BHP Says Yet to Receive Suit Planned by Brazil Over Dam Spill
November 29 2015 - 6:51PM
Dow Jones News
By Rhiannon Hoyle
SYDNEY--BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP.AU) on Monday said it hasn't yet
been formally notified of the civil suit planned by Brazil's
government against BHP, Vale SA (VALE) and their joint venture
Samarco Mineracao SA over a massive dam failure earlier this
month.
BHP "will assess the case once it has been filed," the company
said in an emailed statement.
The suit will demand damages of roughly 20 billion Brazilian
reais (US$5.2 billion), the Attorney General's office said on
Friday, for a fund to help recovery efforts in the Rio Doce, a
major river that was contaminated when a torrent of mud was
unleashed by the dam break at an iron-ore mining operation in
Brazil's Minas Gerais state.
BHP said it was committed "to supporting Samarco to rebuild the
community and restore the environment affected by the breach of the
dams." Samarco, which is owned jointly by BHP and Vale, operates
the mine.
On Friday, Vale and BHP said they would establish a voluntary
fund for efforts to rehabilitate the Rio Doce river system,
although the mining giants didn't say how much money would be
available.
As many as 13 people were killed and hundreds displaced as the
mud swallowed up entire villages below the dam.
BHP said Samarco is working with government authorities to
relocate people to rented housing from temporary accommodation,
which it expects to happen by February.
Samarco and local authorities are also continuing to assess
water quality in the Rio Doce, it said, adding that the plume of
so-called tailings had reached the Atlantic Ocean and was
dispersing. Last week, a United Nations report alleged "high levels
of toxic heavy metals and other toxic chemicals" had been detected
in the river system.
Write to Rhiannon Hoyle at rhiannon.hoyle@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 29, 2015 18:36 ET (23:36 GMT)
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