On November 14, 2025, a London High Court delivered a landmark ruling that sent ripples across the globe: BHP Group, the world’s largest mining company, was found liable for the catastrophic 2015 collapse of the Fundão tailings dam in Mariana, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The judgment, handed down by Justice Finola O’Farrell, comes a decade after the disaster that killed 19 people, left thousands homeless, and unleashed a toxic deluge into the Doce River, devastating entire communities and ecosystems along its 600-kilometer course.
The dam’s collapse on November 5, 2015, released approximately 40 million cubic meters of iron ore mining waste—enough to fill 13,000 Olympic-size swimming pools. The sludge buried the village of Bento Rodrigues, destroyed Paracatu de Baixo, and contaminated thousands of streams, according to Inside Climate News. The environmental toll was immense: forests were flooded, 14 tonnes of freshwater fish perished, and a recent study found lingering elevated levels of arsenic, manganese, cadmium, and other harmful metals in local wildlife nearly a decade later.
This disaster, widely considered the worst environmental calamity in Brazil’s history, did not just obliterate landscapes and livelihoods. It sparked a legal saga that would span continents and years, culminating in the UK’s largest-ever environmental class action lawsuit. More than 600,000 individuals, dozens of municipalities, and about 2,000 businesses joined the suit, seeking up to $48 billion in damages from BHP, which owns 50 percent of Samarco—the company that operated the ill-fated dam. The other half is owned by Brazil’s Vale.
Justice O’Farrell’s 222-page ruling was unambiguous. “The risk of collapse of the dam was foreseeable,” she wrote. “It is inconceivable that a decision would have been taken to continue raising the height of the dam in those circumstances and the collapse could have been averted.” She concluded that BHP’s actions—continuing to raise the dam despite clear warning signs—were the “direct and immediate cause” of the disaster, making the company strictly liable under Brazilian law, even though it did not directly own or operate the dam at the time.
For survivors, the ruling is a long-awaited glimmer of justice. Mônica dos Santos, a resident of Bento Rodrigues who lost her home and friends, called it “a very important milestone.” In a video message shared by Inside Climate News, she said, “It’s about holding BHP accountable for the crime that occurred on Nov. 5.” Gelvana Rodrigues, whose seven-year-old son Thiago was killed in the mudslide, echoed this sentiment via Pogust Goodhead, the law firm representing the claimants: “Finally, justice has begun to be served, and those responsible have been held accountable for destroying our lives.”
Yet, the path to full accountability remains fraught. BHP has announced its intention to appeal the decision, arguing that Brazil is the more appropriate venue for addressing the disaster and that previous settlements should reduce the UK claims by half. Brandon Craig, President of BHP Americas, stated, “The court has upheld releases provided in Brazil and 240,000 claimants in the UK group action who have already been paid compensation in Brazil have signed full releases.” He added, “We believe this will significantly reduce the size and value of claims in the UK group action.”
Indeed, the legal landscape is complex. In 2024, Brazil’s government reached a $30 billion settlement with BHP, Vale, and Samarco to pay for damages. Under the agreement, Samarco committed to paying 132 billion reais ($23 billion) over 20 years for human, environmental, and infrastructure damages. BHP claims that nearly $12 billion has already been spent on reparation, compensation, and payments to public authorities since 2015. Meanwhile, a separate claim against Vale is underway in Dutch courts on behalf of nearly 1,000 businesses and over 77,000 individuals affected by the dam break.
For the claimants’ lawyers, the UK ruling sets a precedent for multinational corporate accountability. Caroline Narvaez Leite, legal director at Pogust Goodhead, told Inside Climate News that the decision was groundbreaking: “BHP was considered strictly liable as a polluter under Brazilian environmental law, but also based on fault, on their own fault due to their negligence in relation to the collapse.” She emphasized the goal: “What we’re trying to do is get full compensation and make sure that everyone who suffered losses is going to be repaired or compensated for the specific losses that they have.” A trial to assess the damages BHP must pay is scheduled for October 2026.
The disaster’s impact continues to haunt the region, especially the Indigenous Krenak people, who revere the Doce River—known to them as the Watu—as a deity. Edson Krenak, an Indigenous activist attending the COP30 climate talks in Belém, described how his community still suffers. “We lost the traditional places our families used to visit, for rituals, for prayers along the river,” he said. “These places are no longer safe. … We still receive water from trucks, we still cannot safely plant our crops and have our animals drink from that water.” According to Inside Climate News, regulation of mine tailings remains a major concern in Brazil, with activists warning that “tailings in Brazil are not safe. They are not any safer than they were 10 years ago.”
The ruling coincided with the opening of COP30, the United Nations’ annual climate summit, hosted this year in Belém, Brazil. The timing was not lost on observers: while President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been praised for reducing Amazon deforestation by 50 percent, he has also faced criticism for supporting extractive industries, including recent approvals for oil drilling at the mouth of the Amazon River. The silence around mining safety during COP30 events, as noted by Edson Krenak, underscored the ongoing challenges of reconciling environmental protection with economic interests.
As the dust settles on this phase of the legal battle, the future remains uncertain. BHP’s appeal could prolong the process for years, with analysts predicting a final resolution may not come before 2030. Yet, for the thousands who lost homes, loved ones, and livelihoods, and for the river that still bears the scars of disaster, the UK High Court’s decision marks a turning point—a signal that even the world’s most powerful corporations can be held to account, no matter where they operate.
