新湖畔网 （随信APP) | BHP和Vale同意赔偿300亿美元因巴西水坝事故造成的损失

大坝坍塌引发了一场巨大的泥石流，淹没了村庄、河流和雨林，造成19人死亡 - 版权AFP /文件Douglas Magno

矿业巨头必和必拓和淡水河谷周五与巴西政府签署协议，赔偿2015年大坝坍塌引发的该国最严重环境灾难，赔偿金额近300亿美元。

卢拉总统亲自出席了在东南部小镇马里亚纳一座矿山的尾矿库大坝坍塌引发的巨大泥石流淹没村庄、河流和雨林，造成19人死亡的协议签署仪式。

“我希望矿业公司吸取了教训：他们预防（灾难）本可以花费更少，远远不到这么多，”卢拉在与巴西淡水河谷和澳大利亚必和必拓代表一起出席的仪式后说。

该协议占据了伦敦举行的一场至今为止最严重的民事审判的第五天，审判涉及必和必拓是否应对2015年11月5日泄漏4000万立方米高度有毒矿渣，相当于12000个奥运游泳池的事故负责。

包括46个巴西市政府在内的超过62万名投诉人在这场民事审判中要求赔偿估计36亿英镑（4700万美元）。

必和必拓否认责任。

必和必拓和淡水河谷已经在2016年同意支付200亿雷亚尔（约今日汇率下的35亿美元）的赔偿，但由于政府称其“未遵守义务”以及巴西司法系统在解决纠纷方面进展缓慢，在2021年重新开展了谈判。

在巴西达成的协议覆盖了他们在灾难中协助受影响者、社区和生态系统方面的过去和未来义务。

公司同意在二十年内向地方政府支付1000亿雷亚尔（175亿美元），并向受害者提供320亿雷亚尔（56亿美元）的赔偿和安置费用，并修复造成的环境损害。

剩下的380亿雷亚尔（66亿美元）是公司声称已经支付的赔偿金额。

The dam collapse triggered a giant mudslide that swamped villages, rivers, and rainforest, killing 19 people - Copyright AFP/File Douglas Magno

Mining giants BHP and Vale on Friday signed a deal with Brazil’s government to pay nearly $30 billion in compensation for a 2015 dam collapse that triggered the country’s worst environmental disaster.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attended the signing of the deal over the collapse of a tailings dam at a mine in the southeastern town of Mariana, which triggered a giant mudslide that swamped villages, rivers, and rainforest, killing 19 people.

“I hope the mining companies have learned their lesson: it would have cost them less to prevent (the disaster), much less,” Lula said after a ceremony attended by representatives of Brazil’s Vale and Australia’s BHP, co-owners of the Brazilian company Samarco that operated the Fundao dam.

The agreement comes on the fifth day of a mega-trial in London over whether BHP was liable for the spillage of over 40 million cubic meters of highly toxic mining sludge, the equivalent of 12,000 Olympic swimming pools, on November 5, 2015.

More than 620,000 complainants, including 46 Brazilian municipalities, are seeking an estimated £36 billion ($47 million) in damages in the civil trial.

BHP denies responsibility.

BHP and Vale had already agreed in 2016 to pay 20 billion reais (about $3.5 billion at today’s rate) in compensation, but the negotiations were re-opened in 2021 due to what the government called their “non-compliance” and the slow progress of Brazil’s justice system in resolving the dispute.

Friday’s agreement in Brazil covers their past and future obligations to assist people, communities, and ecosystems affected by the disaster.

The companies agreed to pay 100 billion reais (17.5 billion dollars) to local authorities over twenty years and 32 billion reais ($5.6 billion) towards compensating and resettling the victims and repairing the harm caused to the environment.

The remaining 38 billion reais ($6.6 billion) is the amount that the companies say they have already paid in compensation.