On 14 November 2025, Mrs Justice O’Farrell DBE handed down her judgment in the liability phase of Município de Mariana & Others v BHP Group (UK) Ltd. & BHP Group Limited, (the “Judgment”) following a 5-month trial in the Technology and Construction Court running from October 2024 to March 2025 (the “Trial”). The Judgment represents a resounding win for the Claimants, finding BHP to be both strictly liable as a polluter and liable as a result of their own fault in causing Brazil’s worst ever environmental disaster: the collapse of the Fundão dam in 2015.
This article provides some background to the case, an overview of the Judgment’s findings, offers reflections on the Judgment’s significance, and discusses what is next in the proceedings to ensure that the claimants are properly compensated for their losses.
The full Judgment is available here: Municipio de Mariana -v- BHP Group (judgment and summary) – Courts and Tribunals Judiciary.
The Background to the Case
The case concerns the collapse of the Fundão tailings dam near Mariana in Minas Gerais, Brazil on 5 November 2015. The collapse caused over 40 million cubic metres of mining waste to escape from the Germano mining complex, killing 19 people, destroying the nearby town of Bento Rodrigues and polluting more than 600km of waterways leading all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The dam’s collapse is considered to be the worst environmental disaster in Brazil’s history, with many continuing to suffer from its devastating consequences. Pogust Goodhead represents over 600,000 claimants from the affected Rio Doce river basin and Atlantic coastal areas.
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Published on January 20, 2026 by CORLA