Lives For Oil

Chevron Manipulated Documents

2012-02-06T12:46:00.001-05:00

Here's another example of the lengths to which Chevron will go to escape paying for a cleanup of the Ecuadorian rainforest. New documents show that Chevron did not hesitate to manipulate evidence in the Ecuador trial. Read the latest Chevron Pit.

Chevron's Dirty Laundry

2012-01-31T14:30:00.002-05:00

According to The Chevron Pit, the oil giant has spent at least $1 million to prevent its dirty laundry about Diego Borja from airing. Borja has stored mysterious information against Chevron in his iPhone. Read all about it at The Chevron Pit

D-E-N-Y

2012-01-25T10:52:00.002-05:00

Deny! Deny! Deny! That was the answer from three courts in the past month hearing motions from Chevron to stop enforcement of the $18 billion Ecuador judgment against it. Read about it at The Chevron Pit.

Ridiculous Explanations by Chevron's Lawyers

2012-01-24T12:18:00.000-05:00

Chevron lawyers are struggling to come up with new excuses to explain why they shouldn't pay the $18 billion Ecuador judgment for oil spill contamination. Randy Mastro, Chevron's lawyer, "super clear" explanations sound ridiculous. What will he say next? Check it out at The Chevron Pit.

Chevron Needs To Come Clean

2012-01-11T12:35:00.001-05:00

Chevron needs to come clean in so many ways. Read The Chevron Pit about how the company is misleading its shareholders about liabilities, not only in Ecuador but Burma as well. Will Chevron ever take responsibility for its action and clean up the toxic mess it has left behind?

Chevron’s Worst Enemy: Its Own Law Firm, Gibson Dunn

2012-01-06T09:52:00.002-05:00

Chevron’s law firm Gibson Dunn is quickly turning into the oil giant's worst enemy. According to the Chevron Pit , Gibson Dunn has taken Chevron down a litigious path that is benefiting only Gibson Dunn's bottom line. Over 60 Gibson Dunn lawyers are working for Chevron against the indigenous tribes who recently won an $18 billion judgment against the oil giant. All total, 500 lawyers and legal assistants are on Chevron's payroll, the Chevron Pit reports. What a waste -- money better spent on helping the Ecuadorians clean up the billions and billions of toxic waste and oil dumped into the soil and waterways of the rainforest. Talk about greedy lawyers? Start with Gibson Dunn.

Chevron Dodging Explanations About Its Misconduct Again

2011-12-30T02:33:00.004-05:00

Anytime I read "no comment" or "refused to answer questions," I am immediately suspect. More often than not, Chevron clams up when questions get tough and direct. See this Chevron Pit for another example of the company dodging explanations about their misconduct in Ecuador, where the company faces an $18 billion judgment for one of the world's worst environmental disasters ever.

If You Can't Win In Court, Bribe Your Way Out Of It.

2011-12-23T14:58:00.001-05:00

The Chevron Pit is reporting that Chevron spokesperson James Craig didn't deny that Chevron tried to "donate" $1 billion to Ecuador in exchange for the killing $18 billion lawsuit. Another classic oil company move: If you can't win in court, bribe your way out of it. Doesn't sound like it worked this time.

Chevron wants to "Donate" money to Ecuador

2011-12-22T10:54:00.005-05:00

Give me a break! Chevron wants to "donate" money to Ecuador to help protect the rainforest. Right. Chevron has been fighting a lawsuit to help residents of the area the Chevron contaminated with 18 billion gallons of toxic water and oil. An Ecuador judge sticks the company with an $18 billion judgment, and now Chevron wants the government of Ecuador to get the judgment squashed in exchange for $500 million. Let's hope the government stands up to the oil giant. Here is a blog all about it.

Defending Chevron

2011-12-14T10:00:00.003-05:00

Ecuadorians living in the region of the Amazon that was polluted by toxins deliberately dumped by Chevron there, are dying of cancer and other oil related diseases. The oil giant has brought no relief to them and refuses to properly clean up the sludge that is contaminating the land they depend on for survival. It is a tragedy, both humanitarian and environmental and Chevron was found guilty of causing it. You’d think people would be outraged by Chevron’s behavior but apparently for a little bit of money, you can find supporters no matter how sordid your crime is. Look at the law firm-Gibson Dunn- that is defending Chevron. The money that should be put towards cleaning up the mess in Ecuador is going into the pockets of Gibson Dunn’s lawyers and they, just like Chevron, won’t stop at anything. The law firm that will break the law to help Chevron evade responsibility.

Visit Chevron Pit to find out more about Gibson Dunn.

Damage Control

2011-12-06T19:16:00.002-05:00

Just a few months after Wikileaks cables exposed a pretty close relationship between Chevron and U.S. Embassy in Ecuador, the Embassy released a statement announcing its support for the conservation of the Ecuadorian Amazon and promised to work with indigenous tribes that have been affected by environmental disasters like the one caused by Chevron.

Chevron is responsible for knowingly polluting Ecuadorian rainforest and so far the U.S. Embassy had supported the oil giant in its effort to escape the accountability. It looks like finally U.S. officials in Ecuador are getting on the right track. Chevron Pit has more details.

