Case title | Cainquiama Association and others x Norsk Hydro and others |
Country where the conflict/incident occurred | Brazil |
Country where the case is being litigated | Netherlands |
Year the process started | 2021 |
Case reference number | C/10/616293 / HA ZA 21-315 |
Case status | In progress |
Categories | Healthy Environment, Traditional Communities |
Plaintiffs | Cainquiama Association (Brazilian association representing traditional communities) and nine other individuals who are part of these traditional communities |
Defendants |
Defendants 1-6 are the Dutch subsidiaries of (defendant)7. 7. NORSK HYDRO ASA (Norwegian parent company) |
Question under debate | Environmental and social impact of pollution due to decades of aluminum mining. Claim for compensation against the parent company and its foreign subsidiaries |
References | Rotterdam District Court decisions from 2022 and 2024: |
Proceedings: In February 2021, the Brazilian association Cainquiama and nine Brazilian individuals initiated legal action in the Netherlands against the Norwegian aluminum company Norsk Hydro and six Dutch subsidiaries.
Norsk Hydro ASA, headquartered in Norway, acts as the main holding company of the Hydro group. For over forty years, it has operated an aluminum refinery in and around the municipality of Barcarena, located in the state of Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon, through its Brazilian subsidiaries, in which it holds an indirect majority stake: Alunorte – Alumina do Norte do Brasil S/A and Albras – Alumínio Brasileiro S/A.
Hydro Alunorte BV (Defendant 4) indirectly holds 57.7% of the shares of the Brazilian subsidiary Alunorte – Alumina do Norte do Brasil S/A, while Hydro Albras BV (Defendant 5) indirectly holds 51% of the shares of the Brazilian subsidiary Albras – Alumínio Brasileiro S/A.
Main allegations: The plaintiffs, represented by Cainquiama and nine individuals on behalf of approximately 11,000 descendants of Afro-Brazilian slaves (quilombolas) and indigenous people residing in the affected area, allege that the operations of these Brazilian aluminum refining companies over decades have led to environmental pollution. They seek compensation for past and future damages, including damage to drinking water supplies, health and livelihoods, based on the defendants’ alleged liability under Brazilian law as indirect contributors to the pollution.
Norsk Hydro ASA did not contest the jurisdiction of the Dutch court. However, the defendants dispute its liability, contesting the allegations of environmentally harmful activities by the Brazilian subsidiaries and the resulting damages.
Court rulings: On October 19, 2022, the Rotterdam District Court asserted its jurisdiction to hear the case against Norsk Hydro’s Dutch subsidiaries, including its Norwegian headquarters. The court acknowledged that the Brazilian legal claims against Alunorte and Albras focus on their liability as direct polluters and therefore do not address and do not replace the liability of Norsk Hydro’s subsidiaries as indirect polluters. Accordingly, the court rejected the request to stay the proceedings until the conclusion of the Brazilian legal cases.
Following the decision on jurisdiction, the claims were amended to include allegations relating to the operations of Mineração Paragominas SA (MPSA), a third Brazilian company and a subsidiary of defendant 6.
The case is ongoing.
Corporate structure and shareholdings of the Hydro Group as of 28 February 2011: (*Source: Rotterdam Court decision of 30 May 2024)
Hydro share ownership Brazil
All shareholding are 100% unless otherwide indicated
*I share with Hydro Aluminium Brasil Investment B.V.
Other cases against Norsk Hydro Brasil, Albras and Alunorte in Brazil include:
Date | Brief summary |
Since 2008 | Legal dispute between five relocated families and the CAP alumina refinery project in Barcarena, Brazil, with claims denied by the court and awaiting decision by the Court of Appeal. |
2016 | Public Civil Action brought by the Federal and State Public Ministries against companies in the industrial district of Barcarena, aiming to protect the rights of local people who consume contaminated water. |
2017 | The Cainquiama Association filed a lawsuit against Norsk Hydro Brasil, Alunorte, Albras and others, alleging social and environmental damages due to the location of waste deposits in an ecological reserve area. |
March 16, 2018 | Cainquiama sued Norsk Hydro Brasil, Alunorte and the State of Pará alleging intentional discharge of chemical waste and fraudulent licensing for Alunorte’s bauxite deposits (DRS1 and DRS2). |
March 27, 2018 | Class action by IBS against Norsk Hydro Brasil, Albras, Alunorte, Imerys, Alubar, Municipality of Barcarena and State of Pará for environmental recovery and compensation for material and moral damages. |
April 3, 2018 | Class action by the State of Pará against Alunorte for recovery of environmental damages and compensation. |
April 5, 2018 | State and Federal Public Prosecutors against Alunorte, Norsk Hydro Brasil and the State of Pará seeking to reduce Alunorte’s activities and suspend the use of DRS2. |
May 15, 2018 | Cainquiama sued Mineração Paragominas, Albras, Norsk Hydro Brasil, Alunorte, INMETRO, BVQI, Federal Union, DNPM in the Federal Court in Paragominas for dangerous substances in MPSA tailings. |
September 12, 2018 | ADECAM sued Alunorte, Norsk Hydro Brasil, the Federal Union and Ibama for collective moral damages due to the 2018 rains. |
October 31, 2018 | Cainquiama has again sued Mineração Paragominas, Albras, Norsk Hydro Brasil, Alunorte, State of Pará, BVQI in the State Court of Belém seeking suspension of operations. |
May 3, 2019 | Cainquiama filed a new lawsuit in the Belém Court against the State of Pará, Norsk Hydro Brasil, Mineração Paragominas, Alunorte and Albras, alleging that products used in Brazil for refining bauxite are more toxic than those from Norway. |
May 15, 2019 | Suspension of the embargo on production at Alunorte by the Federal Court; agreement approved for the resumption of activities at the Alunorte bauxite deposit (DRS2). |
August 1, 2019 | Residents of Abaetetuba sued Alunorte, the State of Pará and the Federal Union in the Federal Court in Belém for environmental contamination due to the 2018 rains affecting their lives as farmers and fishermen. |
August 20, 2019 | The Agrarian Prosecutor’s Office issued a recommendation alleging the construction of Alunorte’s bauxite deposits (DRS1 and DRS2) in an ecological reserve area, lack of agricultural restoration and undue dumping in the Tauá community. |
More details can be found at Hydro Annual Report 2020
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