Marcus Leroux
Authorities in Brazil are pressing ahead with criminal proceedings over the Samarco mine disaster, including possibly levelling murder charges against executives.
A court has rejected a challenge from two defendants claiming that evidence was illegally obtained. BHP Billiton, joint-owner of the mine, is named as one of twenty-six defendants, along with Vale, the Brazilian company that owns the other 50 per cent of Samarco.
The case relates to the disaster in November 2015 that killed 19 people when a dam burst, releasing a wave of sludge-like waste that destroyed a nearby village and polluted the Doce River.
The court in the state of Minas Geraisk suspended proceedings in July to consider claims from two Samarco executives who had alleged that phone data, instant messages and emails were collected outside the period legally authorised.
The judge ruled that certain material based on transcripts of corporate emails and chats was invalid, but that it did not affect the validity of telephone surveillance and other evidence, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
A $49 billion preliminary agreement with federal officials was reached in January, but Samarco and authorities are now negotiating over how expert advisers should be appointed for environmental and economic impact assessments. A deadline for those talks is set to expire tomorrow.
BHP declined to comment yesterday, but it has said in the past that it "rejects outright" the charges faced by the company and that it will "fully support each of the affected individuals in their defence of the charges against them".
BHP and Vale have established an independent foundation to lead the remediation and compensation programmes, committing $1 billion so far, with at least another $1.1 billion to follow from next year.
The FTSE 100 miner said last week that the Doce River had been restored to the condition it was in before the disaster and that fish had returned to all areas monitored, according to a preliminary survey. Andrew Mackenzie, chief executive, said at the time: "There is a lot still to do, but the Renova Foundation has made significant progress since it began operations last year."
The efforts include what the companies say is Brazil's largest ever compensation scheme. So far nearly a quarter of a million people have used the programme to settle claims for water losses for the period when municipal supplies stopped. The fund has purchased land for the village of Bento Rodrigues, the largest community affected by the spill.
An investigation last year found that the dam wall had failed as a result of liquefaction, where solid material behaves like a liquid when it becomes saturated. The mine is still closed.
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