Victims of the Brazilian mining disaster are taking BHP to court in London

Victims of Brazil’s worst environmental disaster have turned to a United Kingdom court for compensation, nearly nine years after tons of toxic mining waste spilled over large water, killed 19 people and the villages of the area were destroyed.

A class action lawsuit at the High Court in London on Monday seeks an estimated 36 billion pounds ($47bn) in damages from global mining giant BHP. That would make it the largest environmental award, according to Pogust Goodhead, the law firm representing the plaintiffs.

BHP owns 50 percent of Samarco, a Brazilian iron ore mining company whose tailings dam burst on November 5, 2015, releasing enough mine waste to fill 13,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools. On the Doce River in southeastern Brazil. The case was filed in the UK because one of BHP’s two main legal offices was based in London at the time.

“BHP pollutes and therefore must pay,” lawyer Alain Choo Choy said in a written submission.

BHP’s lawyer, Shaheed Fatima, said in written submissions that the claim was “baseless”, adding that BHP neither owned nor owned the dam and “had poor knowledge of the dam and does not know that the stability of the dam has been damaged”.

The river, which the Krenak Natives revere as a god, was so polluted that it has yet to recover. The disaster has killed 14 tonnes of freshwater fish and damaged 660km (410 miles) of the River Doce, according to research by the University of Ulster.

When the dam known as Fundao broke, mud washed away Bento Rodrigues, once a bustling village in the state of Minas Gerais. Now it’s like a ghost town.

A few white tiles are all that remain of the house where Monica dos Santos, 39, lived with her parents near the Catholic church that was also destroyed. He has become one of the leading activists demanding full reparations.

He said: “It’s not just the destruction of November 5. Some survivors turned to alcohol, others to drugs. Personal relationships were strained, sometimes broken.

Housing negotiations

The lawsuit comes days after BHP announced that the company and its partner Samarco, Vale SA, are negotiating a settlement with Brazil’s public authorities that could provide $31.7bn for people, communities and the environment. damaged.

Vale on Friday said the total includes $7.9bn already paid, $18bn to be paid in installments over 20 years to Brazil’s federal government, Minas Gerais and Espirito Santo and municipalities, and $5.8bn to ” performance liability” by Samarco, including individual compensation. .

Last month, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told Radio Vitoriosa, a local station in Minas Gerais, that his administration was determined to reach an agreement with the mining companies by the end of October. The reports were filed by Brazil’s Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office and public authorities.

Australia-based BHP in Melbourne said it believed the UK action was unnecessary because it repeated issues related to repayment efforts and legal proceedings in Brazil, but said it would continue to defend it.

Pogust Goodhead said the potential settlement should not have any effect on the case.

“Such a moment only proves that the companies responsible for a major environmental crisis in Brazil are willing to do everything in their power to prevent victims from seeking justice,” the firm said in a statement.

The survivors of Bento Rodrigues have moved to a new town of the same name which is half an hour away by car. Colorful, multi-story houses line the newly paved streets.

Priscila Monteiro, 36, moved three months ago but said she does not feel at home.

He said: “It’s like I’m passing and I’ll be home any minute.

Monteiro was pregnant when the dam broke on her birthday. She and her two-year-old child were pulled out of the toxic mud and survived, but she suffered a miscarriage. His five-year-old niece, Emanuelle, died.

“For me, the day that was supposed to be a celebration has turned into a day of darkness, forever,” he said, crying.

Monteiro said he hoped the London trial would lead to an assessment of the damage.

“God put the people of London in our way because there is no justice in Brazil. Now our last hope is them,” he said.