Brasília (AFP) - A Brazil appeals court on Friday ordered mining giant Vale to pay two indigenous tribes $26.8 million over river contamination that harmed public health, the prosecutors' office said Friday. The Onca Puma nickel mine in Brazil's northern Para state, in operation for a decade, is blamed for contaminating the Catete river, which prosecutors said had a "severe" impact on the Xikrin and Kayapo tribes. In a statement, the prosecutors' office said the contamination affected food availability and the Xikrin tribe's drinking water.
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