The Mariana Dam Disaster: A conversation with claimants and their lawyer

The worst environmental disaster in Brazil’s history has triggered the world’s largest environmental class action lawsuit: the Mariana dam disaster claim. Law firm, Pogust Goodhead, is representing circa 720,000 affected rights holders in the English and Dutch courts against mining companies BHP Billiton and Vale SA. Join us for a discussion with Maycon Krenak and Thatiele Monic, representatives of Indigenous Brazilian groups impacted by the disaster, and Pogust Goodhead’s CEO Tom Goodhead. The event will be streamed online via Zoom for those who cannot attend in-person. 

Case summary: 

In 2015, the Fundão Dam collapsed in Mariana, Brazil, unleashing 50 million cubic metres of toxic waste. It travelled 700km to the Atlantic Ocean, through various waterways and villages, destroying landscapes, and indiscriminately damaging infrastructure and wildlife. Over eight years later the affected people are still without their homes and families mourn the loss of loved ones. Even after the disaster, the companies have continued to profit. In 2018, the English Proceedings began when Pogust Goodhead filed a claim to seek compensation for affected people (including residents, Indigenous Peoples, quilombolas, municipalities, businesses, public agencies and religious institutions). In March 2024, Pogust Goodhead’s Dutch branch and law firm Lemstra Van der Korst filed a new lawsuit against Vale and Samarco’s Netherlands subsidiary. The English liability trial is scheduled for late October 2024 and the claim is valued at over US$ 44 billion.

About the claimants:

Maycon Krenak, 23, is one of the Krenak chiefs living in Resplendor, Minas Gerais.

He says that the Mariana tragedy had ‘completely changed’ the community's way of life. Among these differences is the sending of water trucks for the indigenous people to bathe in, since the Rio Doce has dried up and become unsuitable for this use: “The water from the lorries sometimes comes dirty with rust and makes our bodies itch when we bathe.”

He is passionate about the feeling of loss when talking about the river Doce. He says it is how his people identify themselves and “when they take the Rio Doce away from us, they want to take away our identity”.

He says: “Bur we're here fighting, we're resilient and we try to resist in order to exist. They can't take us away and end our history. The Rio Doce is our father, our mother, who has fed us for generations.”

“When we seek compensation, we seek to speak the language of big business, of capital. That's where they feel some pain. “When it comes to talking about feelings, that language doesn't work with them. What they've done is irreparable, there's no money in the world that can pay for it.”

Maycon also talks about the variety of health problems his people now have as a result of the contaminated water.

Thatiele Monic, president of the Vila Santa Efigênia and Adjacências Quilombola Association.

She is studying for a master’s degree in administration and is one of the leaders of the Quilombola communities in the rural surroundings of Mariana.

Quilombolas are people descended from enslaved Africans who were forcibly brought to Brazil. The collapse of the dam had a knock-on effect on the Quilombola community including cultural damage. The communities can no longer perform certain traditions by the river, and cannot rely on small farms and artisanal gold mining to make a living.

She says: “We have received nothing. We want justice and we deserve it,” says Michele. “These companies come to our communities, take what they want and leave us in the mud.”