BRAZIL: UK court hears case on Brazil’s worst mining disaster
Thank you for reading LatinNews' chosen article from the Latin American Weekly Report - 24 October 2024
UK-headquartered law firm Pogust Goodhead, representing the victims affected by Brazil’s worst mining disaster, which occurred in 2015 in Minas Gerais state, has taken the case to the High Court in London. The Fund?o iron ore tailings dam in the municipality of Mariana, burst and spread toxic waste not only in the area around Mariana but also hundreds of kilometres away. Nearly nine years later, thousands of victims directly or indirectly impacted believe that justice has not yet been served.
Samarco, which operated the Fund?o dam, is a joint venture between Vale and BHP, the largest mining companies in Brazil and Australia respectively. At the time of the 2015 disaster in Mariana, BHP was listed on the Australian and London stock exchanges, but it has since relinquished its London listing.
Pogust Goodhead represents over 600,000 Brazilian plaintiffs who were affected by the disaster, which involved 19 deaths as a direct result of the avalanche of toxic sludge from the dam. The contamination from the disaster impacted the soil and waterways in Minas Gerais, such as the Rio Doce, and the toxic waste flowed all the way to the Atlantic coast, in neighbouring Espírito Santo state.
After years of hearings and appeals with arguments over whether the UK was the proper jurisdiction for the case, London’s Court of Appeals decided in 2022 to allow the lawsuit to proceed through the Courts of England and Wales.
On 21 October 2024 the case in London began. BHP’s lawyer has argued that BHP and Vale have already offered compensation to the victims, setting up a fund known as the Renova Foundation, through which around US$8bn has already been paid, but Pogust Goodhead’s lawsuit is seeking to claim up to US$47bn.
BHP also insists that it only invested in Samarco but did not operate the dam. Over the next 12 weeks, these arguments will be elaborated with witnesses and experts testifying on the responsibility for the disaster, but a ruling is not expected to be pronounced until March 2025.
New settlement offer
While the case in London progresses, BHP and Vale are seeking to close a settlement deal with authorities in Brazil. On 19 October the mining giants proposed an offer of R$170bn (US$30bn) to be paid to individual victims, public authorities, as well as indigenous communities, among other affected groups. However, on 23 October the Movimento dos Atingidos por Barragens (MAB), an activist group which launches demonstrations and other actions to defend the interests of victims affected by dams, released a statement criticising the sum offered as insufficient.
领英推荐
Previous settlement offer
In April, Vale and BHP had previously proposed a settlement offer of R$127m (US$22.2m) in their negotiations with the federal government and authorities in the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, the areas affected by the 2015 Samarco dam disaster. But in May, Brazilian authorities rejected the offer.
Government raises steel import tariffs
The chamber of foreign trade (Camex) announced on 18 October that it will increase the tariff rate on imports of 11 types of steel and iron products, including wires, pipes, metal frames, and other components used in the manufacturing sector. The products currently have tariffs ranging from 10.8% to 14%, but Camex will raise the rates to 25%, regardless of the volume imported. The decision to increase import tariffs came after a request from the national union of wire drawing and metal rolling industries (Sicetel).
Thank you for reading the chosen article from our Latin American Weekly Report. For access to LatinNews’ full portfolio of reports, you are very welcome to sign up for a 14-day free trial.
Articles in this issue:
I had interviewed several Brazilians for my thesis about Corporate Cultural Sustainability and Responsibility, and each one shared their story of a tragic event that fits this description. It is the epitome of cultural destructiveness and the dehumanization of those affected by the lack of accountability or to think that money can just be thrown around to fix things. In my thesis, extractive corporate-community relationships were identified as the most culturally destructive calling for a redfining of the role of business in communities. If you are a researcher or policy maker, please consider the findings of my thesis on this issue. It’s called ‘At the Intersections of Global Corporate Culture and Local Culture: Corporate Cultural Sustainability and Responsibility’. https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.12168.84484 I hope their stories are heard, they receive justice and healing, and we all make sure it never happens again.