BHP’s Escondida Mine Fined Over Groundwater Extraction That Caused Environmental Damage
Company: BHP Group
Summary
n March 2022, Chile's environmental regulator, the Superintendencia del Medio Ambiente (SMA), sanctioned Minera Escondida, operated by BHP, over groundwater extraction from the Monturaqui aquifer near the Salar de Atacama. The regulator concluded that Escondida had breached the conditions of its environmental permit and classified the violation as “very serious.” It imposed a fine equivalent to approximately US$8 million. According to the SMA, Escondida failed to reduce its groundwater extraction as required, affecting groundwater that supports the Vegas de Tilopozo ecosystem. When Escondida challenged the sanction, Chile's First Environmental Court rejected the appeal in 2024 and upheld the regulator's decision. The SMA said the environmental effects were significant and that recovery was projected to take several centuries. Separate environmental-damage proceedings were brought by Chile's State Defense Council and the Peine Indigenous Community against Escondida and other companies that had extracted water from the aquifer. In October 2024, the parties reached a US$98 million settlement, subsequently approved by the First Environmental Court. BHP reports that Escondida's share is US$76 million. Escondida also paid the approximately US$8 million regulatory fine and did not appeal that decision further. BHP states that this concluded the environmental-damage claim. BHP had already ceased extracting groundwater from high-Andean aquifers for Escondida's operational water supply in 2020, replacing it primarily with desalinated seawater. Sources: Chilean Environmental Regulator (SMA) — Court upholds sanction https://portal.sma.gob.cl/index.php/primer-tribunal-ambiental-rechaza-reclamacion-y-confirma-sancion-de-la-sma-contra-minera-escondida/ Chilean Environmental Regulator — original sanction https://portal.sma.gob.cl/index.php/sma-sanciono-a-minera-escondida-por-6-600-millones-tras-dano-ambiental/ BHP 2025 reporting https://www.bhp.com/sustainability/environment/water BHP — cessation of high-Andean groundwater extraction https://www.bhp.com/news/case-studies/2020/09/breaking-the-water-energy-nexus