Chevron Paying For Support

2011-11-29T10:37:00.002-05:00

What does a company that is facing worldwide criticism for its unethical behavior and disregard for the environment do to improve its image? You’d think it would get on the right track and clean up its messes, right? Not Chevron! Chevron prefers to take an easy way out and simply pay people to speak positively about them. The Chevron Pit gives us a few examples of Chevron’s team trying to buy people’s support. In 2009 Gene Randall, former CNN correspondent, took part in Chevron produced fake news report, that the oil giant tried to distribute online as real news. Next year, journalist Mary Cueddehe was offered $20,000 by the oil giant to go undercover and spy on Ecuadorians suffering from Chevron’s contamination. There’s also Zennie Abraham- San Francisco Chronicle blogger who continuously posted one sided articles putting Chevron in a positive light. Read Chevron Pit’s latest post to find out more about Zennie’s “sponsored” posts.

The truth however is not that easy to hide. All of Chevron’s schemes are failing. As for Zennie Abrams… he got fired and will no longer be allowed to post Chevron scripted blogs on San Francisco Chronicle’s website.

Brazil Next Victim of Chevron’s Irresponsible Behavior

2011-11-25T12:19:00.000-05:00

Chevron’s recent oil spill in Latin America has made Brazil the company’s most recent victim of environmental damage and contamination due to their irresponsible behavior. Much like the situation in Ecuador, Chevron had been attempting to evade any fines by trying to convince the Brazilian government that the oil spill that occurred at one of the Chevron’s undersea wells on November 7th was significantly smaller what investigations are proving. Visit Chevron Pit for more details

Same As It Ever Was

2011-11-02T12:39:00.002-04:00

Exxon in 1989, BP 2010 and for the last 18 years, Chevron. Each of these companies knowingly followed a reckless protocol of profit over people.

Consequences be damned. They don't change safety standards; they aren't interested in kneeling before Justice and making reparations. Nope, they lawyer up and launch a PR campaign that would make even Quadaffi seem a candidate for sainthood.

And so it goes with Chevron. Chevron has repeatedly refused to disclose important legal documents related to a video scam. The oil giant tried but failed to bribe an Ecuadorian court on videotape (secretly recorded) to derail a trial that produced an $18 billion judgment against the company for contamination the likes of which we have never seen anywhere else.

Meanwhile, they launch these epic ad campaigns declaring their "commitment to the environment and improving the quality of lives around the world". I'm serious, just check out their website if you've somehow been lucky enough to escape the nonstop television, radio and print ads.

So, while us folks at home are being swooned by a multi-million dollar sermon on the goodness of Chevron, the Ecuadorians are fighting for their lives. Check out this Chevron Pit blog, too.

Chevron Trying To Hide Its Illegal Shenanigans Once Again

2011-10-23T09:21:00.001-04:00

Chevron’s lawyers are fighting feverishly to withhold the documents that might prove Chevron’s continuous obstruction of law during the Ecuadorian pollution lawsuit. I learned from this press release that Chevron's lawyers are withholding 700 documents related to the 2009 bribery scheme and are refusing to release them, despite a court order to do. The Ecuadorians are fighting for the release of the documents in order to prove Chevron’s illegal attempts to derail the trial. Interestingly, last month, during proceedings in the San Francisco court, the lawyer who is representing Chevron’s dirty trick operative Diego Borja, admitted that Borja could be facing criminal charges in U.S. for his involvement in Chevron’s illegal operations. I'm sure there will be more to come!

Chevron’s Unethical Lobbying of Ecuador Government Revealed in Wikileaks Cables

2011-09-23T14:10:00.001-04:00

Just days after Second Circuit Court of Appeals dissolved (link to yesterdays post) the injunction prohibiting the enforcement of multibillion judgment against Chevron; Wikileaks cables written by U.S officials exposed another attempt by the oil giant to illegally end the pollution lawsuit.

Wikileaks documents show that Chevron tried to manipulate Ecuadorian government to interfere with the lawsuit, knowing that such intervention is forbidden by the Ecuadorian Constitution and would be illegal.

Read Amazon Defense Coalition Press Release or Chevron Pit

Judge Kaplan’s Absurd Decisions

2011-08-17T20:14:00.001-04:00

It seems like Judge Kaplan is confused over what his role in the Chevron trial is. Looking at his behavior, comments and rulings, you’d think he is representing Chevron. He is supposed to be impartial and make a fair decision whether the multibillion-dollar judgment against Chevron is enforceable or not. And most importantly, he is supposed to listen to everyone’s arguments. Instead, he decided to exclude the Ecuadorians’ lead lawyer Steven Donziger from the trial. Even though Donziger has been a key person in the historic pollution case for over 18 years, he is not allowed to be in the courtroom as crucial decisions are being made about his case.

