More than 600,000 Brazilians brought legal action against BHP Group after the collapse of the Fundao dam in November 2015, with the trial starting in London in October 2024
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians are to discover the outcome of their case against mining giant BHP over a deadly dam collapse. More than 600,000 Brazilians brought legal action against BHP Group after the collapse of the Fundao dam in November 2015, with the trial starting in London in October 2024.
Mrs Justice O’Farrell will give her decision on Friday. The failure of the dam, which held waste from an iron ore mine in Minas Gerais state in south-eastern Brazil, killed 19 people and sent more than 40 million cubic metres of toxic waste into the Doce River in what has been described as Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.
Lawyers representing the hundreds of thousands of individuals, as well as businesses, municipal governments, indigenous groups and faith-based organisations, claimed BHP is liable to pay compensation for losses resulting from the collapse of the dam. The dam was owned and operated by Samarco, a joint venture between Brazilian iron ore miner Vale and BHP’s Brazilian subsidiary.
The mining giant defended the claim, arguing that the case “rests on incorrectly eliding the distinctions between BHP, BHP Brazil and Samarco” and that the legal action duplicates remediation works in Brazil. In October 2024, Brazil’s federal government reached an agreement with Samarco to pay 132 billion reais (£17.7 billion) over 20 years.
The High Court claim is thought to be one of the largest cases in English legal history, with Poghust Goodhead, representing the individuals and groups seeking damages, previously saying the claims are worth about £36 billion. Mrs Justice O’Farrell’s judgment will be handed down in writing at 9.30am.
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