Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff on Thursday surveyed the devastation wrought by last week's dam bursts at an iron ore mine, pledging that the company would be made to pay for the cleanup, according to AP. Rousseff called last week's breach at the Samarco mine in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais the "biggest environmental disaster" to hit the country. When the two dams burst on Nov. 5, leftovers from the mining process formed a massive wave of viscous red mud that all but erased a nearby hamlet. Search and rescue teams say they have found the bodies of six victims of the mud tide, while another 19 people â€" local residents and mine workers â€" remain missing. The mudflow has continued, eventually reaching a key river, where it has devastated wildlife and threatened the drinking water supply for hundreds of thousands of people downstream. Rousseff said Brazil's environmental agency has already levied a $66 million fine against the company, which is co-owned by Brazil's Vale and BHP Billiton of Australia and added that other fines could be forthcoming. In addition to the submerged village of Bento Rodrigues, Rousseff and Minas Gerais Gov. Fernando Pimentel also flew over the city of Governador Valdares, a city of 260,000 in the east of the state. There, the water utility has had to suspend syphoning water out of the Doce River due to the contamination. Thousands of turtles, fish and other animals have died in the river, and experts say the devastating effects on local fauna could last decades.