Read more here and here

Judge Kaplan's Unacceptable Behavior

2011-06-09T09:39:00.001-04:00

I wrote about Judge Lewis Kaplan a while ago. Chevron filed a lawsuit against Ecuadorians in an effort to block the enforcement of the $18 billion judgement that was awarded to them and Judge Kaplan is presiding over it. He is biased. He keeps making inappropriate comments towards the Ecuadorians referring to them as “so-called Lago Agrio plaintiffs” and "a number of indigenous peoples said to reside in the Amazon rainforest." and according to him the Ecuadorian lawsuit-one of the biggest environmental lawsuits ever, is just a "game" brought about by the "imagination of American lawyers" trying to solve the "balance of payments" problem of the United States. This is absolutely unacceptable!

Chevron back to its old tricks.

2011-06-03T22:20:00.000-04:00

In 2009, a few days before 60 Minutes program about Chevron's contamination in Ecuador was scheduled to air, Chevron released a video featuring CNN's Gene Randall. The video was purposely designed to fool the viewers into thinking that it was a real news broadcast. Last year Chevron tried to pay an American freelance journalist to spy on the Ecuadorian plaintiffs. Now, Alex Thorne- pro-Chevron blogger is pretending to be working on an article and reaching out to Amazon Watch donors asking them to reconsider their support for Amazon Watch. As Chevron Pit points out, this is Chevron's another attempt to use fake journalism to undermine the pollution lawsuit.

Chevron Accuses Everyone But Is Blind to Its Own Wrongdoings

2011-05-23T21:07:00.001-04:00

Chevron has been acting as if it is above the law from the very beginning of the pollution lawsuit in Ecuador. The oil giant has tried every possible move to avoid paying for the cleanup of its own toxic mess in the Ecuadorian rain forest. Some of Chevron's doings have been unjust and very often illegal. A perfect example would be Diego Borja admitting Chevron tried to manipulate the evidence.

Chevron seems to think blatant lies and manipulation are acceptable as long as it works in Chevron's favor, but the oil giant is very quick to accuse others of wrongdoing even when there's no reason to. Chevron accused Ecuadorian plaintiffs of illegally communicating with court appointed experts. But, there are two facts that Chevron chose to completely ignore. One- such meetings are completely acceptable. Two- Chevron's officials have met with with technical experts as well and Chevron did not find it inappropriate then. What makes Chevron look even more foolish is that after requesting the court to appoint an expert to conduct tests at some of the oil sites in Ecuador, Chevron refused to pay the expert after he found contamination at those sites.

Chevron's Shareholders Getting Worried

2011-05-19T09:32:00.000-04:00

A few days before Chevron's annual shareholder meeting, a new report has been released on Chevron's liability risks. The authors, Simon Billenness and Sanford Lewis- corporate governance experts, point out that the 18 billion dollar liability for the contamination of the Ecuadorian rainforest exposed company's lack of proper risk management and put Chevron at risk of irreparable harm to its value and reputation.Chevron's board of directors has been avoiding shareholders' questions about the financial risks related to the pollution lawsuit in Ecuador and has given misleading statements to the investors. This is very typical of Chevron- refusing to answer to anyone's questions and going by its own rules.

Read more about the report here.

Criminals On Chevron's Payroll

2011-05-18T07:13:00.001-04:00

Have you ever wondered what Chevron is spending its money on, other than huge bonuses and salaries for its top executives? Well, today's post on Chevron Pit answers this question. Apparently some of Chevron's profits goes to the self-proclaimed “dirty tricks” operative Diego Borja and his partner, a drug felon named Wayne Hansen. They don't even need to do any actual work for Chevron, just a few illegal operations like trying to set up the Ecuadorian judge who was presiding over the pollution lawsuit. If you want to find out what being Chevron's dirty operative will get you, go here.

John Watson made $14 million in 2010!

2011-04-15T12:29:00.002-04:00

I blogged about the raise Chevron’s CEO John Watson recently received that increased his salary to $1.6 million, but I was not aware of the perks that come from being the CEO of one of the least reputable U.S. Corporations. I didn’t mention performance-based bonuses, stock options, contributions to an employee savings plan and small things like the use of company airplane.

According to an Associated Press analysis John Watson made $14 million in 2010 alone!

Isn’t life great when you are Chevron’s top executive? It’s a shame though that while chasing those millions Chevron trampled over so many innocent people’s lives and now does not have the decency to clean up its mess in Ecuador. Shameful.

Chevron giving away millions to its executives…

2011-04-06T21:48:00.000-04:00

Instead of spending at least a small portion of the huge profits on the cleanup of the toxic mess in Ecuador and bringing relief to those suffering from Chevron’s contamination, Chevron’s board of directors decided to give that money to its top officials. Chevron’s CEO John Watson has just received a raise and is now making $1.6 million a year!!!

Apparently to make millions you need to be unscrupulous, manipulative and make sure your company ranks high among the least reputable American corporations. Never mind billions of gallons of toxins deliberately dumped in the Ecuadorian Amazon; never mind thousands of people suffering from the contamination; never mind all the lies and manipulation!

More On Judge Lewis Kaplan

2011-03-15T11:15:00.001-04:00

Chevron Pit just posted a few quotes form Lewis Kaplan, the judge who blocked the enforcement of the $9.5 billion judgment against Chevron for oil contamination in the Amazon rainforest.

