At about 3:30 in the afternoon on November 5, 2015, nearly eight years ago, the Fundão tailings dam in the small Brazilian town of Mariana burst, releasing a torrent of iron ore sludge that almost completely submerged the downstream town of Bento Rodrigues in a river of mud.
This toxic sludge found its way into the Rio Doce, one of the most geographically, socially, and economically important rivers in the region. The dam collapse contaminated the entire 853-kilometer river, and the iron ore slurry reached the Atlantic Ocean 17 days later. It has gone down as the largest environmental disaster in Brazilian history.
Nineteen people died, which was almost a miracle given the sheer scale of the disaster. But that is not to say that the human suffering was negligible.
The breached Fundão dam in Mariana belonged to Samarco, a joint venture between the Brazilian mining giant Vale and the Anglo-Australian company BHP.
After the tragedy, Samarco was forcibly wound up for five years, but has since resumed operations in and around Mariana.
In 2016, Samarco, Vale, and BHP signed an agreement with Brazilian federal and state authorities, pledging to create the so-called Renova Foundation to coordinate and implement compensation measures.
But the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the disaster have yet to receive compensation.
In 2018, the international law firm Pogust Goodhead filed a lawsuit against BHP in the High Court of Manchester, England, on behalf of more than 200,000 individuals and institutions. And now the case has become one of the largest class actions in history.
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This episode used music from Uppbeat. License codes: Aspire by Pryces (B6TUQLVYOWVKY02S). Out Of The Shadows by Clemens Ruh (ELQ7LMBLGUAW6GD3).
In this episode:
- Tom Goodhead is responsible for the strategic, financial, and operational leadership of Pogust Goodhead worldwide. He is currently litigating the largest class action in history against global mining giant BHP, representing over 700,000 victims of the Mariana dam collapse, Brazil’s worst ever environmental disaster.
Background reading:
- On the three-year anniversary, we looked back at the tragedy with a series of special articles. Check them out here.
- In episode 140, we covered the trend of groups suing mining companies outside of Brazil, seeking faster access to justice.
- Last July, the English courts confirmed their jurisdiction to hear the massive class action against BHP.
- In 2022, less than seven years after the disaster, Samarco got the go-ahead to expand its mining operations at the very same complex where the tragedy occurred.
- In 2018, Karla Mendes found that Samarco could have avoided the Mariana Dam tragedy had it spent a mere USD 1.5 million on safety measures.
- Dam safety is a pressing subject in Brazil, but a new app hopes to revolutionize the way nearby communities are warned about potential risks.
Do you have a suggestion for our next Explaining Brazil podcast? Drop us a line at [email protected]
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