The UK’s Court of Appeals has said a £5bn claim against mining giant BHP over the 2015 collapse of the Fundao dam in Brazil should proceed in England’s courts.
The claim, brought forward by more than 200,000 Brazilian citizens, hundreds of businesses, and 25 local municipalities, comes after the BHP and its joint-venture partner Vale’s Funadao dam collapsed in 2015.
The collapse of the Fundao dam in the Brazilian municipality of Mariana subsequently led to the deaths of 19 people and the destruction of hundreds of villages, as 40 billion cubic metres of mud and mining waste were swept into the Doce river and into the Atlatnic Ocean, 650km away.
BHP had asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit brought against in English courts, over claims it would duplicate similar proceedings in Brazil.
However, the Court of Appeals today overturned previous judgements in favour of BHP as it said the claimants should be allowed to have their case heard in court.
Lawyers acting on behalf of the Brazilian claimants had argued that most of those represented in the English lawsuit are not represented in the Brazilian claim.
The court ruled that the “vast majority of claimants” in the Brazilian case “have only received modest sums” as it said there is a “realistic prospect of a trial yielding a real and legitimate advantage for the claimants.”
Managing Partner Tom Goodhead said: “This is a monumental judgement that means the victims of the worst environmental disaster ever seen in Brazil are a step closer to justice.”
“BHP is a multinational that generates huge profits in the regions where it operates, and it is only right that they are held directly accountable in the UK.”
“The days of huge corporations doing what they want in countries on the other side of the world and getting away with it are over.”
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