BHP Says Yet to Receive Suit Planned by Brazil Over Dam Spill

   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 [e-mail]

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November 29, 2015 18:36 ET (23:36 GMT)

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