Indigenous Ecuadoran Woman Humbles US Oil Giant

Indigenous Ecuadoran Woman Humbles US Oil Giant

news.yahoo.com

RUMIPAMBA, Ecuador (AFP) – She has no legal training, and doesn't speak the Spanish that dominates government in Quito but indigenous villager Maria Aguinda helped bring a landmark judgment against US oil giant Chevron for polluting the rain forest she calls home.

The diminutive grandmother whose modest home sits near marshes clogged for decades in sticky oil has been at the heart of the David-and-Goliath case, and spoke out after Chevron was slapped last week with a $9.5-billion fine, among the heaviest ever handed down for environmental damage.

"Before I die they have to pay me for the dead animals, and for what they did to the river, and the water and the earth," the 61-year-old Aguinda told AFP at her home in Rumipamba, a town in remote Orellana province where pollution caused by 30 years of oil drilling and petroleum accidents had become a sad fact of life.

(visit the link for the full news article)



Related AboveTopSecret.com Discussion Threads:
Chevron hits back in Amazon row
If you liked B.P.'s oil spill, you'll love Chevron's Genocide in Ecuador
Exposed: Chevron's Cover-up of Gross Environmental Abuses in Ecuador
Hostile Takeover : Is BP PLC Vulnerable Enough For A Corporate Raid?

Well, if you like the B.P. PLC scandal, in the sense of corruption in action, you're going to love this news story.

In the screw the oil companies corruption sense.

Apparently this Ecuadoran grandmother has got them by the cojones.

I'm still laughing at these oil jockeys being screwed.

news.yahoo.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Its about time these corporate jacka$$e$ get what's coming to them. It would be also fitting if, for the rest of their existence, they had to become her neighbours and lived like they made her, not with their corporate jets and all the executive sized trimmings but in a small hut, continually smelling the oil and dead animals, drinking the putrid water, its freshness stolen by their processing and waste.

Awesomeness. Pure awesomeness.

If we could get a few dozens of these types of cases underway, these disgusting megacorporations RAPING of the environment would be toned down in a hurry. Many of these ruthless profiteers will stop at nothing, including destroying entire ecosystems and the planet at large, just to make those billions. Money is more important than life or the earth itself to them, as long as they improve they and their shareholders quarterlies.

Let them get bitch-slapped with a few more multi-billion dollar lawsuits for their disregard for life, and they will whistle a different tune real quick. This victory is huge, and I hope it acts as a catalyst for many more to come. We need to take back our planet from these dangerous entities.

reply to post by SpartanKingLeonidas


There's NOTHING TO LAUGH ABOUT IT!
They should be executed RIGHT NOW!

Cant help but notice what she said....and trust me, those bastards must fry.

But, it wasn't about the oil companies fixing what was polluted....or about putting the oil execs behind bars.

It was about "paying ME".

I mean, she deserves the money....but almost makes her seem as greedy as the oil execs.

reply to post by SpartanKingLeonidas


Nice find SKL,

I have been following this story with great interest. Got to hand it to this lady for here courage!
Chevron, the corporate Hall Of Shame third place winner...uh er I mean loser for the actions of
Chevron, Trying to Fight Ecuador Lawsuit, Now Claiming Plaintiffs Don't Really Exist

Chevron, took third place in 2010 beaten out only by Monsanto, and BP.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/847260d4f994.jpg[/atsimg]

Chevron

In the grand scheme of things this means nothing to a big faceless corporation. the higher up still get there massive bonuses, everyone keeps there jobs and stake holders still get there dividends.

nothing has changed

move onto the next location and do it all again

reply to post by thestink


I have to agree - 9 billion is peanuts compared to what they would have made from that oil. It also doesn't actually fix the land or return the lives of the animals.

Its a good start and a much needed step in the right direction though. We definately need more of this sort of thing!

This case has been going on for decades. One of the last defenses for Chevron was the assertion that the indigenous people that brought the suit didn't exist: grandma quashed that completely. Chevron has as I understand it, already appealed to a higher court (the UN?). But having been to the Ecuadorian Amazon recently, it's obvious that the money is sorely needed and that no cleanup was never initiated.

My best wishes to the Ecuadorian people in their quest to restore the environment to a productive state. The hard core skeptic in me is concerned that Chevron will never pay out, ignoring the judgement or keeping it in the courts for decades more.

ganjoa

reply to post by amongus


That's really it in a nut shell.

These greedy profiteering corporations wouldn't be able to pull this crap without locals who turn a blind eye for the sake of jobs or take straight out bribes.

Sadly, it's always about the money.

Truly though, globalism is such a lie. People can argue all they want that it creates jobs and spreads democracy but really it's just a conduit for spreading consumerism and the addiction to money across the globe at the expense of natural resources and local heritage.

Not a victory really. 9 billion dollars isn't going to do any good when they have already poisoned the earth. They should be sentenced to spend the rest of their lives cleaning up the disgusting filth they spread.

