Chevron Fined For Amazon Pollution By Ecuador Court 8.2 Billion

More than 18 BILLION gallons of crude oil dumped in the Amazon!
I remember hearing of this case and thinking Chevron would pull out of this mostly untouched because of their money and high end attorneys, but it looks like justice may be served. What a disaster this was/is, and for some details,please refer to the 3 excellent threads on this tragedy, truly revealing and shocking.
Of course Chevron is going to appeal, but I believe the evidence is stacked against them. But you know how crafty those corporate lawyers can be. Chevron is claiming fraud in the ruling, and saying the judgement goes against scientific evidence. I wonder whose evidence they are referring to.

A court in Ecuador has fined US oil giant Chevron a reported $8bn (£5bn) for polluting a large part of the country's Amazon region.

The oil firm Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, was accused of dumping billions of gallons of toxic materials into unlined pits and Amazon rivers.

Campaigners say crops were damaged and farm animals killed, and that local cancer rates increased.

Condemning the ruling as fraudulent, Chevron said it would appeal.

The lawsuit was brought on behalf of 30,000 Ecuadoreans, in a case which dragged on for nearly two decades.

The plaintiffs said the company's activities had destroyed large areas of rainforest and also led to an increased risk of cancer among the local population.

The trial began in 2003 after almost a decade of legal battles in the US. At that time, a US appeals court ruled that the case should be heard in Ecuador.

Environmentalists hope the case will set a precedent, forcing companies operating in developing countries to comply with the same anti-pollution standards as in the industrialised world.

Source
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Peace,
spec

The FACT that this has been allowed to 'drag on' for 20 years + is a complete insult from big Corporations to the people of the region they have been 'exploiting?'..

How is it that when BP had their major disaster in the backyard of a superpower then 'all hell breaks loose' but when that very same superpower's own oil company destroys the environment nothing is said........... strange that ??!

PDUK

reply to post by PurpleDog UK


Good points PD, they always tie these things up in court so that they can better prepare themselves, or perhaps hope the intensity of the event recedes a bit. The ole outta sight outta mind thing seems to apply, as far as urgency. As you mentioned, if it was in one of our backyards, it would not take 20 years!

spec

Originally posted by PurpleDog UK
The FACT that this has been allowed to 'drag on' for 20 years + is a complete insult from big Corporations to the people of the region they have been 'exploiting?'..

How is it that when BP had their major disaster in the backyard of a superpower then 'all hell breaks loose' but when that very same superpower's own oil company destroys the environment nothing is said........... strange that ??!

PDUK

When filing a lawsuit the ones who are claiming such things want as much evidence as they can. Two decades of this type of deal could well in fact give such evidence. With that being said, i have high hopes for this case to put 8b in the pockets of Ecuador. But i have little hope that this money will go where it's needed.