“On the other hand, we are dealing here with a company of considerable importance to our economy that employs thousands all over the world, that supplies a group of commodities, gasoline, heating oil, other fuels and lubricants on which every one of us depends every single day. I don't think there is anybody in this courtroom who wants to pull his car into a gas station to fill up and finds that there isn't any gas there because these folks have attached it in Singapore or wherever else.”

Judge Kaplan sounds very worried about Chevron’s wellbeing and shows absolutely no concern for Chevron’s victims.

Read more here.

Chevron’s Heartless Team

2011-03-14T16:13:00.002-04:00

I started this blog because I was outraged by Chevron’s lack of concern for the environment and the communities suffering because of Chevron’s refusal to clean up its own toxic mess. With each shocking development in the lawsuit, I wonder who stands behind Chevron’s abusive defense campaign. Who would willingly choose to stand in the way of Ecuadorians fighting for justice? Apparently, with the right amount of money, a team of heartless experts is not hard to find. To meet all of the Chevron’s Human Rights Hitmen visit Chevron Pit and RAN’s websites.

U.S. Judge Siding With Chevron.

2011-03-08T14:41:00.000-05:00

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan who blocked the enforcement of the $9.5 billion judgment is not objective and clearly sides with Chevron. The judge even encouraged Chevron to file the RICO charges against the plaintiffs and their legal team. It is unbelievable that anyone would voluntarily choose to stand in the way of the Ecuadorians fighting for justice especially since scientific evidence has proven Chevron is guilty of dumping over 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater into Amazon and destroying their lives.

The Damage In Ecuador Is So Great, Chevron’s Own Tests Can’t Hide It

2011-03-07T17:26:00.001-05:00

Chevron hired an independent expert to test the soil in Ecuador to prove there is no contamination, but the environmental damage in the Amazon is so great even Chevron’s own expert couldn’t deny it.

Here’s what Chevron’s tests showed:

All but one facility had contaminated water discharge into creeks and streams.

Hydrocarbon contamination at all facilities and a majority of drilling sites

Water waste was historically discharged into surface water.

“An oil spill prevention and control plan was not identified. The audit teams also did not observe any spill control or containment equipment.”

Rather than cleaning chemical or hydrocarbon spills, the oil company covered the spills with sand.

Devastating effects

2011-03-02T20:19:00.002-05:00

A few days ago New York Times reporter Ian Urbina wrote an article about devastating effects of hydrofracking on the environment. Billions of gallons of wastewater filled with toxins being improperly disposed of; contamination of drinking water and soil; unusually high rates of cancer and other illnesses sound awfully familiar, don’t they? Chevron Pit points out similarities between the results of the investigation into the harmful effects of hydrofracking and the environmental damages in Ecuador caused by Chevron’s careless operations.

Video: oil worker talking about Chevron's operation in Ecuador

2011-02-25T08:27:00.002-05:00

Chevron dumped over 16 billion gallons of wastewater polluting rivers and streams in the Ecuadorian rainforest. It is horrible especially since Chevron knew how harmful the toxins were, but what makes it even worse is the fact that Chevron had a safer system designed but chose NOT to use it in order to save money.

Watch this unbelievable video of an oil worker talking about Chevron instructing the employees to drain the chemicals straight into the environment.

Chevron & The Koch Brothers

2011-02-16T20:22:00.003-05:00

Chevron’s campaign to defame the Ecuadorians suing the company for oil contamination is starting to sound a lot like the attacks by the arch-conservative Koch Brothers, the billionaires who have financed campaigns against liberal groups, like Common Cause. This blog by Carl Pope, Chairman of the Sierra Club makes that clear. I’m not surprised that Chevron is following the Koch Brothers’ playbook — the company’s general counsel, Hew Pate, and the former general counsel, Charles James, worked for the Justice Department under George Bush and with the lawyers who wrote the torture memos. What a resume these guys have!

A Gang of Thieves -- Without Honor or Humor

Carl Pope
Chairman, Sierra Club
Posted: February 16, 2011 01:47 PM

San Francisco -- That's the thought that comes to mind this week, watching the behavior of Big Oil. In Ecuador, a Court found that Chevron owes local communities $8 billion for damages left behind from an oil drilling business Chevron inherited when it took over Texaco. Chevron's response was not that the damages hadn't been done, but that the Ecuadoran decision was "illegitimate" and that the company simply wouldn't pay its debts. (Does this remind you of Exxon-Mobile around the Valdez decisions? It would be nice if the oil industry was satisfied to be the world's richest, but at least paid its bills.)

Of course, Chevron's Ecuadoran bill is more than matched by the amount of direct subsidies Big Oil draws from American taxpayers. The Obama Administration, in its proposed new budget, thinks that there are probably better ways to spend taxpayer dollars, and has proposed eliminating $54 billion of these subsidies, including $10 billion that flows from the U.S. Treasury to such governments as Saudi Arabia. (You might not have known that oil producers are, in fact, one of the major recipients of this form of foreign aid. Big Oil pays the Saudis, and the Treasury reimburses Big Oil.) The new Tea Party-influenced Republican leadership in Congress doesn't seem to agree: the Defense Department, the nuclear industry, and Big Oil are virtually the only items in the federal budget protected from proposed slash-and-burn budget cuts.

