The publicly traded Brazilian mining firm Vale SA agreed to pay $55.9 million to settle Security and Exchange related charges concerning allegedly false and misleading disclosures about the safety of its dams before a 2019 dam collapse in Brazil that killed 270 people, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Tuesday.

The SEC sued Vale in April, saying the company manipulated dam safety audits, obtained fraudulent stability certificates, and misled local governments, communities, and investors with its environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures.

A Vale dam burst in January 2019, in the Brazilian town of Brumadinho. A river of toxic mining waste was released resulting in deaths and destruction.

Vale is one of the world’s largest producers of iron ore. Allegedly, it knew for years that its dam did not meet internationally recognized standards for dam safety, the SEC said in the lawsuit.

The settlement remains subject to approval by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York,

The SEC’s litigation is being led by Dean Conway and Michelle Zamarin, under the supervision of Melissa Armstrong and Sharan Custer. 

Jeffrey Newman is a whistleblower lawyer who handles matters in the SEC whistleblower program and under the False Claims Act. He can be reached at 617-823-3217