RIO DE JANEIRO, (Reuters) – Brazilian prosecutors said yesterday they charged 22 people, 21 of them with qualified homicide, for their roles in the collapse of a tailings dam at the Samarco Mineração SA iron ore mine last November that killed 19 people.
The charges follow what is now considered to be the largest environmental disaster in Brazil’s history. The dam collapse released millions of tonnes of muddy mine waste, wiping out several small communities.
Samarco, its co-owners Vale SA and BHP Billiton Ltd, and Brazilian engineering company VOGBR Recursos Hidricas e Geotechnica Ltd which certified the dam’s safety, were charged with environmental crimes.
BHP, Vale and Samarco officials said in statements they rejected the charges.
Prosecutor Jose Adericido Leite Sampaio told reporters at a briefing in Belo Horizonte, broadcast live by GloboNews, that executives at Samarco had clear awareness the dam could fail but ignored the risks and prioritized profit.
If convicted the accused, who include 16 Brazilians, two Americans, a South African, an Australian and a French citizen, could face sentences of up to 54 years, prosecutors said. The former chief executive of Samarco, Ricardo Viscovi, is among the accused.
Under Brazil’s criminal code, qualified homicide is homicide aggravated by certain factors.
Following the dam collapse, thick red sludge flowed into one of Brazil’s main rivers, the Rio Doce, killing fish and fouling water supplies for hundreds of kilometers before reaching the Atlantic ocean.
Before the case goes to trial, the charges need to be approved by a judge. Prosecutors filed the charges with a judge in Belo Horizonte, Brazil earlier in the day.
“These people were murdered,” Eduardo Santos de Oliveira, one of the prosecutors in the case, said of those who died.
Vale said in a statement that it would vigorously defend its executives and employees against the charges and that evidence shows that there was no knowledge that the dam could fail before the disaster occurred.
BHP said it has not been formally advised of the proceedings and that it rejects outright the charges against the company and those individuals who have been charged.