19th Feb 2016 14:17
LONDON (Alliance News) - Federal prosecutors in Brazil are looking to scupper the ongoing BRL20.00 billion settlement deal with BHP Billiton PLC and its partner Vale SA over the country's fatal dam disaster back in November, the Financial Times reported Thursday.
The office of Brazil's attorney general launched a lawsuit against Samarco, the joint venture company operating the dam and owned by BHP and Vale, three weeks after the dam burst in November, and said this week it aimed to settle the civil lawsuit by Friday, the FT said.
However, citing the Federal Prosecutor which has led the investigations into the dam failure, Jose Aderico Leite Sampaio, the FT said prosecutors are now opposing the BRL20.00 billion settlement, which roughly equates to around USD4.90 billion.
"Everything points to the fact that the damages will total much more than BRL20.00 billion," said said Leite Sampaio, adding that it would take months if not years to correctly calculate the financial cost of the disaster in the southeastern state of Minas Gerais.
"If we use the BP [Deepwater Horizon] oil spill as a parameter, we could be looking at as much as BRL40.00 billion or BRL45.00 billion in damages," said Leite Sampaio.
The attorney-general's office denied prosecutors' claims that the BRL20.00 billion figure was chosen "randomly," saying it was the result of studies by environmental and mining bodies, the FT reported.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6e51b9dc-d641-11e5-969e-9d801cf5e15b.html#axzz40ceAyKx3
The Samarco dam in Mariana burst in early November, killing at least 17 people and devastating the local area.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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