The Brazilian State’s inability to respond effectively to victims of environmental crimes has led to several legal actions in European countries, where companies responsible for the harm are registered. This essay aims to contribute to the discussion on cross-border litigation as a strategy for counteracting the corporate takeover of environmental permitting and inspection procedures in Brazil, by examining the history and developments in the wake of the dam collapses in Minas Gerais that involved mining and engineering companies based in the United Kingdom and Germany.
On November 5, 2015, a dam at an iron ore mine belonging to Samarco S.A. – jointly owned by the Anglo-Australian company BHP and the Brazilian Vale S.A. – broke, resulting in the worst environmental tragedy on record in the mineral extraction sector, at least in terms of the amount of mining waste released (62 million cubic meters). The mud that was released buried two villages in the district of Mariana, in the state of Minas Gerais, and left the Rio Doce, one of the most important rivers in southeastern Brazil, choked with debris. The tragedy caused 19 deaths and, over the coming decades, thousands of people will have to live with the environmental and economic impact as well as drastic changes to their ways of life.
What happened in Mariana exposed a permissive regulatory and oversight framework with a grossly irresponsible mining model, and no thorough review of that model has been carried out in the years since. In the state of Minas Gerais in particular, which has deep historical ties to mining, some legislative initiatives were introduced to increase dam safety. However, it took a new dam collapse, this time in the city of Brumadinho, where 272 people were killed, for the State Legislative Assembly to pass a new dam safety law. On January 25, 2019, an iron ore mine dam owned exclusively by Vale S.A. burst in Brumadinho, releasing 12 million cubic meters of sludge. The environmental damage was less than that caused four years earlier in Mariana, but it was far more deadly and had a profound impact on the local ecosystem. It even buried part of the Paraopeba River, one of the main tributaries of the São Francisco River, which is also one of the most important in Brazil.
