Major company hit with lawsuit accusing it of misleading 'extremely vulnerable' customers: 'It was not an accident'

The victims of the biggest environmental disaster in Brazil's history earned a measure of justice with a court ruling in England on Nov. 14, nearly a decade after a torrent of toxic iron ore mining waste killed 19 people, leveled the town of Bento Rodrigues, and inundated the Doce River.

What's happening?

Judge Finola O'Farrell said the Fundão dam collapsed because mining company BHP Group allowed operator Samarco to continue to raise its height even though it was unsafe, the BBC and Associated Press reported.

"The judge's decision shows what we have been saying for the last 10 years: It was not an accident, and BHP must take responsibility for its actions," said Gelvana Rodrigues, whose seven-year-old, Thiago, was killed in the onslaught of 40 million cubic meters (1.4 billion cubic feet) of waste, per Mongabay.

The 620,000 individual plaintiffs, 2,000 businesses, and over 100 communities and religious institutions were awarded £36 billion ($47.2 billion) in the liability phase of the trial, with damages to be determined. BHP was partly headquartered in London at the time of the tragedy. A £3 billion suit (about $3.9 billion USD) with 77,000-plus plaintiffs was filed in the Netherlands against Samarco parent Vale.

The 13-month trial began just before the Brazilian government settled with the mining companies for $31.7 billion.

Why is this important?

"The river, which the Krenak Indigenous people revere as a deity, has yet to recover," according to the AP, which noted that 14 tons of fish were killed and other towns were "badly damaged." Mongabay reported that crops and millions of people's drinking water were contaminated with arsenic, manganese, cadmium, and other heavy metals that can still be detected.

The problems created by the collapse show how important industry regulations are, and they also highlight the necessity of strenuous oversight. Only when governments establish strict standards — such as what South Africa did with ship-to-ship transfers — and companies agree to meet them can safety be ensured, whether in relation to a massive tailings dam or artificial colors in food products. 

When these steps aren't fulfilled, people, animals, and the environment suffer, and corporations that aren't punished sufficiently may continue to violate laws or consider negligible fines the cost of doing business.

While BHP had spent $7.9 billion on compensation and remediation at the time of last year's settlement, it has pushed back against the London case, in part by saying 130,000 Brazilians had already settled with the company and shouldn't get additional payouts.

Echoing the company, former Brazilian ambassador Rubens Barbosa said the trial "hinders efforts to resolve the matter locally" and that "extremely vulnerable Brazilians were misled" by law firm Pogust Goodhead, which took advantage of the situation in the name of profit.

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What's being done about compensation?

The BBC reported that the Renova Foundation, set up by BHP and Vale, gave victims cash or houses in a newly built city, but the settlement last year included a provision to dissolve that arm and a supervisory committee.

Now, the recovery process is decentralized, Latin America News reported at the time. Government agencies as well as citizens are involved, and Samarco is responsible for compensating individuals; rebuilding communities and natural areas; removing waste; and restoring water resources, habitats, and forests.

The Movement of People Affected by Dams said that it would continue to monitor progress, calling the settlement insufficient.

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