"You are killing us: Mariana Survivors Face Ill Health, Lost Culture And A Long Wait For Justice", The Guardian, 7 November 2023

...The dam – which was managed by Samarco, a joint venture between the Brazilian mining company Vale and the Anglo-Australian company BHP – collapsed on 5 November 2015, and caused mining waste to flow nearly 700km (430 miles) down the Rio Doce into the Atlantic Ocean, devastating everything in its path.

The torrent of toxic sludge buried villages, killed 19 people and left thousands more homeless. Nearly a decade later, hundreds of thousands of people continue to suffer the effects daily...

No one has yet been held accountable for the socio-environmental disaster. BHP, Vale, Samarco and eight other defendants stand accused of environmental crimes in a Brazilian court case that has been dragging on for seven years. They are due to face a judge for questioning this month...

700,000 people are suing BHP in a UK court, seeking £36bn in reparations in English legal history’s most significant group claim. BHP denies liability

Tom Goodhead of Pogust Goodhead, the London-based international law firm representing the group, says he is “optimistic that BHP will do the right thing and seek to resolve the case to avoid the need for a trial”, which is now set for October 2024.

In 2016, BHP, Vale and Samarco set up the Renova Foundation to compensate for loss and damages. To date, BHP says the foundation has spent more than 32bn reais (£5.3bn) on remediation and compensation programmes...

However, Brazilian prosecutors said earlier this year that the money supposedly spent by the foundation is not properly accounted for. Many people say they have received nothing and are still fighting for recognition and compensation...