11 November 2020
The High Court has struck out a gigantic group action with more than 200,000 claimants against BHP Group over the 2015 Fundão dam catastrophe in Brazil, releasing iron ore mine tailings into the Doce River, which resulted in 19 deaths and destruction on a massive scale, including the obliteration of entire villages
Mr Justice Turner held, in Municipio de Mariana v BHP Group [2020] EWHC 2930 (TCC), that the proceedings amounted to a ‘clear abuse of process’ and the claimants would be better served by proceedings currently under way in Brazil, for which legal aid was available.
