London Court to decide if BHP is liable for the 2015 Brazil Dam collapse that killed 19 people
Judgment will be delivered today in the London trial over liability for the 2015 Fundão Dam collapse in Brazil, one of the largest civil claims ever issued in England and Wales. Mrs Justice O Farrell will give her ruling remotely at 9.30am, deciding whether BHP was responsible for the disaster in the state of Minas Gerais.
The trial in Município de Mariana and others v BHP Group UK Ltd and BHP Group Ltd began in October last year, with closing submissions completed in March. The proceedings centre on the collapse of the Fundão Dam, operated by Samarco, a joint venture between BHP and Brazilian company Vale. Around 45 million cubic metres of tailings from iron ore mining were released when the dam gave way. Nineteen people were killed and entire villages were destroyed. Some of the waste entered the River Doce, a main water source, and travelled more than 400 miles to the Atlantic.
BHP has denied all allegations made against it. During closing submissions, the company stated that it was not a direct or indirect polluter and was not liable for the environmental disaster.
The London proceedings are brought on behalf of some 620,000 claimants represented by Pogust Goodhead. The firm has previously said the claim is valued at around £36 billion.
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Although the claim was originally struck out following an application by BHP, the Court of Appeal ruled in 2022 that the proceedings should continue. The court held that there was a realistic prospect of a trial delivering a real and legitimate advantage for the claimants, sufficient to outweigh the disadvantages for the parties in terms of expense and the wider public interest in terms of court resources.
Throughout the case, BHP has maintained that the London proceedings duplicate matters already addressed in Brazil. It has referred to legal proceedings in Brazil and to the work of the Renova Foundation, the entity established to manage reparations within Brazil.
The Fundão Dam collapse remains one of the most significant environmental disasters in Brazil’s history. The release of large volumes of mining waste caused extensive damage across several regions. The effect on communities, land and water sources became a central feature of the claims advanced in London.
During the High Court trial, the parties presented evidence on operational responsibility, environmental impact and the extent to which the defendants were said to have been involved in decisions relating to the dam. BHP rejected liability and submitted that it was neither a polluter nor responsible for the events at the site.
The judgment scheduled for today will address issues of liability. If the claimants succeed on those issues, a second phase of the trial, focusing on damages, has been scheduled for October 2026.
The High Court has been the focal point for the claims since the Court of Appeal revived the proceedings. The scale of the litigation, the number of parties involved and the nature of the allegations have made the case one of the most closely watched cross-border mass claims to reach trial in the jurisdiction.
Claimants and representatives gathered outside the Rolls Building during earlier hearings, reflecting the international interest in the proceedings and the significance of the ruling to communities affected by the collapse.
Mrs Justice O Farrell’s decision is expected to determine whether the claims can proceed to assessment of damages or whether BHP will succeed in its defence that it bears no liability in the matter. The ruling will mark a major step in a long-running dispute that has been shaped by earlier litigation in Brazil and the intervention of courts in both jurisdictions.