Ecuador Court Fines Chevron $9 Billion in Rain Forest Pollution Case
Jamel Johnson
SOC 202-01
2/24/2011
An amazon in Ecuador has been polluted by Chevron an oil giant. A judge from Ecuador ordered the oil company to pay 9 billion dollars in damages and legal fees. Also the money could double if they don’t make a public apology. But it was said that the apology was very unlikely to happen. The Chevron oil company is trying to fight it in the Ecuadorean legal system, so that they won’t have to pay the damages of the pollution. Their argument is that when Chevron bought Texaco, Ecuador and Texaco had already had an agreement that Texaco would clean up where they dumped a mix of petroleum and water in the open pits near the oil wells. And this all started in 1993. But Chevron bought Texaco in 2001 and they said Texaco fulfilled its clean up obligations with the previous agreement. So they feel they shouldn’t have to pay for a problem in a time period they had no control over. But the Amazon watch says that now Chevron has 900 unlined, open-air toxic waste pits by thousands of people in the area. They say when there is heavy rain the waste goes into nearby soils and rivers. So the judge still fells that the $9 billion settlement is reasonable. Mind you that Chevron made $19 billion in 2010.
http://www.allgov.com/US_and_the_World/ViewNews/Ecuador_Court_Fines_Chevron_9_Billion_Dollars_in_Rain_Forest_Pollution_Case_110216
Jamel Johnson
SOC 202-01
2/24/2011
An amazon in Ecuador has been polluted by Chevron an oil giant. A judge from Ecuador ordered the oil company to pay 9 billion dollars in damages and legal fees. Also the money could double if they don’t make a public apology. But it was said that the apology was very unlikely to happen. The Chevron oil company is trying to fight it in the Ecuadorean legal system, so that they won’t have to pay the damages of the pollution. Their argument is that when Chevron bought Texaco, Ecuador and Texaco had already had an agreement that Texaco would clean up where they dumped a mix of petroleum and water in the open pits near the oil wells. And this all started in 1993. But Chevron bought Texaco in 2001 and they said Texaco fulfilled its clean up obligations with the previous agreement. So they feel they shouldn’t have to pay for a problem in a time period they had no control over. But the Amazon watch says that now Chevron has 900 unlined, open-air toxic waste pits by thousands of people in the area. They say when there is heavy rain the waste goes into nearby soils and rivers. So the judge still fells that the $9 billion settlement is reasonable. Mind you that Chevron made $19 billion in 2010.
http://www.allgov.com/US_and_the_World/ViewNews/Ecuador_Court_Fines_Chevron_9_Billion_Dollars_in_Rain_Forest_Pollution_Case_110216
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