Brazil creates oversight commission for Mariana dam disaster reparations

The municipal council of Ponte Nova in Brazil has established a special commission to monitor the collection, allocation and use of public and private funds dedicated to repairing the damage caused by the 2015 Fundão dam rupture in Mariana. The commission will track the R$ 160,107,584.24 settlement with Samarco Mining as well as transfers from the federal government, the state of Minas Gerais and other sources, and must report at least twice a year.

Separately, the Regional Federal Court of the 6th Region (TRF6) ruled that the English law firm PGMBM, which represents over 700,000 victims, cannot enforce abusive contractual clauses that would impose penalties on victims who abandon lawsuits abroad. The decision allows victims to choose between continuing actions in the United Kingdom or joining Brazil’s Definitive Compensation Program without financial retaliation. Prosecutor Patrick Salgado Martins said the ruling is “fundamental to ensure transparency and the dignity of the victims, preventing access to justice from being hindered by overly favorable terms for law firms.”