LONDON – A trial on whether Australian mining giant BHP is liable for one of Brazil’s worst environmental disasters concludes Thursday in London, with hundreds of thousands of victims demanding billions in compensation.
The 2015 dam collapse killed 19 people and unleashed a deluge of thick toxic mud into villages, fields, rainforest, rivers and the ocean.
The Fundao tailings dam at an iron ore mine in the mountains of Minas Gerais state was managed by Samarco, co-owned by BHP and Brazilian miner Vale.
The London High Court hearing that began in October heard evidence on behalf of BHP and hundreds of thousands of claimants in relation to the dam collapse that may trigger a payout worth billions of pounds (dollars).
Should the court later this year rule that BHP is liable, a further trial would be held to determine the amount of compensation.
At the time of the disaster, BHP had global headquarters in Britain and Australia.
A separate case in Brazil has seen Vale and BHP offer to pay around $30 billion in compensation. This was increased around the start of the London trial from almost $25 billion.
“We are extremely confident of succeeding in this trial,” Tom Goodhead, of law firm Pogust Goodhead which brought the case, told AFP as the preliminary hearing prepared to conclude.
More than 620,000 complainants, including 46 Brazilian municipalities, companies and indigenous peoples, are seeking an estimated £36 billion ($47 billion) in damages in the civil trial.
