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Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP can be held liable over the 2015 collapse of a dam in southeastern Brazil, London’s High Court has ruled, in a lawsuit the claimants’ lawyers previously valued at up to $74 billion.
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians, dozens of local governments and around 2,000 businesses sued BHP over the collapse of the Fundao dam in Mariana, southeastern Brazil, which was owned and operated by BHP and Vale’s Samarco joint venture.
Brazil’s worst environmental disaster unleashed a wave of toxic sludge that killed 19 people, left thousands homeless and flooded forests.
Enough mine waste to fill 13,000 Olympic-size swimming pools poured into the Doce River.
Judge Finola O’Farrell said in her ruling that continuing to raise the height of the dam when it was not safe to do so was the “direct and immediate cause” of the dam’s collapse, meaning BHP was liable under Brazilian law.
In a powerful demonstration of solidarity, victims and family members affected by the tragic Mariana dam collapse in Brazil gathered outside London’s High Court. Their protest coincided with an ongoing legal battle that seeks justice for the devastating event.
During the proceedings, legal representative O’Farrell argued that BHP, a multinational mining company headquartered in Australia, bore responsibility for the disaster. This assertion was made despite the fact that BHP did not own the dam at the time of its failure.
BHP said it would appeal against the ruling and continue to fight the lawsuit.
The trial began in October 2024, just days before Brazil’s federal government reached a multibillion-dollar settlement with the mining companies.
Under the agreement, Samarco — which is also half-owned by Brazilian mining giant Vale — agreed to pay 132 billion reais ($A35 billion) over 20 years.
The payments were meant to compensate for human, environmental and infrastructure damage.
BHP had said the UK legal action was unnecessary because it duplicated matters covered by legal proceedings in Brazil.
BHP spokesman Brandon Craig said in a statement that 240,000 claimants in the London lawsuit “have already been paid compensation in Brazil”.