If you are running this kind of racket, it is always good to have friends in high places, and the oil industry is making sure that politicians remain in its hock. The billionaire Koch Brothers announced that in 2012 they plan to raise $88 million to purchase influence in Washington. When Common Cause organized a protest at the secret Palm Springs gathering the brothers host, conservatives yelled "foul" and began organizing dirty tricks against Common Cause. This is classic Koch style; they've also brought a lawsuit against pranksters who sent out a press release last December saying the brothers had seen the light and would no longer fund global warming denial groups. The lawsuit claimed that the spoof press release's authors were "guilty of trademark infringement, cybersquatting, unfair competition, and violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act," a criminal statute that penalizes those who hack into protected governmental and private computer systems.

It's hard to take such a lawsuit seriously. But the Koch Brothers are serious. Anyone who shines a light on their secretive effort to take over the U.S. government can expect this kind of bullying. And while Big Oil is too restrained to carry on these kinds of shenanigans here in the U.S., the Chevron response in Ecuador shows their true face.

Chevron Found Guilty of Contaminating Ecuadorian Rain Forest

2011-02-15T09:35:00.002-05:00

On Monday an Ecuadorian judge ordered Chevron to pay $8.9 billion to clean up 16 billion gallons of toxic waste that Chevron dumped into the rain forest in Ecuador.

For many years Chevron has been pointing fingers at others and trying to manipulate its way out of the responsibility for the toxic mess but it all came to nothing when faced with overwhelming evidence that plaintiffs submitted to the court showing Chevron not only contaminated the rain forest but it did it knowingly.

Chevron built a substandard system and continued to use it knowing it’s leaking toxins into the ground. In a 1980 letter a Texaco official said that building a safer system would be too expensive and recommended using the faulty one. Chevron took that advice and continued putting toxic byproduct of oil drilling into 900 unlined and unprotected pits for many years.

The judgment is great news for the Ecuadorians suffering from the contamination and anyone who cares about the environment. It is time for a proper clean up of those toxic oil pits, not just throwing dirt on top of them like Chevron did.

Chevron Tries To Silence The Critics Again

2011-02-02T11:59:00.003-05:00

Chevron has filed a racketeering lawsuit against the named Ecuadorians who are suing Chevron for the contamination in the Amazon . This is not only another desperate attempt to run away from what could be a costly judgment for them in Ecuador, but also an example of Chevron’s bullying of anyone who dares to speak up against them. Just how low will Chevron go? It files criminal charges against the very people suffering from the company’s shoddy drilling practices that led to the destruction of their land and culture and, in thousands of cases, the death and illness of people living near Chevron’s former oil sites. This is unbelievable.

Chevron’s lawsuit was filed under the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations act which was designed to prosecute the Mafia. I read about it in this San Francisco Chronicle article. It quotes Sean Hecht, executive director of the Environmental Law Center at UCLA. saying that Chevron’s suit looks more like a form of SLAPP, a strategic lawsuit that seeks to essentially silence people from protesting.

"I can't judge this as a SLAPP suit, but it looks like it has some of the hallmarks," Hecht said . "It's trying to convince someone to throw in the towel."

As the evidence against Chevron mounts up, Chevron is now trying to force the Ecuadorians to back away. I’m betting they are going nowhere. Also, remember that Chevron had five protestors arrested last year at its shareholder meeting and prevented 20 people, many from foreign countries, including Ecuador, from attending the meeting, even though they had legitimate proxies.

Chevron Tells More Lies!

2011-01-27T11:49:00.003-05:00

Chevron must have a bottomless box full of dirty tricks. The oil giant has been using all kinds of schemes for 18 years to get out of the responsibility for the toxic mess left behind in Ecuador. When you think you have seen it all, Chevron comes up with another deplorable lie. This time Chevron is alleging that some of the plaintiffs’ signatures were forged on the lawsuit!

I understand that Chevron’s executives are in panic mode because they could face a multi-billion damage award, but have they not learned anything yet? Most of those schemes not only failed, but also backfired and hurt Chevron’s reputation in the end.

Earlier this week, more than two dozens of the plaintiffs whose signatures Chevron claims were forged gathered at one of the oil waste pits to verify their signatures. Chevron’s spokesperson James Craig called it a “media circus”. From my perspective, though, the only clown is Chevron.

UPDATE

2011-01-26T10:35:00.002-05:00

I haven’t posted anything in a while. I have been traveling and wasn’t able to update the blog regularly. There have been a few developments but two things have not changed: Ecuadorians are still getting sick and dying because of Chevron’s contamination and Chevron refuses to do anything about it.

Here are a few headlines I missed:

Chevron Accused Of 'World's Worst Oil-Related Disaster' In Ecuador: Alleged Evidence Submitted In Lawsuit

Diego Borja, his wife Sarah Portilla, and collaborator Wayne Hansen have left California after being called to testify about falsifying evidence in Ecuador environmental trial

Comedy Video Rips Chevron's New "Greenwashing" PR Campaign

Chevron’s Andrea Neuman Sanctioned For Abusive Questioning

2010-11-20T20:31:00.002-05:00

Chevron lawyers’ unprofessional practices are not going unnoticed anymore. Andrea Neuman , one of the lead lawyers in the Ecuador lawsuit is the fourth Chevron lawyer to be sanctioned by either an Ecuadorian or a U.S. court. Neuman is accused of trying to intimidate an American technical expert during a recent deposition. Chevron has been playing by its own rules for a long time blatantly ignoring the rule of law.

