Brazilian mining giant Vale Thursday reached a settlement for damages caused by an iron ore waste dam rupture that killed at least 270 people. Several company officials are also charged with murder.

The Vale dam burst in January 2019. Without warning, an inundation of toxic sludge buried the mining site’s cafeteria while hundreds of employees were having their lunch. The mining waste also polluted the nearby Paraopeba River and flooded homes downstream in the nearby town of Brumadinho.

The catastrophe came just three years after Vale’s 2015 Mariana dam breach killed 19 people and contaminated 668 kilometers (415 miles) of the Doce River, a primary source for water and the area’s fishing industry.

Investigations revealed that Vale officials were aware that sensors meant to detect breaches in the dam were not operational at the time of the disaster. Executives from German safety regulatory company TÜV SÜD, which managed the facility’s maintenance, knew nearly a year before the disaster that the dam was becoming unstable.

Vale will pay the state of Minas Gerais 37.7 billion reais (USD 7 billion), but only 30 percent of this money will go toward environmental projects and the victims of the catastrophe. According to Joceli Andrioli, a member of the local Movement of People Affected by Dams that supports victims of failed mega-projects, this deal was made “behind closed doors, without the participation of those affected.”

Some residents object to the proposed use of this funding, which includes urban transportation improvements. These developments do not benefit populations most affected by the disaster, said Andrioli.