Mônica dos Santos and Mauro Marcos da Silva vs. Samarco Mineração S.A., Minas Gerais State and Agência Nacional de Mineração – ANM (mining expansion at the Germano Complex)

In June, 2025, Mônica dos Santos and Mauro Marcos da Silva filed a Citizen Suit (APop) with a request for urgent relief against Samarco Mineração SA, the State of Minas Gerais, and the National Mining Agency (ANM), due to the granting of an environmental license to the so-called ""Long-Term Project,"" aimed at expanding mining activities in the Germano Complex, in the municipalities of Mariana and Ouro Preto/MG. It is argued that the project presents a high potential for harm to the environment and to the communities of Bento Rodrigues and Camargos, already affected by the collapse of the Fundão Dam in 2015. It is alleged that the Environmental Impact Study and Report (EIA/RIMA) contains flaws, notably the lack of adequate analysis of the risks arising from extreme weather events and climate change, as well as the provision for tailings dams near communities and the use of techniques considered outdated and unsafe. It is alleged that the environmental licensing process, conducted by the State Environmental Foundation (FEAM) and the State Secretariat for the Environment and Sustainable Development (SEMAD), failed to observe the principles of prevention and precaution by not requiring more rigorous technical studies and safer technological alternatives. The plaintiff requests, as a preliminary measure, that the defendants be ordered to (a) refrain from authorizing the project i) with a structure for disposing of wet tailings in artificial reservoirs, ii) until an Environmental Impact Study is presented that includes safe areas respecting the attributes of the Iron-Bearing Aquifer Quadrilateral, iii) with the proposal to install waste and tailings piles near the communities of Bento Rodrigues and Camargo; (b) not grant an environmental license to the defendant Samarco SA until environmental impact studies are carried out that consider climate change and extreme events in areas affected by mining, applying the best techniques and alternatives. On the merits, it requests that the action be deemed admissible, confirming the requests made in the preliminary injunction, especially to create an obligation to refrain from granting an environmental license to the defendant Samarco SA, i) if the project does not use only the dry disposal technique for waste rock and tailings, ii) if an environmental impact study is not presented to implement a progressive landfill plan, iii) to prevent the installation of waste rock and tailings piles near the communities of Bento Rodrigues and Camargos, iv) if environmental impact studies are not carried out and presented that consider climate change and extreme events in relation to the safety of the communities. In an interlocutory decision, the Court partially granted the injunction to suspend the effects of the environmental license granted to Samarco's ""Long-Term Project"" and ordered the halt of implementation actions until the presentation of complementary environmental studies, without, however, imposing specific techniques or immediately prohibiting certain structures foreseen in the project. In its decision, the court acknowledged that the absence of a specific analysis of future scenarios prevents the licensing body from determining whether the presented project is, in fact, the least harmful alternative in the context of an internationally recognized climate crisis, with express mention of Advisory Opinion (OC) 32/2025 of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.