A British court has found mining giant BHP liable for a deadly dam collapse in Brazil a decade ago, which sparked one of the world's largest environmental disasters on record.
Nineteen people were killed, one village was completely destroyed and toxic mud caused widespread devastation hundreds of kilometres downstream when a tailings dam at an iron ore mine near Mariana, in the country's south east, burst in November 2015.
The local municipality, and hundreds of thousands of other claimants who say they were affected, sued BHP over the incident in the High Court of England and Wales.
BHP, which is headquartered in Australia and the UK, and runs operations around the globe, jointly owned the Brazilian company that was responsible for the dam.
The judgment, released Friday, found the dam — which was made of sand and had been used to store iron ore tailings and other mining waste — gave way because toxic "slimes were allowed to encroach into the structural" areas.
"As a polluter, BHP are strictly liable for damage caused of the environment and to third parties by the collapse of the dam," the judgement found.
The judgment described the collapse as "foreseeable" and said that it "could have been averted".
It found that more than a year before the collapse, BHP should have known there were drainage and compliance issues surrounding the dam, part of which had shown signs of "serious seepage, cracking and movement".
However, the court ruled who should receive compensation, and when, would be more complex.
The judgment pointed out some claims could be time-barred, and that some people affected by the collapse had already received compensation settlements that precluded them from suing.
Court ruling 'a moment of huge celebration' for victims
The judgment has been welcomed by many of those affected by the disaster.
Monica dos Santos lost everything when the dam burst and toxic mud inundated her home.
She subsequently retrained as a lawyer to try and hold someone accountable.
"This is a moment of huge celebration, lots of joy as we have been trying to get justice for 10 years," she said, after the ruling was delivered.
"This landmark we have got today, let it be an example."
Outside court in London, Tom Ainsworth, a lawyer who was representing the claimants, said the judgment ensured his clients were "vindicated".
He said Friday's ruling struck a blow on the world's biggest mining company.
"It's not just their subsidiary's problem, it's not the Brazilians's problem. BHP is at fault and BHP has been held to account," he said.
Caroline Narvaez, another lawyer representing the victims, said the judgment was significant.
"There's no amount of money that could heal this, that could sort this," she said.
"But for the victims, I have been listening. Since I started working the case, which is we really want to see someone that we can name and blame.
"We really want a name that can be associated with this disaster, and finally they're going to be able to say BHP was the one responsible for it."
In a statement, the BHP's Brandon Craig described the dam collapse as "a terrible tragedy" and said the company remained "dedicated to supporting reparation and compensation on the ground".
"BHP intends to appeal the court's decision and we will continue to defend this action," he said.
The company said it had already paid for extensive repair work in the affected area and compensated more than 610,000 Brazilians, including 240,000 who were part of the class action.
The High Court ruled those 240,000 should now be taken out of the class action pool.
