Brazil seeks to re-open $27bn lawsuit against BHP, Vale
Doce River at Barra Longa, Minas Gerais. The city was severely impacted by Samarco’s tailings dam collapse. The riverside part of the town has been almost completely rebuilt after the dam collapse.
SAO PAULO – Brazilian federal and state prosecutors have asked a court to re-open a multi-billion-dollar civil action lawsuit against miners Samarco, Vale SA and BHP for damages caused by the Fundao dam burst in 2015, authorities said on Thursday.
The incident at Samarco's Mariana facilities, a joint venture between Vale and BHP, which left 19 dead and polluted the River Doce, was Brazil's biggest ever environmental disaster. The claim is for damages of 155-billion reais ($27.4-billion).
The suit had been suspended in 2018 after an agreement between prosecutors and the companies. But in the Thursday statement, state prosecutors in Minas Gerais, where Mariana is located, alleged that the companies were not meeting their obligations in a timely fashion.
In a joint statement, Vale, Samarco and BHP said they were surprised by prosecutors' decision to attempt to re-open the suit, and said they vehemently disagreed with the assertion that they were not complying with their obligations promptly. They said the existing agreement allowed for full reparations for all parties affected by the dam break.
Another mining dam owned by Vale burst in Minas Gerais in 2019, an incident which killed 270 people and sparked a series of criminal and civil suits.
Earlier on Thursday, Vale said that 33 of its 104 dam structures in Brazil had failed their stability assessments.
Article Enquiry
Email Article
Save Article
Feedback
To advertise email advertising@creamermedia.co.za or click here
Research Reports
Projects
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
Stewarts & Lloyds is a leading steel, tube, and engineering product supplier in South Africa.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Design, Construction and Maintenance of Site Erected, Welded Bulk Storage Tanks for the Petrochemical, LNG, Ammonia and Sustainable fuel Sectors.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
