Victims of Brazil’s worst environmental disaster have written to the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, accusing the mining company BHP of “environmental racism” and urging the UK government to act on unethical practices by British companies.
About 720,000 Brazilians are suing BHP, an Anglo-Australian company that until recently had its headquarters in London, over its role in the 2015 Mariana dam disaster. The company denies liability. It is facing claims for compensation amounting to £36bn in the world’s largest group claim in English legal history.
In November 2015, the Fundão tailings dam, which BHP co-owned with the Brazilian iron ore producer Vale, burst. It unleashed 60m cubic metres of toxic waste, which obliterated land below and polluted everything in its path for more than 600km.