A major trial opens Monday in London to determine the responsibility of Australian mining giant BHP in the devastating rupture of a toxic tailings dam in 2015 in Brazil. It could pave the way for billions in compensation for hundreds of thousands of victims.
The trial, historic in several respects, pits more than 620,000 plaintiffs, united in a collective complaint, against the Anglo-Australian mining group BHP, accused of being responsible for the worst environmental disaster in the history of Brazil.
In 2015, a gigantic mudslide of toxic waste spread 650 kilometers along the Rio Doce River to the Atlantic Ocean after a dam burst near the town of Mariana, in the State of Minas Gerais (southeast). This mining waste dam was managed by the company Samarco, co-owned equally by the multinationals BHP and Vale.
Thousands already paid to the Brazilian state
Tens of millions of cubic meters of toxic sludge destroyed buildings, roads and entire villages, causing 19 deaths and hundreds of evacuations. But the environmental toll was even more catastrophic. Plants, land, rivers, tropical forests, fish, animals have been suffocated by pollution.
However, investigations showed that Samarco had been warned of the structural problems of its dam. But the group’s management did not intervene. After the disaster, BHP and Vale were ordered to pay billions to the Brazilian state.
And the two multinationals now face a collective complaint launched in 2018 which demands compensation for the victims themselves. After several twists and turns before the British courts, the enormous civil trial which opens on Monday must determine the possible liability of BHP, one of whose headquarters was then located in London.
“We really hope that the English justice system will do what the Brazilian justice system has not done so far,” a 39-year-old Brazilian woman whose family lost their home in the disaster told AFP. For her, there is no doubt that the company “knew the dam had problems and knew what had to be done.”
Months of trial
The total amount of compensation must still be determined, but it promises to be gigantic: it is estimated “at 36 billion pounds” (or approximately 40.5 billion Swiss francs) by the lawyers of the plaintiffs, including 46 Brazilian municipalities, individuals , businesses and several indigenous peoples.
For its part, BHP says it is “fully aware of the impacts” of the disaster and “unwavering” in its desire for compensation, but considers this British trial “useless”, considering the matter “already covered” by the Brazilian procedures. The group assures that more than 430,000 people have already received compensation via a foundation which manages compensation and rehabilitation programs in Brazil, including more than 200,000 plaintiffs from the trial in London.
The court is expected to debate for several months. The trial is expected to end in early March.
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