Brazil seals $23 billion from mining firms over dam collapse – DW – 10/25/2024

Mining giants BHP and Vale signed a deal with Brazil's government on Friday to pay nearly 132 billion reais ($23 billion, €21.3 billion) in compensation for a 2015 dam collapse that triggered one of the country's worst environmental disasters.

A massive mudslide, which caved-in at an iron ore mine in the southeastern city of Mariana, killed 19 people, left hundreds homeless and polluted the length of the Dos River.

The mine was owned by a joint venture of Samarco, Vale and BHP.

What's in the deal?

Of the 132 billion reais the two mining giants have agreed to pay, 100 billion represent “new resources” that will be paid to Brazilian authorities over 20 years.

5 billion with the first installment due within 30 days.

The remaining 32 billion reais will be allocated as compensation and rehabilitation costs for the approximately 300,000 people affected. The total number of people affected by the disaster is believed to be much higher.

The government's solicitor general, George Messias, said the money would allow local authorities to pay families affected by the tragedy and settle bills for environmental repairs.

The two organizations had already agreed in 2016 to pay about a tenth of the sum agreed on Friday, but talks were reopened three years ago after the Brazilian government alleged non-compliance.

Hundreds of lawsuits have been launched against mining companies over the disaster, including one being heard this week where BHP is contesting liability at the High Court in London.

More than 620,000 complainants, including 46 Brazilian municipalities and several indigenous communities, are seeking an estimated 36 billion pounds ($47 billion, €43.2 billion) in damages. BHP denied liability.

What happened when the dam broke?

The collapse released a large amount of toxic mining waste into a major river in southeastern Minas Gerais state, destroying entire villages.

The sludge was enough to fill 13,000 Olympic-size swimming pools, polluting the Dose River 420 miles to the Atlantic Ocean, as well as flooding rainforests and waterways in two neighboring states.

Scientists say the mouth of the Dose and parts of the southeast Atlantic coastline are still contaminated by the spilled metal, affecting the area's fish, bird, turtle, porpoise and whale populations.

Disaster 'could have been avoided,' says Lula

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who attended the signing of the agreement in the capital Brasilia, declared it the largest environmental payment in modern history.

We are fixing a disaster that could have been avoided, but wasn't,” Lula said in a hall at the presidential palace, before accusing mining companies of chasing profits over security.

“I hope the mining companies have learned their lesson: it would have cost them less to prevent it (the disaster), much less,” Lula said at the event attended by representatives of both mining companies.

mm/low (AFP, AP, Reuters)