UK court rules BHP liable for Fundao dam collapse

A UK court ruled BHP bears legal responsibility for a dam failure nine years ago in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state, opening the door to claims that lawyers have estimated could reach £36bn, said Reuters in a report on Friday.The High Court ruling on Friday addresses a lawsuit brought by hundreds of thousands of Brazilians, approximately 2,000 companies and several dozen municipal authorities following the Fundao dam disaster at Mariana in November 2015, the newswire said.The structure was operated by Samarco, jointly owned by BHP and Vale. Its failure released toxic waste that claimed 19 lives, displaced thousands of residents and contaminated the Doce River along its entire length in what became Brazil’s most severe environmental catastrophe, it said.Judge Finola O’Farrell determined that decisions to continue increasing the dam’s elevation despite safety concerns constituted the direct and immediate trigger for the collapse. This finding establishes BHP’s liability under Brazilian legal principles.The mining company said it would challenge the judgment and maintain its defence against the claims.Brandon Craig, who heads BHP’s minerals Americas division, said some 240,000 people pursuing the London litigation had received payments through Brazilian compensation programmes.“We believe this will significantly reduce the size and value of claims in the UK group action,” he added.The decision marks a substantial setback for BHP’s efforts to resolve the disaster’s legacy through Brazilian mechanisms rather than foreign courts, said Reuters.The post UK court rules BHP liable for Fundao dam collapse appeared first on Miningmx.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Mining.com