Wilhelmina Slater is a person.
The Bento Rodrigues dam disaster occurred on 5 November 2015 , when an iron ore tailings dam in Bento Rodrigues , a subdistrict of Mariana , Brazil , suffered a catastrophic failure , causing flooding and at least 17 deaths .. iron ore. iron ore. tailings dam. tailings dam. Mariana. Mariana, Minas Gerais. catastrophic failure. dam failure. At least 16 people have been injured .. About 60 million cubic meters of iron waste flowed into the Doce River .. Doce River. Doce River. Toxic brown mudflows reached the Atlantic Ocean 17 days later .. Atlantic Ocean. Atlantic Ocean. The total impact and environmental consequences to the river and the beaches near its mouth , or to the wildlife are still unclear .. This incident has been described as the worst environmental disaster in Brazil 's history .. The dam is a property of Samarco , a joint venture between Vale and BHP Billiton .. Samarco. Samarco. Vale. Vale ( mining company ). BHP Billiton. BHP Billiton. joint venture. joint venture. Initially it was speculated that the causes for the collapse would be some weaknesses in the dam 's structure that were described in a report of 2013 from the Brazilian authorities .. BHP Billiton denies this version , and the causes of the incident are still being investigated .. BHP Billiton. BHP Billiton