Brazil filed manslaughter and environmental criminal charges against 21 executives of the BHP Billiton-Vale joint venture Samarco, owner of the iron ore mine where a dam burst last year.  The disaster killed 19 people and caused environmental havoc down river.

One Australian, former BHP Billiton executive Jimmy Wilson, is on the list which consists of mostly Brazilians but also includes two Americans, a South African, and a French citizen.  Each could face as much as 54 years in prison if convicted.

Brazilian federal prosecutors maintain the executives were told that the tailings dam at the Mineracao iron ore mine could burst, but they chose to ignore the danger and continue extracting from the rich iron ore deposit to compensate for falling commodities prices.

"They deliberately prioritized money over safety," said prosecutor Jose Adercio Leite Sampaio.  "They knew there were problems and did not make the decisions that could have improved safety," he alleged.

The dam collapsed on 5 November 2015, spilling 32 million cubic meters of contaminated red sludge water and waste onto the village of Bento Rodrigues.  Sludge continued to flow into the Rio Doce, killing off the fish and wildlife downriver and polluting water supplies until the poisonous waste reached the Atlantic Ocean.