The company has until November 10 to submit its defense, and still has the option to appeal the decision. This action was granted at the request of BHP Billiton, which was previously the sole defendant in the case. Vale has not yet commented on the British court’s decision, according to the Valor website.
The trial, which was scheduled to begin in April 2024, was postponed to October of the same year by the British court, at the request of the Anglo-Australian mining company. BHP Hilton requested additional time to prepare its defense and include Vale as co-owner of the dam.
The class action lawsuit filed in the United Kingdom includes more than 720,000 participants. They include the indigenous people of Krenak, 46 municipalities, thousands of businesses and protected indigenous peoples. This is the largest collective action in the history of the British judiciary.
BHP Billiton denies all allegations made in the UK and says it will continue to defend itself. The company highlights that it has already disbursed more than R$29 billion in damages and compensation through the Renova Foundation, claiming that the case is unnecessary, as similar issues are dealt with in ongoing legal proceedings in Brazil.
Disaster in the Marianas
The mining company’s dam collapsed on November 5, 2015Release of approximately 40 million cubic meters of highly polluting mineral waste.
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