'Our world collapsed': Brazil dam disaster victims seek justice in UK 19/10/2024

(FILES) An aerial view taken on November 6, 2015, shows the mud-covered village of Bento Rodrigues, in Mariana, in the state of Minas Gerais, in southeastern Brazil, after a dam burst at a mining waste site owned jointly by Vale do Brasil and BHP, releasing a deluge of thick, red toxic mud. The collapse of a dam at a mining waste site unleashed a deluge of thick, red, toxic mud that suffocated a village, killing at least 17 people and injuring around 75. The Samarco mining company, which operates the site, is jointly owned by two mining giants, Brazil's Vale, and Australia's BHP Billiton. PHOTO AFP / CHRISTOPHE SIMON

By AFP -Agence France Presse

'Our world collapsed': Brazil dam disaster victims seek justice in UK

Douglas MAGNO, avec Lucía LACURCIA à Rio de Janeiro

On October 21, 2024, in London, a long-awaited trial will begin to see if Anglo-Australian mining company BHP is responsible for one of Brazil's worst environmental disasters, which could generate total compensation of billions of dollars.

The High Court in London will examine for several months whether BHP was partly responsible for the 2015 collapse of a tailings dam in Brazil that killed 19 people and caused huge environmental damage. (Christophe SIMON) (Christophe SIMON/AFP/AFP)

Emanuele Vitória was at home with her father and brother when a torrent of toxic mud devastated the quiet village of Bento Rodrigues in the mountains of southeastern Brazil nine years ago.

The five-year-old girl's body was found five days after Brazil's worst environmental disaster, on November 5, 2015. The disaster was triggered by the collapse of a tailings dam at an iron ore mine owned by Samarco, co-owned by Brazilian mining giant Vale and Australian mining company BHP.

The girl was one of 19 people who died in the landslide.

“We feel as if our whole world has collapsed,” her mother, Pamela Rayane Fernandes, told AFP.

The dam collapse released a torrent of more than 40 million cubic meters of highly toxic mining waste sludge, enough to fill 12,000 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

The ochre-colored mud from the dam in the city of Mariana flooded a dozen villages downstream in the state of Minas Gerais.

In total, more than 30 towns and villages were affected, with Bento Rodrigues being one of the hardest hit.

On Monday, the High Court in London will begin examining whether BHP, which had global headquarters in the UK and Australia at the time of the dam collapse, is responsible for the disaster.

More than 620,000 claimants, including dozens of local authorities, indigenous communities, and companies, are seeking 36 billion pounds (47 billion dollars) in compensation from BHP.

BHP claims that more than 200,000 of the claimants have already been compensated.

The company claims that its Renova Foundation, responsible for compensation and rehabilitation programs in Brazil, has already paid out more than 7.8 billion dollars in emergency financial aid.

Rayane Fernandes, 30, was relocated to Cachoeira do Brumado, 45 kilometers from Bento Rodrigues, after the disaster.

She received compensation for her daughter's death but says it was only part of what she believes she is owed.

“I will continue to seek justice,” she said, calling the trial in London her last hope.

- What BHP 'knew' - What BHP 'knew' - The mud engulfed the homes of the region's residents.

The mud engulfed the homes of more than 600 people, including the ancestral home of Mauro Marcos da Silva, a 55-year-old car mechanic.

“I was born here,” he told AFP, pointing to one of the walls of the house still standing in Bento Rodrigues, which is overgrown with weeds.

“Here are my roots and my ancestors,” he said.

“That sense of belonging, the friendships, the family, money can't buy that, and it can't be rebuilt.”

The family of lawyer Mônica dos Santos, who advises an organization representing the victims, also lost their home in the village.

The 39-year-old is convinced that BHP “knew there were problems with the dam and knew what it had to do and didn't do it.”

She rejected the compensation deal offered to the victims in Brazil, saying that the victims were not involved in the negotiations.

“We hope that the English courts will do what the Brazilian justice system has failed to do so far,” she said.

Bento Rodrigues was declared unfit for human habitation after the disaster and abandoned.

Almost a decade later, a new village built to house the victims, Novo Bento Rodrigues, is still under construction.

- Turtles and whales affected - The Mariana mud has traveled through some regions of the country.

The Mariana mud traveled some 670 kilometers along the Doce River to the Atlantic Ocean, destroying the surrounding ecosystem.

At least 6,000 families who lived from fishing were left without a livelihood.

Recently, a team of scientists reported that the mouth of the river and parts of the coastline of the states of Espírito Santo and Bahia, neighboring Minas Gerais, were still contaminated with metals from the spill.

The report published by the Brazilian government in September stated that the populations of fish, birds, turtles, porpoises, and whales in the region had been affected.

BHP insists that the river's water quality has returned to pre-disaster levels.

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