Environmental Compliance
Environmental fines
Respect for the environment is an essential condition to ensure the continuity of Vale’s operations, which depends on environmental resources. Nevertheless, mining has significant impact on the territories and its natural attributes where it is undertaken. Therefore, within this context, Vale has developed and uses, in all areas where the company operates, an environmental management system that maps environmental risks in order to prevent and mitigate those risks, and minimize, compensate and remediate environmental impacts caused.
Our Management
Vale's environmental management process aims to establish responsibilities to periodically analyze and evaluate our compliance with environmental legal obligations and other requirements applicable to our activities. Internal and external teams periodically carry out environmental audits and legal compliance assessments of the environmental management system.
Despite the established management practices, Vale has received, in 2019, 74 significant fines for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations, amounting to USD 153.5 million, in addition to nine non-monetary sanctions[1], out of which USD 125.5 million relates to the rupture of Dam I at the Córrego do Feijão Mine in Brumadinho, MG. The other significant fines imposed for non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations in 2019 refer to matters such as alleged non-compliance with constraints, discharge of effluents in disagreement with legislation, pollution, installation or operation of activity without the proper licenses or permits, among others.
For this purpose, the following definitions are applicable:
"Significant fines": means monetary penalties equal to or greater than $10,000 USD (or equivalent when converted from local currency).
"Non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations": a non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations occurs when an authorized body (e.g., governmental body, independent commercial or non-commercial regulator, etc.) determines that a law, regulation, code, etc. related to environmental or ecological issues has been breached. This definition is essentially in line with the GRI G4 Sustainability Reporting Guidelines definition of environmental laws and regulations: refers to regulations related to all types of environmental issues (that is, emissions, effluents, and waste, as well as material use, energy, water, and biodiversity) applicable to the organization. This includes binding voluntary agreements that are made with regulatory authorities and developed as a substitute for implementing a new regulation. Voluntary agreements can be applicable if the organization directly joins the agreement or if public agencies make the agreement applicable to organizations in their territory through legislation or regulation.
“Ongoing legal proceedings/allegations”: if an authorized body (e.g., governmental body, independent commercial or non-commercial regulator, etc.) has already determined the company has breached a law, regulation, code, etc. related to environmental or ecological issues and an initial judgment has been entered, the incident is considered a non-compliance with environmental laws and regulations, regardless of the company's ability to appeal.
Read more at Vale's Sustainanability Report 2019
[1] Information based on Vale's database system of administrative and judicial proceedings.
Environmental incidents
All Vale environmental² incidents¹ are recorded and held. The company follows international premises for the management of environmental incidents, from the initial communication, adoption of immediate actions and causes investigation, to the implementation of corrective actions to eliminate the unwanted effects of the event and lessons learned record.
In 2019, there were thirteen incidents considered grave according to our corporate standards. Aligned with our commitment to transparency, these environmental violations have been reported to local environmental agencies.
The main environmental incidents were related to atmospheric emissions and discharges of non-standard effluents, and they are distributed as shown below:
| Country |
Number and Incident Classification |
Environmental impact |
|
|
|
|
| Brazil |
1 Very critical |
Modification of air, water and soil quality |
| Brazil |
1 Critical |
Modification of water quality |
| Brazil |
4 Severe |
Modification of water quality |
| Brazil |
1 Severe |
Modification of air quality |
| Brazil |
1 Severe |
Loss of Flora |
| Oman |
2 Severe |
Modification of air quality |
New Caledonia
|
1 Severe |
Modification of air quality |
New Caledonia
|
1 Severe |
Modification of water quality |
United Kingdom
|
1 Severe |
Modification of water quality |
All accidents were investigated by a multidisciplinary team. Appropriate investigation permits to identify contributing factors, reduce risk, include new environmental controls and improve industrial processes.
1 Incident: An unplanned event that resulted, or could have resulted, in a loss/impact.
2 Environmental Incidents: Unplanned event which resulted in an adverse environmental impact.
Note: The Environmental Incidents with grave, severe and very critical severity were reported on the ESG portal, according to the internal planning, development and management norm.
Read Also
Policies and Corporate Documents
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Our Strategy and Commitments
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