According to a legal ruling seen by Reuters, a judge in Brazil has ordered that Vale, BHP, and their joint venture Samarco pay 47.6 billion reais (equivalent to approximately AU$14.7 billion) in compensation for the 2015 collapse of a tailings dam.
According to individual statements, Vale, a company from Brazil, and BHP, a listed company from Australia, were not notified by the court regarding the ruling.
Samarco chose not to provide a statement.
The collapse of a dam in the city of Mariana in the southeast resulted in a massive mudslide that claimed the lives of 19 individuals and heavily contaminated the Rio Doce River. This has also affected the river’s path to the Atlantic Ocean.
The federal judge, Vinicius Cobucci, stated in the ruling that the fixed amount was determined based on the expenses already recognized by the companies in previous repair and compensation cases.
He stated that the amount of 47.6 billion reais needed to be recalculated with monetary adjustments and added late payment interest.
It was initially uncertain what portion of the overall amount specified in the sentence is owed by each company.
The judge stated in the legal document that the funds will be deposited into a state account and utilized for projects and initiatives in the region impacted by the dam failure.
The decision can be appealed by the companies.
According to the official document submitted to regulatory authorities, Vale stated that the Renova Foundation has been utilized to cover a portion of the restoration costs. As of December of last year, the Foundation had paid a total of 34.7 billion reais for socioeconomic and environmental reparations.
Source: theguardian.com
