The Munich District Court in Germany has scheduled three hearings in the lawsuit filed by 1,400 victims of the collapse of Vale’s dam in Brumadinho, in Minas Gerais state. The purpose of the lawsuit is to establish the liability of TÜV SÜD AG, which is headquartered in the city. The hearings are scheduled for May 26 and 28.

On the initiative of residents of the municipalities of Brumadinho and Mário Campos, the lawsuit seeks civil liability from the company as well as compensation estimated at BRL 3.2 billion.

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The victims are represented by the law firm Pogust Goodhead, which also defended the rights of victims of the 2015 collapse of Samarco’s Fundão dam in Mariana, also in Minas Gerais, seeking compensation from the shareholder, the Anglo-Australian mining company BHP.

TÜV SÜD AG is the company called upon to respond for controlling Tüv Süd Bureau de Projetos e Consultoria LTDA, its subsidiary in Brazil hired to assess whether the structure was compromised and posed any risk.

When contacted by Agência Brasil, TÜV SÜD AG maintained that it “has no legal responsibility for the dam collapse” and that an inspection carried out by authorities in November 2018, three months before the socio-environmental crime, confirmed the soundness of the structure, as attested in a report.

“The issuance of stability statements by TÜV SÜD Bureau was legitimate and in accordance with applicable legislation and technical standards. The dam was stable at the time of the stability statements,” the German holding company argued.

The victims claim that the Córrego do Feijão mine dam was in poor condition, falling well below international standards. A total of 272 people died in the tragedy.

Crime

In the view of the Movement of People Affected by Dams (MAB), the case should be remembered as a crime, not as an inevitable tragedy or disaster. Movement members claim there was deliberate negligence on the part of the mining company Vale and the German certifier.

In Brazil, only now – seven years after the dam collapse – will a federal criminal court of Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais, begin preliminary hearings, on February 23. The first phase of the process will determine whether the defendants will go to trial by jury. The testimony of victims, witnesses, and defendants should continue until May 2027.

As it stands today, 15 individuals are facing criminal charges for the crime. Eleven are former directors, managers, and engineers at Vale, and four are employees of TÜV SÜD.

In both cases, the defendants may be punished for aggravated murder with possible intent – i.e., when the risk of death is assumed.

In the complaint submitted to Munich prosecutors, employees of the German holding company may also be convicted of crimes of negligence leading to flooding and corruption.