NASA Earth Observatory image shows toxic mud reaching Atlantic Ocean.
Contaminated Rio Doce Water Flows into the Atlantic. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Commons.

The Basics to understand 2 of the worst environmental disasters from this year. The short of it is that twin mining disasters have killed two rivers. The long-term punchline is this: figuring out how to respond to these disasters will shape the future because of how they affect trans-boundary water systems and the $$$ involved.

Animas River Before & After (Durango Herald)

• August 5, 2015: EPA employees & contractors, working on cleaning up an abandoned gold mine in Colorado, instead release toxic waste water from a breached dam. Contaminants from Gold King Mine flood Cement Creek and then the Animas River, turning the whole thing bright yellow.

• November 5, 2015: a dam holding back waste from an iron ore mine ruptures, sending toxic mud into the Doce River in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. More than a dozen people die immediately and the river is turned bright red, killing all forms of wildlife. Contaminants from the Brazilian-English/Australian Samarco Mineração mine travel down the Doce and reach the Atlantic Ocean on November 22, 2015. This means that the southern Atlantic Ocean will feel the detrimental impacts.

• ### years: the EPA is keeping quiet, but it's going to take years before the Animas River will be cleaned up. During that time, communities that live on the basin will face potentially lethal contaminants and the farming/ranching industries fed by the river are done.

• 100 years: Brazilian marine biologist Andres Ruchi told the BBC to expect that the southern Atlantic Ocean (!!!) and the Doce River would be compromised for at least 100 years. 

• Navajo Nation rejected by FEMA: the EPA-caused spill has flowed into Navajo land, which means that ground water is contaminated and houses near the river are not suitable for human habitation. But FEMA has rejected tribal president Russell Begaye's request to help with clean-up.

• Doce River Species Extinct: "The biodiversity of the river is completely lost," said Rio-based researcher Aloysio Ferrão. "Several species, including endemic ones must be extinct."

• $### : the EPA isn't saying how much it's going to cost to clean up the Animas disaster.

• Brazilian gov't sues for $5.2billion: $260million pledged by Samarco Mining Co. is not enough, according to the Brazilian government, which has initiated a $5.2billion lawsuit against Samarco and its two parent companies: BHP Billiton and Vale.

This is a great time to be studying Brazil and Duke and the Franklin Humanities Institute are a great place to do it. The Global Brazil Lab rests on three tentpoles—culture, politics, and nature—because Brazil forces us to ask comparative questions, questions that cross borders of all kinds: historical, linguistic, oceanic. I've just joined the Lab as a co-director, along with historian John French and romance studies/visual art scholar Esther Gabara, where I'll be able to focus on bringing in the environmental humanities as we have wide-ranging conversations with students, community members, faculty, and guests from Brazil.

For more:

My latest in Wheaton's Alumni Magazine, the Faculty Voice column:

Trouble on the Triple Frontier

The Guairá Falls, on the Paraná River between Paraguay and Brazil, were flooded in the early 1980s as part of the construction of Itaipú Hydroelectric Dam, their beauty sacrificed to create energy. (They're sometimes called "Guaíra" in Brazil).

This is a fantastic video from 1936 (!) that gives a sense of their majesty. Notice the couple walking along the flimsy bridge (and their gaucho pants!).

Forthcoming in the Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Anthropology:

Seeing and the State in Argentina, Brazil, and Cuba
by Christine Folch

A review of:
The Optic of the State: Visuality and Power in Argentina and Brazil. Jens Andermann, Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2007. 256 pp.

Hidden Powers of State in the Cuban Imagination. Kenneth Routon, Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2010. 204 pp.

Quick Review: Itaipú Binacional is the world’s largest hydroelectric dam. It sits across the Paraná river border between and is co-owned by Brazil and Paraguay. With an “installed capacity” of 14,000 megawatts, it churns out enough electricity to meet 19% of Brazil’s needs and 95% of Paraguay’s… or, almost enough electricity to power two New York Cities.

The Controversy: Though Itaipú’s equally owned by Brazil’s and Paraguay’s public electricity companies, the energy isn’t split evenly because Paraguay’s market isn’t big enough. So, as part of the original treaty (1973) between the two countries, Paraguay sells the vast majority of its electricity (80% of its half) to Brazil. For this energy, Eletrobrás (the Brazilian energy company) pays Paraguay about $2.80 per megawatt hour and then has marked it up anywhere between $20 and $80 on its own market, pocketing the difference.* Three years ago, the unthinkable happened in Paraguay: the ruling party lost the presidential election for the first time in living memory. Former Bishop Fernando Lugo (and a lefty, to boot) won the 2008 election, campaigning on a promise to renegotiate this financial arrangement and to then use the money to invest in social development.

The Resolution: High-level negotiations began between Paraguay and Brazil, resulting in a dramatic agreement between Brazilian President Lula da Silva and Paraguayan President Lugo in July 2009, which called for (among other things):

1) a three-fold increase in what Eletrobrás pays Paraguay for Paraguay’s half of the energy—an annual increase from ~$120million to ~$360million (that’ll end in 2023)

2) Paraguay’s electricity company to gradually begin commercializing its energy directly on the Brazilian market—worth about $1.5billion.

Oh, did I mention that in 2010, Paraguay’s GDP was $16billion? These are game-changing amounts.

What Just Happened: The last hurdle to these changes was cleared this past Wednesday, when Brazil’s Senate voted to approve the agreement (though not without some opposition).

And Now: Paraguay should start getting three times as much for its energy starting this month and EVERYONE wants a piece of the easy money $360million pie (interestingly, no one is talking about the even heftier $1.5billion). The question is how to spend this money in a country that regularly sits at the top of “most corrupt” Latin American countries from Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index. Will $360million go to finance the supporters of the new government? Will it [continue to] go to local governments to cover recurring costs, even though it’s just a temporary windfall? Will it get absorbed into the annual budget of the government (which was more than $8billion in 2010… half of GDP!) where it’s likely to be siphoned off in endemic patronage?

Or will it be invested in developing the educational and infrastructural capacity of Paraguay so that it can develop?

* note that these numbers don’t include the base cost of production, which is paid to the dam for the energy.