A judge in London has determined that BHP Group, a global mining company, is accountable for Brazil’s most catastrophic environmental incident, which occurred a decade ago when a dam failure released a large amount of hazardous waste into a significant river, resulting in the death of 19 individuals and causing immense destruction to downstream communities.
Despite not owning the dam at the time, BHP, based in Australia, was found liable by High Court Justice Finola O’Farrell due to its negligence or lack of caution, which ultimately led to the dam collapse. BHP holds a 50% stake in Samarco, the Brazilian firm managing the iron ore mine where the tailings dam breached in November 2015, causing a massive discharge of mine waste into the Doce River in southeastern Brazil.
The overflow from the ruptured dam obliterated the once-thriving village of Bento Rodrigues in Minas Gerais state and inflicted severe harm on other nearby towns. The disaster also resulted in the loss of 14 tons of freshwater fish and the contamination of 600 kilometers of the Doce River, as per a study conducted by the University of Ulster in the U.K. The river, revered as a deity by the Krenak Indigenous people, has yet to fully recover.
Following the ruling, the affected individuals hailed it as a significant triumph in their pursuit of justice. Mônica dos Santos from the Commission for Those Affected by the Fundão Dam expressed satisfaction in seeing a mining corporation being held accountable after a long legal battle.
Gelvana Rodrigues, who lost her seven-year-old son in the disaster, praised the court’s decision and vowed to continue fighting until all responsible parties are held responsible. The judge concurred with the arguments put forth by lawyers representing 600,000 Brazilians and emphasized that the dam collapse was foreseeable, indicating that BHP could have averted the catastrophe by taking appropriate preventive measures.
BHP has announced its intention to appeal the ruling. The claimants are pursuing $47 billion US in compensation, although the judgment solely determined liability, with a subsequent phase of the trial set to determine damages. The legal proceedings were initiated in the U.K. because one of BHP’s primary legal entities was headquartered in London at the time of the incident.
The trial commenced in October 2024, shortly before the Brazilian government reached a substantial settlement with the mining companies involved. Under this agreement, Samarco, jointly owned by Vale, agreed to pay $23 billion US over two decades to cover the costs related to human casualties, environmental harm, and infrastructure destruction.
While BHP argued that the legal action in the U.K. was redundant due to ongoing legal processes in Brazil, the judge ruled that individuals who received compensation in the Brazilian settlement could still pursue claims, subject to any limitations specified in their waivers. Brandon Craig, BHP’s Minerals Americas president, indicated that a significant portion of claimants might be excluded due to previous settlement agreements in Brazil.
Following the court’s decision, BHP’s shares dropped by over two percent on the London stock market, prompting the company to reassess its financial provisions in response to the ruling.