Brazil says it will take legal action against a mining company for environmental damages due the collapse of an iron-ore mine.

According to the BBC, the Brazilian government will sue Samarco for $5.2 billion for their negligence regarding the collapse which occurred on Nov. 5, 2015. The accident destroyed a village and sent mud and mine waste into the Atlantic ocean.

Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira said that the compensation her government is seeking is needed for the victims as well as for the environmental recovery. "There was a huge impact from an environmental point of view," said Izabella, adding, "It is not a natural disaster, it is a disaster prompted by economic activity, but of a magnitude equivalent to those disasters created by forces of nature."

According to the environmental official, 310 miles of the Rio Doce, the river that was affected by the mine collapse, will need to be to be dredged. Vegetation will need to be replanted and fresh water springs must now be cleared.

The Wall Street Journal reports, Vale, the Brazilan-based mining company that along with BHP Billiton owns Samarco, has acknowledged that the mine collapse has resulted in toxic elements being introduced into the river.

The U.N. reported that the equivalent of 20,000 Olympic swimming pools of toxic mud went into the Rio Doce due to the collapse.

At least 13 people died following the collapse and around 11 people remain missing.

Attorney General Luis Inacio Adams, who filed the lawsuit on Monday, said that the companies that owned Samarco would be asked to pay the amount gradually as part of a percentage of their profits. As quoted in The Guardian, Adams said, “The measure should guarantee long-term financing for actions to revitalise the (river) basin.”

The mining companies have so far been cooperating with Brazil. “The scale of the damage is very big but the companies have announced measures that show they are interested in repairing their image,” said Adams.