A Brazilian judge has ordered local pellet producer Samarco, a 50/50 joint venture (JV) between Vale and BHP Billiton, to resume paying indemnities to several victims of the deadly Mariana iron ore dam burst, which killed 19 people and halted output at the company in November 2015.
The court decision reverts a previous injunction allowing Samarco to pay reduced indemnities to specific Mariana victims.
The judge suspended the effects of the previous decision, issued in December 2018, which allowed Samarco to discount payments it made under the so-called emergency financial aid (AFE) fund, from indemnities to be paid for missing profits under the mediated indemnity program (PIM). PIM compensates fishermen who haven’t been able to work for the ensuing years, due to the effects of the mud in local rivers.
Samarco and shareholders Vale and BHP Billiton had agreed, along with public prosecutors, the federal government and the states of Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo, to several immediate, compensatory measures to remediate the disaster and its impact for local communities.