UK High Court Finds Australian Firm BHP Liable For 2015 Dam Collapse That Killed 19, Dumped Toxic Waste In Brazil

In 2015, a mine tailings dam failed near the town of Bento Rodrigues, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais. The collapse spilled about 40 million cubic meters of iron ore mining waste into the landscape, burying villages under mud, killing 19 people and polluting thousands of streams along the River Doce.

One year ago, a Brazilian federal court acquitted the mine’s parent companies, Vale in Brazil and BHP in Australia, of criminal charges, three weeks after they announced a $30 billion settlement with Brazil’s government to pay for damages. But a High Court in the United Kingdom ruled on Friday that BHP is liable for the dam collapse under Brazil’s environmental and civil law and could be on the hook to pay even more. “For us it represents a very important milestone,” Mônica dos Santos, a resident of Bento Rodrigues who lost her home and her friends in the Nov. 5, 2015 disaster, said in a video message. It’s about “holding BHP accountable for the crime that occurred” on Nov. 5.

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In a 233-page decision on Friday, Judge Fiona O’Farrell ruled that “the risk of collapse of the dam was foreseeable” and that it was “imprudent” of BHP to continue to raise the dam given the “obvious signs of contractive, saturated tailings and numerous incidents of seepage and cracking.” She wrote that the company was responsible even though it did not directly own and operate the dam.

Leite, said the decision was groundbreaking because it marked the first time that one of the companies has been considered liable since the disaster occurred 10 years ago. “BHP was considered strictly liable as a polluter under Brazilian environmental law, but also based on fault, on their own fault due to their negligence in relation to the collapse,” said Leite. “What we’re trying to do is get full compensation and make sure that everyone who suffered losses is going to be repaired or compensated for the specific losses that they have.”

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/14112025/australian-company-bhp-found-liable-for-damages-in-one-of-brazils-worst-mining-disasters/