Toxic Mud Reaches Atlantic Ocean

Brazil dam toxic mud has reached the Atlantic via Rio Doce estuary.

16:53 23 November 2015

A wave of toxic mud traveling down the Rio Doce river in Brazil from a collapsed dam at an iron mine has reach the Atlantic Ocean.

 

Samarco, the mine owner, has built barriers along the banks of the river while workers have dredged the river mouth to make the mud flow out to sea fast. However, there is still growing concerns that the mud, which was found to contain toxic substances, will cause severe pollution in the region. There are also concerns that because the mud is high in iron ore and silica, it will set hard as concrete when it dries out.

 

Andres Ruchi, the director of the Marine Biology school in Santa Cruz in Espirito Santo state, said that the mud could have a devastating impact on marine life when it reaches the sea.

 

"The flow of nutrients in the whole food chain in a third of the south-eastern region of Brazil and half of the Southern Atlantic will be compromised for a minimum of a 100 years," he said.

 

Local people have been helping get fish into tanks and have been collecting turtle eggs to incubate trying to save them during the breeding season.