Community | February 14, 2011 | 31 comments

Court in Ecuador rules against Chevron for 8.2 billion dollars

source: http://amazonwatch.org/news/2011/0214-statement-on-ecuador-court-ruling-against-chevron

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JanforGore
This is a true testament to the strength of the evidence in lieu of Chevron's intimidation tactics and lies over 18 years! They of course will appeal it, but justice has been served!

May this set a precedent.

_____

Excerpt:

"Amazon Watch and Rainforest Action Network, who have spent years working to help the Ecuadorian people and protect the Amazon, release the following statement in response to today's verdict:

"As of today, Chevron's guilt for extensive oil contamination in the Amazon rainforest is official. It is time Chevron takes responsibility for these environmental and public health damages, which they have fought for the past 18 years.

"Today's ruling in Ecuador against Chevron proves overwhelmingly that the oil giant is responsible for billions of gallons of highly toxic waste sludge deliberately dumped into local streams and rivers, which thousands depend on for drinking, bathing, and fishing.

"Chevron has spent the last 18 years waging unprecedented public relations and lobbying campaigns to avoid cleaning up the environmental and public health catastrophe it left in the Amazon rainforest. Today's guilty verdict sends a loud and clear message: It is time Chevron clean up its disastrous mess in Ecuador.

"Today's case is historic and unprecedented. It is the first time Indigenous people have sued a multinational corporation in the country where the crime was committed and won.

"Today's historic ruling against Chevron is a testament to the strength of the Ecuadorian people who have spent 18 years bringing Chevron to justice while suffering the effects of the company's extensive oil contamination."
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31 comments // Court in Ecuador rules against Chevron for 8.2 billion dollars

  • Wetdog
  • Earthwalker
  • galwayman
  • KSirys
  • Funky
    • Funky [removed]  
    • This comment was removed as a violation of community guidelines.
  • JanforGore
  • Funky
  • JanforGore
    • 0
      JanforGore  
    • Funky:

      Water is the one resource we would all go to war for. The King Of Jordan stated it was the one thing his country would indeed go to war for, and as we see availiability and access to this resource decrease due to climate change, prvitization, pollution, waste and landgrabs, the possibility for it becomes all too evident....regardless of NAFTA or any other agreement or treaty.

    • 1 year ago
  • btodder
  • boothanew
  • simha
    • +1
      simha  

    • good things are happening.Now one has to think before they disturb green.Hope this happens in asian countries.

    • 1 year ago
  • bottguardo
  • COMMONSENSEFORCOMMONGOOD_COM
  • Tim_Patrick
  • JanforGore
    • +4
      JanforGore  

    • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZfJjXOOAFo

      Justicia Now! Is a half hour documentary which tells the story of the indigenous people of Northern Ecuador who fought big oil, and now have won in the largest environmental lawsuit in history. And even though this ruling has been handed down after all of the poisoning, diseases and loss of life it has caused not to mention the despoiling of water and land they will never get back, Chevron says it will refuse to pay. I think another 8.2 billion should then be added for every day they continue their farce.

    • 1 year ago
  • August_K
    • +3
      August_K  
    • JanforGore:

      Thank you ....that 6 minute clip was really informative and sad.

      Why does big oil think they can destroy and pollute at will?
      This sort of devastating damage is happening on our soil as we speak and with 418,000 gas wells on American soil and more being drilled each week...... is your water at risk?

      The article is longer than these few paragraphs.....if you haven't heard about "fracking", please read the article.

      "Mike Markham of Colorado has an explosive problem: His tap water catches fire. Markham demonstrates this in a new documentary, "Gasland," which just won the Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize. Director Josh Fox films Markham as he runs his kitchen faucet, holding a cigarette lighter up to the running water. After a few seconds, a ball of fire erupts out of the sink, almost enveloping Markham's head.

      The source of the flammable water, and the subject of "Gasland," is the mining process called hydraulic fracturing, or "fracking."

      Fracking is used to access natural-gas and oil reserves buried thousands of feet below the ground. Companies like Halliburton drill down vertically, then send the shaft horizontally, crossing many small, trapped veins of gas and oil. Explosive charges are then set off at various points in the drill shaft, causing what Fox calls "mini-earthquakes." These fractures spread underground, allowing the gas to flow back into the shaft to be extracted. To force open the fractures, millions of gallons of liquid are forced into the shaft at very high pressure.

      The high-pressure liquids are a combination of water, sand and a secret mix of chemicals.
      Each well requires between 1 million and 7 million gallons of the fluid every time gas is extracted.
      Drillers do not have to reveal the chemical cocktail, thanks to a slew of exemptions given to the industry, most notably in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, which actually granted the fracking industry a specific exemption from the Safe Drinking Water Act.

      According to the Department of Energy, there were more than 418,000 gas wells in the U.S. as of 2006. Since the Environmental Protection Agency lacks authority to investigate and regulate fracking, the extent of the pollution is unknown.

      It's personal for Fox: He lives in Pennsylvania, on a stream that feeds into the Delaware River, atop the "Marcellus Shale," a subterranean region from New York to Tennessee with extensive natural-gas reserves.

      Fracking in the Marcellus Shale could potentially contaminate the water supplies of both New York City and Philadelphia.

      Fox was offered almost $100,000 for the gas rights to his 19 acres, which led him to investigate the industry, and ultimately to produce his award-winning documentary.

    • 1 year ago
  • bottguardo
  • coolplanet
  • JanforGore
  • FLeggplant
    • +3
      FLeggplant  

    • Good!
      Not that it will stop Chevron or any other big oil company from doing exactly what they want to do.
      But, maybe, just maybe, it might make them look before they foul next time.
      I know, I know, I must be dreaming.

    • 1 year ago
  • monkeyeatmusic
  • Bazinga
    • +2
      Bazinga  

    • A huge step forward for environmental and social accountability. I can only imagine just how much of an impact this ruling will have in the future, especially considering the creation a South American court that would take international environmental cases. The potential for corporations to be taken down for harming people and the environment has never been greater.

    • 1 year ago
  • JanforGore
    • +3
      JanforGore  
    • Bazinga:

      I cried when I read it. So much abuse of indigenous people and resources by corporations that think they can do anything they wish with no respect and just get away with it. This is a good first step in telling them enough is enough.

    • 1 year ago
  • FLeggplant
  • Mr_Brainwash
  • ZiggyStrange
  • JanforGore
  • ZiggyStrange
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
  • JanforGore
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