Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
Nine years ago this November, the Mariana dam in southeastern Brazil collapsed, releasing a wave of toxic sludge from an iron ore mine jointly owned and operated by the world’s biggest mining company BHP and Vale.
It destroyed an entire town, Bento Rodrigues, killed 19 people, flooded forests and polluted the length of the Doce River. This week one of the largest lawsuits in legal history opened at London’s High Court.
More than 600,000 Brazilians, 46 local governments in Brazil and 2,000 businesses are suing BHP for £36 billion in damages.
There are precedents at stake – is BHP responsible if it didn’t own the dam outright? BHP has already paid $7.9 billion compensation in Brazil – should the UK case proceed? And UK law firm Pogust Goodhead is backed by the largest ever litigation funding bankroll of $552.5 million from US hedge fund Gramercy, supporting the action for a share of the win.
It’s an enormous sum for a huge environmental catastrophe – and the case will take at least 12 weeks to unpick. But then, the victims have waited nine years.