ORE2 Tailings deployment steps: 5.1 Failure definition We designed ORE2_Tailings™ to support RIDM for tailings dams portfolios reliability enhancements. One achieves reliability by reducing failure likelihood to a certain level, and risks are tolerable. Thus it is necessary to clearly state what one considers the success of a structure within the portfolio. Indeed, unless we clearly define success, failure remains an ambiguous term. ORE2_Tailings™ considers a dam successful if it: stands as built and does not break allowing for…
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At Riskope we champion the idea that Risk assessment, Social License to Operate (SLO) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are strongly intertwined. It is part of our silo-breaking philosophy. Riskope’s builds risk assessments considering multidimensional consequences. These include “people” consequences, such as loss of quality of life. At the end of the day SLO and CSR are supported by enhanced transparency, clearer vision and distance themselves from a mere PR act, as people will identify more with the prospective realities.…
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Recent tailings disasters such as the failure of the Mount Polley and Samarco dams have focused the attention on the Consequences of tailings dams failures. Consequences of tailings dams failures: outflow volume and runout distance Classic approaches Various classic approaches (Rico et al., 2008, Azam & Li, 2010) assume that the volume of released tailings is a function of storage volume. Dam height intervenes, particularly for the runout distance preliminary evaluation. They find “statistical correlations” using a set of dam…
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On August 6th Italian media sadly reported: Traffic accident caused major explosion in Bologna. Traffic accident caused major explosion in Bologna; What happened Two trailers following each other collided. One of them was loaded with liquid propane. Those two then reportedly hit a third trailers loaded with new cars. The accident happened on a viaduct going through a semi-industrial/ urban environment. A fire started in the car transport trailer. By chance, several police units were either onsite or nearby and…
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INTECH published The long shadow of Human Generated Geohazards: Risks and Crises, our chapter in the book entitled Geohazards Caused by Human Activity! The wait is over! You can freely download the text here . We sincerely hope you will enjoy it. Please drop us a note and let us know your comments on the chapter. Geohazards Caused by Human Activity Our chapter in geohazards caused by human activity is geared toward focusing attention on the “damage and risk” side…
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The Long Shadow of Human Generated Geohazards: Risks and Crises is the title of a chapter by C. Oboni & F. Oboni of the book entitled Geohazards Caused by Human Activity (ISBN 978-953-51-4765-7, Arvin Farid, Ph.D., P.E., Associate Professor Civil Engineering, Boise State University, Idaho, USA, Editor). The book is due to be e-published soon by Intech with the goal to provide free online access to research. The Long Shadow of Human Generated Geohazards: Risks and Crises The purpose of the…
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We have read a great number of articles related to the true cost of the failure of Samarco dam. However, only recently we saw the Samarco dam disaster cumulative damages effects actually detailed (see below). The dam failed in November 2015, killing at least 19 people, making 700 people homeless, and polluting hundreds of miles of Rio Doce river, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. In its annual report, just filed last week, BHP Billiton detailed what the true…
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Mining in the Appalachians, West Virginia, and Health Consequences We have recently read about US Federal officials planning to recommend the National Academy of Sciences to review a series of studies that have found residents living near mountaintop removal mining operations facing increased rates of serious illnesses and premature death. The request is a consequence of more than two dozens of peer-reviewed publications by Former West Virginia University researcher Michael Hendryx and other scientists stating that residents living near mountaintop…
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