Awesome! Good for her! It's just too sad that it had to go on this long. The oil jerks have no regard for life of ANY kind! They only care about money.

You know I post B.A.N. articles in the hopes they get attention.

This one however caught me by surprise that so many people flagged it.

More than contributors, so far, but let us hope this becomes a major trend.

In regards to the topic, in regards to thread movement, and in regards to ATS.

Originally posted by gardCanada
Its about time these corporate jacka$$e$ get what's coming to them. It would be also fitting if, for the rest of their existence, they had to become her neighbours and lived like they made her, not with their corporate jets and all the executive sized trimmings but in a small hut, continually smelling the oil and dead animals, drinking the putrid water, its freshness stolen by their processing and waste.

I agree 100%.

I have no problem with America doing business overseas.

I do however, have a major issue, with us drilling overseas while there's oil in Texas and Alaska.

Stop buying foreign oil and bring back jobs to American citizens.

And do it in a manner which does not destroy the environment.

As well as not leading to fracking and nuisance by-products.

Quote from : Wikipedia : Hydraulic Fracturing

Hydraulic fracturing (called "frac jobs" or "frac'ing" in the industry, with the spelling "fracking" being common in media reports) is a process that results in the creation of fractures in rocks.

The most important industrial use is in stimulating oil and gas wells, where hydraulic fracturing has been used for over 60 years in more than one million wells.

The fracturing is done from a wellbore drilled into reservoir rock formations to increase the rate and ultimate recovery of oil and natural gas.

Hydraulic fractures may be natural or man-made and are extended by internal fluid pressure which opens the fracture and causes it to extend through the rock.

Natural hydraulic fractures include volcanic dikes, sills and fracturing by ice as in frost weathering. Man-made fluid-driven fractures are formed at depth in a borehole and extend into targeted formations.

The fracture width is typically maintained after the injection by introducing a proppant into the injected fluid.

Proppant is a material, such as grains of sand, ceramic, or other particulates, that prevent the fractures from closing when the injection is stopped.

Considerable controversy surrounds the current implementation of hydraulic fracturing technology in the United States. Environmental safety and health concerns have emerged and are being debated at the state and national levels.

Most people have watched Chinatown and The Two Jakes for Jack Nicholson more than the information.

Chinatown - Trailer


The Two Jakes (1990) Trailer- Jack Nicholson


Too few know the story is more about his uncovering conspiracies.

Natural Gas Leak Makes Home's Tap Water Flammable


Indirectly linked to the original post I know but it's tied to the topic as an environmental issue.

As long as there is oil out there they will barely touch Texan or Alaskan oil. When all of the other oil is used up as they claim will happen, who will hold all the power? The people that control the last reserves of oil here in the US. Huge scheme to have us by the nads brought to you by US scum.

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
Awesomeness. Pure awesomeness.

Defintely.

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
If we could get a few dozens of these types of cases underway, these disgusting megacorporations RAPING of the environment would be toned down in a hurry. Many of these ruthless profiteers will stop at nothing, including destroying entire ecosystems and the planet at large, just to make those billions. Money is more important than life or the earth itself to them, as long as they improve they and their shareholders quarterlies.

While I certainly can understand being in business to make a profit I do not understand this nonsense.

Taking without giving back, raping the environment, call it what you will, it screws our entire planet.

I try my best not to get involved nor buy from companies with these atrocious habits.

Originally posted by DimensionalDetective
Let them get bitch-slapped with a few more multi-billion dollar lawsuits for their disregard for life, and they will whistle a different tune real quick. This victory is huge, and I hope it acts as a catalyst for many more to come. We need to take back our planet from these dangerous entities.

edit on 24-2-2011 by DimensionalDetective because: (no reason given)

We need a class-action lawsuit, worldwide, to make these people crap their pants.

Originally posted by leaualorin
reply to post by SpartanKingLeonidas

 

There's NOTHING TO LAUGH ABOUT IT!
They should be executed RIGHT NOW!

The Central Intelligence Agency used to be in that business.

Now they are in bed with criminals making, selling, and distributing drugs.

While I can see where you're coming from I cannot concur for death due to greed.

Self-defense is the only type of violence I agree with 100%.

Originally posted by amongus
Cant help but notice what she said....and trust me, those bastards must fry.

But, it wasn't about the oil companies fixing what was polluted....or about putting the oil execs behind bars.

It was about "paying ME".

I mean, she deserves the money....but almost makes her seem as greedy as the oil execs.

Demanding recompense is "greedy...?" Hmmmm....

Is it greedy to want back the value that was taken from you? It is not "payment" per se that this is about. Only recovering losses.

Originally posted by SpartanKingLeonidas

As well as not leading to fracking and nuisance by-products.

"Hydro" fracking is something I am hell-bent to eliminate. The "hydro" is misleading. They use a great deal of toxic stuff with any water they use, and it poisons the water table.

Here where I am, there is great awareness and protest against the frackers. Still, there needs to be more and a wide spread.