Visit Chevron Pit for more details.

Andrea Neuman

Three Chevron Lawyers Sanctioned For Obstructing Ecuador Environmental Trial

2010-11-01T21:40:00.002-04:00

Facing $113 Billion in Potential Damages, Chevron Lawyers Seek Any Opportunity to Delay

Amazon Defense Coalition
29 October 2010 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Karen Hinton at 703-798-3109 or Karen@hintoncommunications.com

Lago Agrio, Ecuador (October 29, 2010) -- A trial court has sanctioned and fined three Chevron lawyers for obstructing the trial where Chevron faces a multi-billion dollar judgment for the deliberate dumping of 18 billion gallons of toxic waste, according to court papers made available today.

Alberto Racines and Diego Larrea, both of whom have worked on Chevron’s legal team in Ecuador since the trial against Chevron began in 2003, were fined by Judge Nicolas Zambrano this week for repeatedly filing the same motions in an effort to delay the seven-year Ecuador trial.

The judge ruled that the lawyers had used Chevron’s motions “to obstruct the trial.” In 2009, a third Chevron lawyer – Patricio Campuzano – was sanctioned for the same reason.
On August 5 – one day after the court ordered both parties to submit their own damages assessments -- Chevron filed 19 motions to nullify the order or the trial itself in a 30-minute period. Racines and Larrea then cited the failure of the trial judge to quickly rule on each of the motions as a basis to recuse him.

“The evidence clearly shows Chevron used illegal practices that resulted in the massive destruction of the rainforest in Ecuador and the decimation of indigenous groups and other local residents,” said Pablo Fajardo, who represents dozens of indigenous and farmer communities suing the oil giant for dumping more than 18 billion gallons of toxic waste into the Amazon rainforest.

“To help Chevron evade its obligations, Chevron’s lawyers are trying to sabotage the Ecuadorian legal system in addition to violating their professional obligations,” he added. (MORE)

“We Agree”, Chevron Needs To Clean Up Its Mess

2010-10-19T20:01:00.002-04:00

Chevron’s “We Agree” advertising campaign was designed by Chevron’s public relations team to try to convince us that Chevron is more than just an oil company. We are supposed to believe that Chevron cares about people and the environment. Chevron’s strategy was very simple: ignore disastrous environmental record and talk about all the good things Chevron could, but of course will never do.
Activists from The Yes Man launched their own website and sent out faux press release mocking Chevron’s ads. The website was made to look like it’s a part of Chevron’s campaign but instead of empty promises it is based on truth and the real image of Chevron people should see.
Some journalists got fooled by the faux press release and this morning everyone is talking about it. Great!

The True Cost of Chevron

2010-10-15T21:48:00.003-04:00

The oil waste Chevron left behind in the Ecuadorian rain forest is making people sick. According to American expert Dr. Daniel Rourke 10,000 people are at risk of getting cancer. The longer Chevron refuses to clean up, the bigger this environmental crisis gets.

Read more about Dr. Rourke’s findings here

Her leg amputated because of a cancerous tumor, Modesta Briones sits in her house near Parahuaco oil well #2 in the Ecuadoran Amazon.

Terrifying Truth

2010-10-07T10:33:00.003-04:00

Last month Chevron’s lawyer Andrea Neuman deposed an environmental expert William Power. The lawyer for the Amazonian communities suing Chevron took the opportunity and cross-examined Mr. Powers. His testimony revealed some horrifying truths about Chevron’s contamination in the Ecuadorian rain forest. Below you can read a few quotes, visit Chevron in Ecuador for more details and to read how Mr. Power’s testimony sent Chevron’s lawyers into total panic.

Q: Now, when Chevron-Texaco designed its pits in the Ecuadorian Amazon, what design did it use?  

Powers: Dug a hole in the dirt and deposited the drilling muds in the unlined hole.

Q: And if Chevron-Texaco was designing those pits in the United States, would it have been able to dig a pit in the – and put in the drilling muds as you described?

Powers: No.

Q: What's the consequence of Chevron's design of its pits in the Lago Agrio concession?

Powers: Two consequences: the leeching of the chemicals into the ground, and ultimately into the ground water; and the overflow of the pits due to lack of maintenance and rain water and overflowing directly into the drainage channels surrounding that pit.

Q: And what's the basis for your conclusions concerning the Chevron-Texaco's pits?

Powers: Having viewed the pits and reviewed the nature of how those pits were designed, utilized, and the fact that – it is uncontested that the pits were left with drilling mud in them.

Q: And when Chevron developed the oil field in Ecuador, did it do so in conformity with standards for treatment of production water that were in place in the United States at the time that it was building its infrastructure in Ecuador?

Powers: No.

