- A class action lawsuit in the U.K. will decide whether the Fundão tailings dam collapse was the fault of mining companies, Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP) and Miners Vale, which together make up the joint venture Samarco.
- The companies could pay over $40 billion in compensation to 620,000 claimants, following the 2015 dam collapse that released arsenic-laced mud across several Brazilian communities.
- A recent study found that 15 metals, including iron, nickel, arsenic, cadmium and aluminum, were still present in fish, birds, turtles and porpoises at the mouth of the Doce river and on the coast of Espírito Santo and southern Bahia.
- The mining companies argue that the lawsuit doesn’t have jurisdiction in the U.K. and that claimants already received compensation through separate negotiations in Brazil.
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A civil trial began October 21 to determine whether several mining companies are liable for the collapse of a dam that released toxic sludge into communities in rural Brazil, resulting in one of the worst environmental disasters in the country’s history.
The class action lawsuit, filed in the U.K., will decide whether the Fundão tailings dam collapse was the fault of mining companies Broken Hill Proprietary (BHP) and Miners Vale, which may have to pay billions of dollars in compensation to affected individuals.
“Our legal case will publicly hold BHP to account and set a precedent; making it more difficult for multinational corporations more broadly to neglect their responsibility to the communities in which they operate,” said Tom Goodhead, CEO of Pogust Goodhead, the firm that filed the lawsuit.
The Fundão tailings dam stored the toxic byproduct from iron ore drilling in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais. When the dam broke on November 5, 2015, it released approximately 50 million cubic meters (1.7 billion cubic feet) of arsenic-laced mud down the Doce river, killing 19 people and destroying the towns of Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu de Baixo.
The accident created an economic and public health crisis for millions of people, whose crops and drinking water were poisoned, according to the lawsuit. Many businesses were forced to close.
Around 620,000 claimants in the lawsuit could receive around $46 billion in compensation if the court rules in their favor, according to Pogust Goodhead.
A recent study found that 15 metals, including iron, nickel, arsenic, cadmium and aluminum, were still present in fish, birds, turtles and porpoises at the mouth of the Doce river and on the coast of Espírito Santo and southern Bahia, according to the Aquatic Biodiversity Monitoring Program.
A boy sits on a supply of clean drinking water. Photo courtesy of Pogust Goodhead.
The trial, expected to last 12 weeks, is taking place in the U.K. because the dam was jointly owned by BHP, which had offices in London at the time of the disaster. The other mining firm, Vale, is based in Brazil, as is Samarco, the joint venture owned by the two companies. None of them replied to a request for comment for this story.
The initial days of the trial focused on which companies were responsible for dam operations in the lead up to its collapse. BHP argued that it had no knowledge of the day-to-day operations of the dam or problems with its structural integrity.
However, the lawsuit says dumping behind the dam went forward with BHP’s support.
“BHP approved this arrangement even though it was unsafe and uneconomic for Samarco,” the claimants’ lawyers said during the trial.
BHP also allegedly approved plans to increase the height of the dam to accommodate the increase in tailings being dumped despite knowing it could create structural risks.
“The simple fact is that it was not safe to keep raising the dam… because the dam was in a very fragile state and it showed signs of serious distress,” the lawyers said.
The companies said they have already set up a compensation program in Brazil, paying thousands of people as little as $155. In order to receive the money, residents had to sign an agreement to not seek additional compensation in the future, effectively nullifying the class action lawsuit filed in the U.K., the companies argued.
A separate, $31.7 billion compensation package negotiated through the federal government may also prevent some people from being able to accept compensation through the U.K. lawsuit.
The deal, announced at the end of last week, would spread the payments over decades and may not be as lucrative as compensation from the U.K. lawsuit.
“The deal with the Brazilian authorities only serves to highlight exactly why the proceedings in the English courts are so critical,” Goodhead said in a statement.
“The victims have not been consulted on the deal and parts of the reparations will be spread over 20 years. It is therefore simply a first step in an ongoing battle for justice and adequate compensation for Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.”
Banner image: Pollution following the dam collapse. Photo courtesy of Pogust Goodhead.
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U.K. court to hear lawsuit for victims of Brazilian dam disaster
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