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Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Brazilian mining company Vale on Thursday agreed to pay $7 billion in compensation for a 2019 dam collapse that killed 270 people. Prosecutors said the reparations will go to the government of Mines Gerais state, where the Brumadinho dam disaster took place.
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Minas Gerais Gov. Romeu Zema praised the settlement on Twitter, saying it wouldn't affect any other criminal or civil claims against Vale.
"We can't change the past but we can improve the future," he told Brazilian newspaper Estado de São Paulo.
The Wall Street Journal said it was the largest settlement in Brazilian history. The funds will pay for the environmental and economic impact of the disaster.
The dam, operated by the Vale mining company, collapsed Jan. 25, 2019, sending a wall of water and waste sludge slamming into homes, vehicles and a group of miners taking a lunch break.
More than a dozen Vale executives have been charged with murder and environmental crimes for the disaster. Prosecutors said Vale officials knew the dam in Brumadinho was at risk of collapse since at least November 2017 and it was on an internal list of 10 dams at risk of bursting.
Vale CEO Eduardo Bartolomeo issued a statement Thursday saying the company has "work to do" in response to the disaster.
"Vale is committed to fully repair and compensate the damage caused by the tragedy in Brumadinho and to increasingly contribute to the improvement and development of the communities in which we operate," he said.