Q: Can you describe the ways in which Chevron's Ecuadorian concession fell below standards it would have been required to meet if that field were in the United States?

Powers: Based on the salinity and the produced water from the field, the company would have been required to reinject that water into a subsurface formation. Could not have operated that oil field or produced a single barrel of oil without having that produced water injection system operational.

Q: By failing to reinject production water in the Lago Agrio concession, what impact did that have on the environment in Lago Agrio?

Powers: It contaminated the surface water at the points where it was injected, not only with the high salinity of the produced water in an environment that has almost no natural salinity, but the trace contaminants of heavy metals and oil also contributed to the generalized contamination of that surface water.

Q: If you include the produced water in your comparison between the discharge into the environment from Chevron's Lago Agrio concession, when you compare that to the Exxon-Valdez oil discharge from that catastrophe, how would you compare them?

Powers: Both the produced water and the crude oil are toxic. The – you can argue about the relative toxicity of them both. But the amount of toxic liquids that should not have been in the environment in Ecuador was at least 30 times the quantity or the volume of crude that was spilled in the Exxon-Valdez disaster.

Chevron Misleads U.S. Courts with Inaccurate Translation

2010-10-05T11:43:00.000-04:00

I just read that Chevron’s lawyers submitted inaccurate translation of Pablo Fajardo’s comments to U.S. Federal court as evidence. By inaccurate I mean changed to fit Chevron’s lies and completely different from what was actually said. Ohhh… the audacity! How can unethical behavior like this go unpunished? How far will Chevron be allowed to go before somebody says enough?!

See Amazon Defense Coalition’s press release below.

Chevron Misleads U.S. Courts with Inaccurate Translation in Multi-Billion Dollar Ecuador Contamination Lawsuit
Gibson Dunn’s Aggressive Legal Strategy Backfires In Federal Court
Amazon Defense Coalition
1 October September 2010 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Karen Hinton at 703-798-3109 or Karen@hintoncommunications.com

New York, New York – Chevron has been submitting an inaccurate and misleading translation to U.S. federal courts as part of its effort to evade liability in the multi-billion dollar Ecuador environmental lawsuit, according to court papers filed recently.

Chevron’s lawyers at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, who recently took over the Ecuador litigation for the company, submitted a highly misleading and inaccurate translation of lead Ecuadorian attorney Pablo Fajardo describing the role of court-appointed expert Richard Cabrera. Attacking Cabrera, who in 2008 submitted a damages assessment against Chevron of $27 billion, has been the centerpiece of the oil giant’s strategy to discredit the Ecuadorian judicial system to defeat enforcement of an expected adverse judgment.

Gibson Dunn brags on its website that its litigators in the Ecuador case have been described by American Lawyer magazine as the “Game Changers”; the firm notes that “clients in deep trouble turn to Gibson Dunn for fresh, aggressive thinking and innovative rescues.”

In a brief filed on Sept. 28 by representatives of the Amazonian communities in federal courts in New York and elsewhere, the plaintiffs blast Chevron for its erroneous translation of comments made by Fajardo. According to Chevron’s translation of a 2007 meeting, Fajardo told a group of scientists in Quito that Cabrera would simply “sign the report and review it.”

According to an accurate translation of the exchange, Fajardo actually said that what Cabrera “will do is give his criteria… right… his opinion, and sign the report, and review as well.”

Chevron also excluded from its court submission the contemporaneous translation of Fajardo during the meeting, which verifies that Chevron’s translation was manipulated.

"What Fajardo actually said in the meeting is radically different from what Chevron claimed he said via its bogus translation," said Karen Hinton, a spokeswoman for the communities. "Once again, Chevron is misrepresenting facts to courts around the country in support of its contrived 'fraud' narrative."

"When the facts don't fit the contrived narrative, Chevron's lawyers seem content to just make them up," she added.

Chevron has claimed to U.S. courts that ex parte contacts with experts in Ecuador is illegal, when in fact the practice was commonly used by both parties and sanctioned by the court, said Hinton. Lawyers on both sides of the dispute were invited by the court to provide materials to Cabrera and other experts; Cabrera and these other experts adopted some of the materials provided by the parties.

The plaintiffs also have submitted evidence that Chevron's lawyers, on a regular basis, met ex parte with judges overseeing the trial.

This is not the first time that Chevron has manipulated the meaning of translations for legal or public relations purposes.

In 2009, Chevron accused the Ecuadorian judge then presiding over the case of saying an appeal by Chevron of an adverse decision would only be a "formality" when what he actually said was the parties would have to observe the "formalities" of the appeals process. Chevron then used the misleading translation to claim to the media that the judge had "fixed" the trial.

So far this year Chevron has sought to depose 23 persons in the U.S. associated with the Ecuador case, including two lawyers who have represented the plaintiffs.

Chevron’s strategy of using U.S. discovery rules to harass the Amazonian communities in Ecuador – termed “abusive litigation” by the plaintiffs -- has not gone unnoticed. One U.S. federal magistrate judge recently ruled that Chevron’s discovery strategy is “spiraling out of control” and is an attempt to circumvent the rules of Ecuador’s courts, where Chevron had the trial moved after it was originally filed in U.S. federal court in 1993.

