After years of delays, a class action lawsuit is finally moving forward against the companies involved in a catastrophic dam collapse that released toxic sludge into communities across rural Brazil. Considered one of the worst environmental disasters in Brazilian history, the Fundão tailings dam collapse in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais killed wildlife, destroyed hundreds of homes and left the local economy in ruins. Now, a U.K. court will decide whether the companies are liable and should compensate the victims. “If you haven’t properly analyzed your risks as a highly polluting business, and you haven’t thought of the consequences not to just to the local community that you work with day in and day out, but to the rest of the ecosystem, I think this case will illustrate how severe the consequences are,” said Guy Robson, an attorney on the Pogust Goodhead legal team representing the victims. The dam was used to store iron ore tailings, a toxic waste product of iron ore mining operations, but it collapsed due to drainage and design issues, according to an internal investigation. The approximately 50 million cubic meters (1.7 billion cubic feet) of arsenic-laced mud traveled over 650 kilometers (400 miles) down the Doce river, destroying the towns of Bento Rodrigues and Paracatu de Baixo before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. The accident killed 19 people and poisoned crops and drinking water, resulting in an economic and public health crisis for over a million people in the region. It also destroyed a…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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