Vale and BHP Billiton assets frozen by court ruling
Mariana - On November 5, the Fundão dam, in Mariana, Minas Gerais state, burst, sending out a wave of smudge that laid waste to the village of Bento Rodrigues. 
Substitute Federal Judge of the 12th Federal Justice Court Marcelo Aguiar Machado issued an order freezing the assets of BHP Billiton and Vale, parent companies of Samarco, the firm that owns dam that collapsed in Mariana, Minas Gerais. The preliminary injunction grants the request filed by Brazil and the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo.
“This measure does not depend on whether or not it is proved that the defendants are somehow attempting to shun their responsibilities or scattering their assets. It suffices to confirm enough clues of their duty of compensating for the damages” the judge says in his ruling, issued Friday night (Dec. 18).
The decision suspends the concession licenses for mining on behalf of the firms.
The firms were given 30 days to make an initial court deposit of $510 million, to be used in the plan for total damage repair.
The companies have a 45-day deadline to devise a global plan for the social and environmental recovery of the Doce river basin and all of the area affected. A general plan providing socioeconomic assistance to the population victimized by the incident must also be presented within 30 days.
In the ruling, the judge bans Samarco from giving out dividends, interest on stockholders' equity, or any form of remuneration to its partners. “After the environmental damage caused on November 5, 2015 was appraised, it was no longer reasonable that the company Samarco Mineração SA should distribute [money] to its partners, when such resources should be put to use in the program aimed to repair the environmental, social, and economic damages caused,” the judge argues.
A 10-day deadline was also set for Samarco to stop the leak of the iron-ore mining waste still found at the collapsed dam, or demonstrate it has been halted. It must be proved that safety measures have been adopted regarding the Fundão and Santarém dams, which are also under the responsibility of the mining firm.
In another 10-day deadline, companies must start evaluating the contamination of fishes with inorganic substances as well as consumption risks, and take action to control the proliferation of synanthropic animals (rats, cockroaches, etc.) capable of transmitting diseases to both people and animals in the areas affected by the waste and the smudge.
The judge also gave the companies 15 days to conduct studies and implement measures aimed at preventing the mud spilled into the Doce river to reach the lakes in its basin and the protecting mineral water springs.
The firms were also given 20 days to survey the 1,469 hectare region affected to ascertain the thickness of the smudge layer, the presence of heavy metals, and the pH. Furthermore, the companies must immediately take action to remove the mud on the banks of the river, its tributaries and the area surrounding the river's mouth.
A daily $38 thousand fine is to be imposed in case of failure to carry out the measures in the ruling. If the $510 million deposit is not made, the fine is raised to $384 thousand per day of delay.
On November 5, the Fundão dam, in Mariana, Minas Gerais state, burst, sending out a wave of smudge that laid waste to the village of Bento Rodrigues, reached the Doce river and ran for a further 680 km towards the river's mouth, in Linhares, in Espírito Santo, a neighboring state.
Translated by Fabrício Ferreira
Fonte: Vale and BHP Billiton assets frozen by court ruling
