A BHP miner will face trial in 2024 in the UK for an environmental disaster in Brazil

On Thursday, identical sources reported that from 2024 British justice will consider a collective complaint demanding billions of pounds from Australian mining giant BHP for its responsibility in a dam crash in Brazil that killed 19 people in 2015.

BHP is under fire because it is jointly owned by Brazilian Vale Group, Brazilian mining company Samarco, which operates an iron ore tailings dam that collapsed on November 5, 2015.

This event caused a disaster that is considered the worst environmental tragedy in Brazil.

According to defense firm Pogust Goodhead, more than 200,000 plaintiffs, including Krenak natives, are part of the action, but an equal number of clients are preparing to join the lawsuit.

The company, which welcomes victory after four years of proceedings, says it is the largest class action ever heard by a civil court in England.

In total, the sums requested by more than 400,000 plaintiffs against the company could exceed 10,000 million pounds (11,400 million euros), as determined by the company, compared to the 5,000 million pounds of compensation initially estimated when the complaint was submitted.

And the Supreme Court of Justice announced in its decision issued on Wednesday and consulted by Agence France-Presse that the start date for this trial, for which hearings are scheduled for up to eight weeks, is “set for April 9, 2024.”

“Now is the time to avoid further delays and to make tangible progress in resolving the dispute,” the judge said.

The dam burst near the city of Mariana, Minas Gerais state, releasing a giant river of mud that completely submerged the city of Pinto Rodrigues and left 19 dead and more than 600 residents homeless.

Then the flow extended into the Atlantic Ocean for 650 km through the bed of the Douce River. Along its path, it has killed thousands of animals, destroyed protected areas of rainforest and left 280,000 people without water.

Continue reading the story

BHP Group, which is listed in both London and Sydney, responded Thursday in a statement sent to AFP that this was a “procedural decision” that “has nothing to do with the substance of the procedure in the UK”.

The company “disputes the claims in their entirety and will continue to defend itself” in this case and further believes it is redundant with other legal proceedings under way in Brazil.

ode / emb / abx / msr / an