Mariana Dam Failure Compensation Register

PROBLEM: Samarco's Fundão tailings dam failed on November 5, 2015 near Mariana, Brazil, killing 19 people and releasing 43.7 million cubic metres of mine tailings into the Doce River. In October 2024, BHP and Vale agreed a settlement of approximately $31.7 billion with Brazilian authorities covering remediation, compensation, and legal claims, and on November 14, 2025 the High Court in England ruled BHP strictly liable for the disaster. Compensation and remediation obligations stretched across a decade with no single public register of what was owed, paid, and still outstanding.

SOLUTION: A compensation register in IBM Cloud Ideas that records every remediation and compensation obligation from a dam failure, tracks payments and project milestones against the settlement terms, and publishes a reconciled outstanding-balance view for affected communities and regulators.

EVIDENCE BASIS: DOCUMENTED — Mariana dam failure, November 5, 2015 (19 deaths, 43.7 million cubic metres of tailings); BHP–Vale settlement, October 2024 (~$31.7 billion); High Court of England ruling, November 14, 2025 (BHP strictly liable).