A British court ruled that global mining giant BHP is liable for the 2015 collapse of a dam in southeastern Brazil. The event was the country's worst environmental disaster, unleashing a wave of toxic sludge that killed 19 people and polluted the length of the Doce River.
Issued on: 14/11/2025
By: FRANCE 24
London's High Court ruled Friday that global mining giant BHP Group is liable over the 2015 collapse of a dam in southeastern Brazil.
"BHP are strictly liable as 'polluters' in respect of damage caused by the collapse," of the dam, the court said in its ruling following a large-scale trial.
Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians, dozens of local governments and around 2,000 businesses sued BHP over the collapse of the Fundao dam in Mariana, southeastern Brazil, which was owned and operated by BHP and Vale's Samarco joint venture.
Brazil's worst environmental disaster unleashed a wave of toxic sludge that killed 19 people, left thousands homeless, flooded forests and polluted the length of the Doce River.
Judge Finola O'Farrell said in a summary of her ruling that BHP should not have continued to raise the height of the dam before its collapse, which was "a direct and immediate cause of collapse of the dam giving rise to fault-based liability on the part of BHP".
READ MOREThe Mariana mining disaster
According to the victims' lawyers, BHP was aware that toxic sludge was accumulating at rates that far exceeded the annual limit. The lawyers said the build-up contributed to the disaster at the mine, which was managed by Samarco, co-owned by BHP and Brazilian miner Vale.
BHP argued during the trial that it had prioritised safety and acted responsibly.
Acknowledging the "terrible tragedy", BHP maintained that a compensation agreement it reached last year in Brazil – worth around $31 billion – provided a resolution. However, a majority of the 620,000 claimants, including 31 municipalities, argued that they were not sufficiently covered by the deal.
BHP said it would appeal against the ruling and continue to fight the lawsuit.
The victims first filed the UK legal action in 2018 to demand compensation from BHP, as one of its global headquarters was in Britain at the time of the disaster.
The trial at the High Court in London ran from October 2024 to March this year.
Vale and BHP were acquitted in November 2024 of criminal charges by a Brazilian court, which ruled there was insufficient evidence linking them to the dam's failure.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)
Law firm to drop London lawsuit against Brazil mining group over dam disaster
Law firm Pogust Goodhead will have to reimburse 811,000 pounds ($1.1 million) to Brazilian mining lobby group Ibram after it decided to drop a London lawsuit against the group over a 2015 dam disaster, Ibram told Reuters on Thursday.
The amount is related to the costs faced by Ibram as part of the lawsuit filed by 25 Brazilian cities represented by PG over the collapse of a dam owned by Samarco, a joint venture between Vale and BHP, which killed 19 people and polluted a major river.
On Friday, a London court is expected to announce its decision on BHP’s liability in the case.
The lawsuit was filed by cities and individuals impacted by the collapse who did not want to join the 170 billion real ($31.5 billion) compensation agreement the firms reached with Brazilian authorities last year.
The law firm did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Ibram has accused the cities of violating Brazil’s constitution by filing lawsuits abroad to obtain compensation for the dam collapse, taking the dispute to the Brazilian Supreme Court.
In August, a Supreme Court justice determined that foreign legal decisions and laws must go through the country’s justice system to take effect domestically.
“It is essential that Brazil protects its sovereignty over mineral resources. Ibram’s actions have always sought to ensure that public policies and judicial decisions respect this right,” Ibram president Raul Jungmann said in a statement.
($1 = 0.7451 pounds)
($1 = 5.4039 reais)
(By Marta Nogueira and Fernando Cardoso; Editing by Leslie Adler and Stephen Coates)
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