists considered the Rio Doce as dead, and the toxic sludge was slowly working its way downstream towards the Abrolhos National Marine Park, where it threatens protected forest and habitat.