Overview
- Justice Finola O’Farrell held BHP liable under Brazilian law, finding both strict “polluter” liability and fault-based civil liability.
- The court ruled that continuing to raise the dam when it was unsafe was the direct and immediate cause of the collapse.
- About 620,000 claimants—including individuals, municipalities and businesses—are pursuing the case in one of England’s largest environmental group actions.
- BHP says the UK claims duplicate Brazil’s 132 billion reais settlement and notes roughly 240,000 claimants in the London case have already received compensation in Brazil.
- The 2015 disaster killed 19 people and released tens of millions of tonnes of tailings along the Doce River, severely impacting communities including the Krenak.