Anglo-Australian miner BHP has dismissed as pointless and wasteful a £5-billion English lawsuit by 200 000 Brazilian people and groups over the 2015 collapse of a dam that led to Brazil’s worst environmental disaster.
Kicking off an eight-day hearing in Manchester, northern England, BHP on Wednesday called for the record group action to be struck out or suspended, alleging it duplicated Brazilian proceedings and victims were already receiving redress.
"These applications are … brought because the attempt to export and duplicate the work being done in Brazil, including the litigation, to England, is pointless and wasteful," BHP said in legal documents.
"It has no proper purpose or utility and will, if allowed to continue, inflict an astonishing burden on the court … and these parties – without any tangible benefit to the claimants."