Mining giant BHP liable for deadly dam collapse that caused Brazil’s worst environmental disaster
Mining giant BHP was found liable by London’s High Court for the catastrophic collapse of a dam in south-east Brazil in 2015.
Friday’s landmark ruling concerns a case previously valued by plaintiffs’ lawyers at £36 billion ($48.32 billion).
The Fundao dam, located near Mariana, was jointly owned and operated by BHP and Vale’s Samarco joint venture.
Its catastrophic failure resulted in Brazil’s worst environmental disaster, killing 19 people, leaving thousands homeless, flooding forests and polluting the entire Doce River.
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians, dozens of local governments and 2,000 businesses are suing BHP.
Judge Finola O’Farrell determined BHP’s liability under Brazilian law, ruling that continuing to increase the height of the dam when it was unsafe was the “direct and immediate cause” of the dam’s collapse.
BHP confirmed it would appeal the decision and continue with the case.
BHP’s Minerals Americas President Brandon Craig said in a statement that 240,000 plaintiffs in the London case “have already been compensated in Brazil.”
“We believe this will significantly reduce the size and value of claims in the UK class action,” he added.
The decision comes after a decade of legal wrangling that has left hundreds of thousands of Brazilians hoping for long-awaited justice.
The iron ore tailings dam collapsed at 4.20pm, sending 44.5 million cubic meters of toxic sludge flowing through the hills of Minas Gerais state, with the pollutants recorded 668 kilometers (451 miles) from the dam.
Following heavy damage to the Doce River, a critical source of irrigation, water, food and recreation for groups such as the Krenak, villages were flattened and indigenous communities’ ways of life destroyed.
Plaintiffs and lawyers had previously hoped the court’s decision would bring closure for dam collapse victims who are struggling to move on with their lives without feeling like those responsible for the dam collapse are facing appropriate consequences.
