TJ-MG confirms decision that condemned Samarco to compensate beach owners

The reduction in income caused by the collapse of the Fundão Dam, in Mariana (MG), with damage to the assets of the plaintiff and the subsistence of his family, results in compensable moral damage.

This was the understanding of the 12th Civil Chamber of the Court of Justice of Minas Gerais to confirm the decision that condemned the Renova Foundation — an entity created through the signing of a transaction and conduct adjustment term (TTAC) by the mining company Samarco — to compensate a family owner of a sandy beach whose activity was rendered unviable due to the Mariana disaster, which occurred in 2015.

When analyzing the case, the rapporteur, judge Maria Lúcia Cabral Caruso, pointed out that the evidence in the case shows that the family was directly harmed by the effects of lava from the Fundão Dam, which, after being deposited in the riverbeds of the Mariana region, reduced the quality of life of the affected communities.

“Furthermore, it made it impossible or difficult to carry out mineral extraction activities, greatly impacting people who derive their livelihood from the Rio Doce and its tributaries, as is the case with the plaintiff’s family”, summarized the judge.

As the owner of the beach died, the judge voted to confirm the decision that condemned the Renova Foundation to compensate his heirs with R$40,000. In another decision, she ordered the entity to pay emergency financial aid for the months in which one of the heirs did not receive the benefit (April to November 2021). The decisions were unanimous.

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Process 1.0000.22.216466-7/001
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Process 1.0000.22.006898-5/003