Reuters | January 25, 2024 |
The Fire Brigade of Minas Gerais searches for missing bodies. (Image: Ibama)
More than 1,400 plaintiffs are demanding over 582 million euros ($634 million) in damages from German industrial inspector TÜV Süd over its alleged role in the deadly collapse of a dam in Brazil, their lawyers said on Thursday.
The Jan. 25, 2019 tailings dam burst, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, unleashed a wave of mud that left 270 dead, while also ravaging local forests, rivers and communities.
TÜV Süd, whose Brazilian subsidiary had certified the dam, has rejected any legal responsibility for the burst.
The Munich Regional Court will decide whether Brazilian law can be applied during the proceedings, the plaintiffs said, adding that this would make it easier to hold the German company accountable.
According to the plaintiffs’ lawyers, the court has commissioned an expert in Brazilian law to clarify the question.
TÜV Süd’s lawyers have referred responsibility to Brazil’s Vale, the world’s largest iron ore producer, that operated the dam.
“The responsibility of the dam operator was legally established in Brazil and the affected parties are being comprehensively compensated … The claims asserted by the plaintiffs against TÜV Süd therefore do not exist”, the company said in an emailed statement.
The Brazilian company promised to spend 7.8 billion reais ($1.58 billion) on repairs last year, after having spent around 10.2 billion reais in disbursements in 2022.
($1 = 4.9335 reais)
($1 = 0.9178 euros)
(By Joern Poltz and Nette Noestlinger; Editing by Matthias Williams and Tomasz Janowski)
Brazil judge orders Vale, BHP and Samarco to pay $9.7 billion in damages
Staff Writer | January 25, 2024 |
Reconstruction efforts at Samarco’s Fundão tailings dam in 2017. (Image courtesy of BHP)
A Brazilian judge has sentenced Vale (NYSE: VALE) and BHP (ASX: BHP) and their joint venture Samarco to pay 47.6 billion reais ($9.67 billion) in damage repairs over a burst tailings dam in 2015, according to a legal decision on Thursday seen by Reuters.
The Samarco Fundão dam burst occurred in November 2015, releasing 39.2 million cubic meters of tailings waste into the Rio Doce Basin. It was Brazil’s worst environmental disaster ever, resulting in the death of 19 people.
In 2015, the year of the tragedy, Samarco produced 25 million tonnes of iron ore. The joint venture was eventually shuttered for five years. During that time, BHP and Vale focused on reparations, compensations and clean-up efforts.
The companies also faced several lawsuits and site inspections until they were ready to safely reopen Mariana Complex in December 2020.
Brazilian prosecutors said that year that the Renova Foundation created by the miners for the reparation of the damages did not deliver on any of its promises.
Samarco said in 2020 that it had developed a new security system, which includes a monitoring and inspection center.
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