In a significant ruling at London’s High Courts, BHP has been found legally responsible for the catastrophic collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in Mariana, which took the lives of 20 people and left lasting environmental and emotional scars across Minas Gerais, Brazil.
This ruling comes a week after the tenth anniversary of Brazil’s worst environmental crime. For a decade, BHP and Vale, the owners of the Samarco mine, have evaded accountability, claiming to be separate entities from its Brazilian operating company. This ruling refutes this defence, highlighting that BHP and Vale controlled and operated Samarco as its “directing mind”. It draws on the overwhelming pre-collapse evidence that the dam was unstable and that the risk of liquefaction and collapse was foreseeable and preventable.
This is the first time any company behind the disaster has been found legally responsible for the failure of the dam. The collapse unleashed more than 40 million cubic metres of tailings into the Rio Doce basin, wiping out the village of Bento Rodrigues and nearby communities, and claiming the lives of 19 people (20 including the unborn child of a pregnant woman). Over 1 million residents along the river basin were affected by the toxic flood, which contaminated over 600 km of waterways, stretching all the way to the Atlantic Ocean.
Affected communities along the Rio Doce have pursued justice in both Brazilian and international courts. This UK ruling could set an important precedent for international corporate liability.
Over the past decade, survivors have shown extraordinary resilience by organising, demanding recognition, and refusing to let their story fade. Nevertheless, this case has already endured for too many years, and justice is still to be delivered. Tailings dams remain inherently high-risk structures and multi-national companies continue to shirk responsibility for the damage done by their mining operations around the world.
This case has taken a big step forward in assigning liability to BHP, and it is crucial that any compensation awarded through subsequent actions reaches the affected communities directly and soon. Any institutional compensation must be focused on rebuilding communities and protecting the environment against future polluters.