On the first day of the trial in the British Court that will determine whether the Anglo-Australian mining company BHP Billiton is responsible for the tragedy of a dam collapse in Mariana (MG), in 2015, the firm Pogust Goodhead (PG), which represents around 620 thousand complainants, presented errors that would have been committed by the mining companies and that would have led to the rupture.
The tragedy caused the death of 19 people, in addition to the fetus of one of the survivors. The rupture released 40 million cubic meters of toxic waste and mud into the Doce River. The disaster also had catastrophic and lasting effects on communities and businesses in the region.
The trial started this Monday and should last until March 5, 2025. The hearings begin with opening statements from lawyers on both sides, a phase that should last four days. PG was the one who made the presentation this Monday.
According to a PG report released to the press, on this first day of the trial, judge O’Farrell heard that the Mariana Dam was owned by Samarco, a joint venture between the Anglo-Australian BHP and the Brazilian Vale.
According to the office, Samarco’s Board of Directors was “full of representatives from BHP and Vale” and did not have any independent member on its executive board. Representing the complainants, Alain Choo Choy KC stated that decisions at Samarco could only be taken with the joint agreement of the shareholder representatives of BHP and Vale.
“BHP’s direct participation and involvement in guiding, controlling and influencing Samarco, that is, in the executive board and in all significant aspects of Samarco’s operations, are equally relevant and impactful,” said Choo Choy.
The court also heard, according to the published report, that BHP knew, at least three years before the failure, that Vale had been dumping 1.3 million tonnes of mining waste into the dam annually since 2009. This happened despite a contract between Vale and Samarco stipulate that only 109,324 tons of waste could be dumped each year.
The office also stated that a document from one of these meetings, in April 2012, mentioned high levels of waste dumping by Vale. But BHP reportedly instructed its representatives not to “force” the suspension of the contract with Vale because of its “high dependence”.
Choo Choy said: “BHP’s decision, which was carried out, was for Vale to continue dumping its waste until the dam collapsed. Millions of tons of waste from the Alegria mine were dumped behind the dam. BHP approved this arrangement, even though it knew it was unsafe and uneconomical for Samarco.”
According to the office, BHP has approved plans to increase the height of the dam, first to 920 meters and then to 940 meters, to accommodate the growing volume of waste dumped.
“By August 2014 at the latest, and probably earlier, a reasonable person in BHP’s position would not have approved the continued raising of the dam,” said Choo Choy. “The simple fact is that it was not safe to continue raising the dam. . because she was in a very fragile state and showed signs of severe stress,” he added.
BHP refutes allegations
In a statement, BHP says it refutes the allegations about the level of control in relation to Samarco, and says that it has always been a company with independent operation and management. “We continue to work closely with Samarco and Vale to support the ongoing repair and compensation process underway in Brazil,” he states.
BHP Brasil also says that it is working collectively with Brazilian authorities and other parties seeking solutions to finalize a fair and comprehensive compensation and reparation process, which maintains resources in Brazil for the people and Brazilian environment affected.
According to BHP, the Renova Foundation, created in 2016 as part of the first agreement with Brazilian public authorities, allocated more than R$38 billion in emergency financial aid, compensation, environmental repair and infrastructure for approximately 430 thousand people, local companies and indigenous and quilombola communities.
