Brazilian prosecutors have criticised a deal that mining company Samarco reached this week with the federal government to pay an estimated 20 billion reais ($A7.16 billion) in damages for a deadly dam spill in November.
The settlement favoured the miner instead of the population affected by what was considered to be Brazil's worst environmental disaster, the prosecutors of the task force investigating the spill as well prosecutors in the states of Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo said in a statement.
Samarco and its owners, BHP Billiton and Vale SA, inked a settlement deal with the government on Wednesday after weeks of arduous negotiations.
The miner agreed to pay an estimated 20 billion reais in damages over 15 years to compensate local communities flooded by a tsunami of mining waste that also polluted a major river in both states.
The burst tailings dam killed 19 people and left hundreds homeless.
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Prosecutors said the deal did not guarantee the proper clean-up and payment of damages for populations that were not included in settlement talks.
The deal did not block other judicial actions ongoing in both states, prosecutors said.
