In December last year, Judge Finola O'Farrell, of the High Court of London, set the start of an eight-week trial for the worst environmental disaster ever suffered in Brazil for April 9, 2024.
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Anglo-Australian BHP, however, asked in March for a delay of around 14 months to prepare its defense, provide the hundreds of thousands of internal documents requested by plaintiffs and try to include Brazilian Vale, co-owner of the mining company behind the dam in the case. collapsed.
Considering that it will also be necessary to investigate the causes that led to the disaster, the judge stated this Friday that “the most sensible thing is to postpone the trial” for six months and extend the time allotted for it.
She set the start of the 12-week trial for October 7, 2024, including one for preliminary readings, taking into account that “the plaintiffs want a quick resolution” for damages that occurred more than seven years ago.
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On November 5, 2015, the Fundão mining company dam, in the state of Minas Gerais, collapsed, releasing almost 40 million cubic meters of highly polluting mineral waste.
The mud tsunami traveled 650 km from the Rio Doce to the Atlantic, devastated cities, killed 19 people and devastated flora and fauna.
BHP “will continue to defend itself”
The Krenak indigenous people are among more than 720.000 participants – including 46 municipalities, thousands of companies and protected indigenous peoples in Brazil – in this collective action valued at 36 billion pounds (223,6 billion reais, at current prices), the largest ever filed in British judicial history.
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The lawyers, from the Pogust Goodhead firm, considered this Friday's decision a defeat for the mining company.
“They claimed that facing trial in 2024 would be 'extremely unfair' to them as an organization, without thinking about the real victims, our clients, who have suffered the catastrophic devastation of their families, homes, lands and way of life,” said the president of law firm, Tom Goodhead.
“BHP denies the allegations made in the United Kingdom in their entirety and will continue to defend itself,” responded a spokesperson for the group. This “cause is unnecessary because it duplicates topics that are already addressed in the work of the Renova Foundation and ongoing legal proceedings in Brazil”, he added.
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BHP argues that by March 2023 it has already disbursed more than 29 billion reais in reparations and compensation through this Foundation. This includes 13,8 billion reais in compensation and emergency financial aid to more than 413.000 people, he highlights.
“Very limited compensation in Brazil”
BHP was sued in London as co-owner, together with Vale, of the company Samarco, which managed the dam.
The Anglo-Australian giant initiated legal action against the Brazilian mining company, asking for it to contribute to the payment if the English court orders it to compensate the victims.
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In a separate appeal, Vale tries to escape the trial by claiming that its liability cannot be judged in London.
To get this far, the plaintiffs, who started out numbering around 200.000, had to overcome a long legal hurdle that began in 2018 in a court in Liverpool, northwest England, which initially denied them jurisdiction.
Their lawyers oppose a further postponement of the trial, arguing that “a large proportion of them are low-income people, many have seen their livelihoods destroyed, many are very old, many have so far received no compensation or very limited compensation. in Brazil and initiated proceedings in this jurisdiction (England) for that very reason.”
Judge O'Farrell also ordered BHP on Friday to hand over documents relating to the management of the dam and the subsequent disaster from the beginning of 2008 to the end of 2016.
In other actions in the United States and Australia regarding this case, the mining company presented 106 thousand documents for the period between August 2012 and November 2015 alone.
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