BHP accused of ‘avoiding’ blame for Brazil’s Mariana dam collapse as High Court case begins

A £36bn lawsuit against BHP over Brazil’s worst environmental disaster began yesterday at the High Court in London.

More than 600,000 plaintiffs are suing the Australian mining giant over the 2015 Mariana Dam collapse, in one of the largest class action cases in English legal history.

Lawyers representing the plaintiffs accused BHP, the world’s largest miner, of “cynically” trying to avoid responsibility for the disaster.

The collapse of the dam in southeastern Brazil, owned by a joint venture between BHP and Brazilian company Vale, unleashed a wave of toxic mining waste that killed 19 people and left thousands homeless.

Forests were flooded, villages were destroyed and the Doce River was polluted during the disaster.

The Pogust Goodhead law firm represents the plaintiffs, which also includes 46 local governments and about 2,000 businesses.

In court papers, lawyers for the plaintiffs said “a chasm exists between what BHP considers ‘acceptable’ and the compensation to which the plaintiffs consider themselves legally and morally entitled.”

They argued that BHP’s actions in fighting the case and funding separate litigation in Brazil showed the miner was “cynically and stubbornly trying to avoid” liability.

BHP disputes liability and says London’s lawsuit duplicates legal procedures and compensation programs in Brazil.

He maintains that he did not own or operate the dam, which contained mining waste known as tailings.

It said a Brazilian subsidiary of its Australian holding company was a 50 per cent shareholder in the Samarco joint venture, which operated independently.

The miner also said he was not aware that the stability of the dam was compromised before it collapsed.

Lawyers representing BHP said: ‘There is no law or contract which imposes any security duty on the ultimate parent company of a non-controlling shareholder and the other parent company in the same corporate group.

«There was also no breach of said security duty. And neither did BHP’s acts or omissions cause the collapse.”

It has already paid out around £6bn to those affected by the disaster since 2016.

The hearing at the High Court in London will last up to 12 weeks and will consider whether BHP is liable to the claimants under Brazilian environmental law.