Samarco Mineração, the company whose deadly spill of iron-ore waste last November flattened a Brazilian village and devastated aquatic life in a major river, has signed a settlement estimated at R$20 billion (US$5.4 billion) in connection with the accident. Under its terms, which have yet to be fully disclosed, the company will initially pay R$4.9 billion ($1.32 billion) in damages through 2018 and additional amounts through 2030 that have yet to be calculated. “The settlement appears to be the biggest one ever awarded for an environmental accident in Brazil’s history,” says Alexandre Sion, founding partner of Sion Advogados, a law firm that specializes in business and environmental matters and is located in Minas Gerais, the state where the accident occurred. The... [Log in to read more]
