Brazil dam disaster shows flaws in decrepit mining regulator

The Bento Rodrigues district is pictured covered with mud after a dam owned by Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd burst in Mariana, Brazil, November 6, 2015. REUTERS/Ricardo Moraes

BELO HORIZONTE/BRASILIA (Reuters) - With leaking windows, moldy walls and piles of paper where you might expect computers, the office of Brazil's National Department of Mineral Production speaks volumes about the regulation of the country's mining industry.

The office, in the capital city of the mine-rich state of Minas Gerais, is the state headquarters for a team of inspectors that is supposed to vet mines like one 100 km (60 miles) to the southeast, where a dam burst on Nov. 5, spilling mineral waste across 800 km and into the Atlantic Ocean.