Samarco disaster and health policies in Espírito Santo

Abstract

This study aims to understand the  actions proposed in response to the impact caused by the Samarco dam rupture in the city of Mariana. As part of a larger study, this piece focuses on public health policies and the cities of Colatina and Linhares in the state of Espírito Santo. Through qualitative methods, we investigated the political-administrative arrangement involving the Samarco company, the Interfederative Committee (CIF), the Renova Foundation and the public authorities, questioning the role of actors in the production of compensation and rebuilding measures. We used document analysis, especially the reports available on the Renova Foundation website (from March 2016 to May 2018), and 7 semi-structured interviews with reference actors in the two cities. The analysis was guided by the theoretical scope of the public policy cycle. A clearly top-down political-administrative structure was identified, with emphasis on the policy formulation at the expense of service delivery and with little articulation between public and civil society actors in the search for health problem solving.