Vale, BHP, Samarco seek new deal on Brazil disaster
Samarco and its shareholders, Vale (NYSE: VALE) and BHP (NYSE: BHP; ASX: BHP), have presented a new reparation proposal to the Brazilian government and the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo for the breach of the Fundão dam in Mariana in 2015.
The Brazilian Attorney General’s Office confirmed the information to Brazil’s CBN Radio. However, the financial details weren’t disclosed due to a confidentiality clause.
The collapse of the dam in Mariana left 19 dead when about 40 million cubic meters of mining waste destroyed communities and contaminated the Doce River. It was the biggest environmental disaster ever in Brazil.
Negotiations for reparation of the disaster resumed this week after the Brazilian government and the states rejected the value of R$40 billion (US$7.7 billion) the companies had offered in December. The government and the states are demanding around R$120 billion.
To this day, none of the 12 lawsuits regarding the disaster have been judged.
The reparation actions carried out in recent years by the Renova Foundation, an entity created for this purpose, have been insufficient, according to the Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office (MPF). The foundation has already invested R$28.1 billion in reparation and compensation initiatives, according to Vale.
Vale and BHP have not commented on the new agreement. Samarco informed CBN that it remains open to dialogue, seeking solutions based on technical criteria that meet the demands of society. The company added that it remains committed to fully repairing the damages caused.
