BHP blasted over clean-up of deadly mine disaster
Influential British pension fund blasts BHP for its clean-up in area of Brazil devastated by deadly 2015 mine dam collapse
An influential British pension fund has slammed BHP for cleaning up a part of Brazil devastated by the deadly collapse of a mining dam in 2015.
The Local Authority Pension Fund Forum (LAPFF), which manages £350bn in assets for more than 90 councils, said it was encountering a host of environmental and human rights issues. This included ‘serious’ concerns about water quality and access for the local population.
In a report drawn up after a two-week visit to Brazil by LAPFF representatives, the fund also accused the mining giant of not engaging adequately with the local community.
In November 2015, the wall of a dam containing waste from the Mariana iron ore mine broke. The collapse released 50 million cubic meters of toxic sludge that devastated the village of Bento Rodrigues, killing 19 people and flowing into multiple rivers before finally reaching the Atlantic Ocean. It was the worst environmental crisis in Brazilian history.
The mine was run by a group called Samarco, jointly owned by BHP and Brazilian group Vale. LAPFF President Doug McMurdo said, “I knew the visit was going to be difficult, but I was not prepared for the magnitude of devastation I witnessed nearly seven years after the Mariana collapse.
Digging Deep: There are some metals that need to be mined in large quantities, such as lithium, copper, and silver, to build technology like wind turbines and electric cars
“It was a wake-up call to see it with my own eyes: investors need to do more. It was really heartbreaking.’
The LAPFF said reparations from the Renova Foundation, which BHP and Vale set up to oversee cleanups and community support, needed to be delivered more quickly.
It added that some community members claimed they had been “bullied” by the Renova Foundation into accepting compensation that “doesn’t suit them” – though it didn’t go into more detail.
The LAPFF spoke to a range of communities and other groups linked to the Samarco mine and a similar disaster at Brumadinho, a mine owned solely by Vale, that killed 270 people when the tailings dam wall broke in 2019 .
Since its inception in 2016, the Renova Foundation has spent around £4.7 billion on cleaning and community assistance. The majority of people who had to be resettled have moved to a new home.
BHP is already facing what could be one of the world’s largest class action lawsuits of its kind for the disaster. The appeals court last year cleared the way for a lawsuit representing 200,000 claimants in the UK.
The LAPFF said it’s important to engage with mining companies, in part because the industry will play a key role in the green revolution.
There are a number of metals that must be extracted in large quantities, such as lithium, copper and silver, to build technology such as wind turbines and electric cars.
BHP declined to comment.