(EEAR - 2019)Illegal levels of arsenic and mercury

(EEAR - 2019)

Illegal levels of arsenic and mercury polluted a river in the days after a dam burst at an iron ore mine this month __________ Brazil’s worst environmental disaster, according to tests by a state water agency, the Institute for Water Management in Minas Gerais. The agency found arsenic levels more than 10 times above the legal limit in one place __________ the river, the Rio Doce, after the dam burst on Nov. 5, killing at least 13 people. Mercury slightly above the permitted level was also found in one area. Samarco, the mine operator, and its co-owners, BHP Billiton and Vale, have repeatedly said that the water and mineral waste unleashed by the dam burst were not toxic. On Wednesday, the United Nations human rights agency said “new evidence” showed that the mud dumped by the flood “contained high levels of toxic heavy metals and other chemicals.”

(Adopted from www.nytimes.com)

 

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