On Friday, in a landmark ruling that should be taken note of here, BHP of Australia was held liable by the UK High Court for the 2015 collapse of a dam in southeastern Brazil that killed 19 people, left thousands homeless, inundated forests and contaminated the length of the Doce River.
According to a Reuters report, 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 VALE3.SA Samarco joint venture.
Justice Finola O’Farrell said in her ruling that continuing to raise the height of the dam when it was not safe to do so was the “direct and immediate cause” of the dam’s collapse, meaning BHP was liable under Brazilian law.
According to the UK Guardian, in a judgment of more than 200 pages, Justice O’Farrell said the risk of
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