Don't Let Anyone Mention Ecuador!

2010-09-30T11:29:00.003-04:00

A few months ago I blogged about Chevron having protesters arrested at its annual shareholder meeting in Houston. Chevron’s CEO John Watson went even further and filled criminal charges against Chevron’s longtime critic Antonia Juhasz for speaking out about Chevron’s despicable environmental record. I wonder if it was also John Watson who thought forcing people to stay quiet would be a solution.

The Numbers Are In

2010-09-20T11:04:00.003-04:00

If there is anyone out there not realizing how extensive the devastation in the Ecuadorian rain forest is, they need to read Chevron Pit’s latest post. New damage assessments have been submitted to the Ecuador trial court and the numbers are mind blowing!
Below are some of the horrific findings. For more detailed look, visit The Chevron Pit

A mother holds her ten-month old daughter

with a skin rash caused by bathing in

oil-polluted water in Rumipamba in 1993.

• Soil Remediation: A conservative estimate of potential costs to remediate contaminated soils at all of Chevron’s 378 former oil production facilities in Ecuador ranges from $487 million to $949 million depending on the clean-up standard used. The actual cost could be significantly higher.

• Groundwater Remediation: Based on data in the trial record, the range for clean-up of groundwater is $396 million to $911 million.

• Rivers and wetlands: Data indicates that sediment contamination exists, but no clean-up number was presented pending further investigation.

• Health Care: Using recent data from the World Health Organization and the Ecuadorian Ministry of Health, an estimated $1.4 billion will be needed to provide health care to the thousands of affected persons over the next three decades.

• Drinking Water: Degradation of the environment with petroleum hydrocarbons associated with Chevron’s production activities has been documented at numerous locations. The cost of a comprehensive series of regional water systems is estimated to be between approximately $326 million to $541 million.

• Excess Cancer Deaths: Actuarial life-table methodology demonstrates that the aggregate cost of excess cancer deaths due to exposure to oil contamination in the area where Chevron operated could be approximately $69.7 billion. This is the based on the value of a statistical life used by averaging relevant data used in the U.S. court system and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ($7 million for each lost life), and comparing it with official Ecuador mortality data and census information. Up to 9,950 people in the affected area will face a significant risk of dying from cancer in the coming decades even if the area is remediated in the next ten years. Even if the analysis stops in 1990 – the year when Chevron ceased being the operator of the oil fields – the aggregate cost of excess cancer deaths is still estimated at $12.1 billion based on 1,732 deaths from cancer. (The earlier Cabrera report estimated 1,401 deaths from cancer, but he did not project future deaths.)

• Natural Resources Losses: This estimate is based on the evidence that concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons and harmful metals in soil, groundwater, and surface water have exceeded levels considered to be toxic to terrestrial and aquatic biota. While determining the exact values of service losses in the rainforest with precision is not possible, it is not clear that further studies would produce a range of plausible values different from the range posited earlier by Mr. Cabrera – approximately $874 million to $1.7 billion, depending on the methodology employed.

• Unjust Enrichment: Chevron’s unjust enrichment ranges from $4.57 billion to $9.46 billionassuming a 100% probability of detection and ultimate payment, and from $18.26 billion to $37.86 billion assuming a 25% probability of detection and ultimate payment. Given the evidence of Chevron’s malfeasance in Ecuador, the plaintiffs assume the company had at best a 25% probability of detection and ultimate payment, and therefore the unjust enrichment award should at minimum range from $18.26 billion to $37.86 billion. This is a conservative figure, as in reality it is highly unlikely that Chevron believed it had more than a 10% probability of detection and ultimate payment.

• Cultural Impacts on Indigenous Groups: Representatives of the Amazonian communities, noting the acute interdependence between indigenous groups and the rainforest ecosystem, analyzed the impact of hydrocarbon contamination on indigenous culture. The team reviewed economic valuations to repair the loss of cultural and ancestral practices, including a program to purchase unspoiled land, and to construct pools of native fishes and centers to restore flora and fauna. The cost for this restoration is estimated at $481.5 million.

Diego Borja! Time To Speak!

2010-09-16T21:44:00.002-04:00

Diego Borja was supposed to help Chevron. He was the person responsible for the recordings of the Ecuadorian judge and now we have recordings of him bragging about knowing all of Chevron’s dirty secrets and how Chevron is paying for his nice house and a very comfortable life. Well, time has come for him to tell the court all the details. How ironic that Chevron’s own “secret agent”, will have to reveal Chevron’s dark side.

Chevron has been trying very hard to hide the truth but it seems the harder Chevron’s people try, the more trouble they get into. Truth will always come out. Right now, Chevron even refuses to submit its damage assessment reports. If I was working for Chevron, I’d want to hide it too. The damage in Ecuador is so immense, it’s sickening!

The Power of Manipulation

2010-09-15T21:11:00.002-04:00

Even though evidence is mounting against Chevron and it has been scientifically proven that Chevron is guilty of the contamination in Ecuador, Chevron still manages to trick some people into believing Chevron's false arguments. This time it's a reporter Roger Parloff. His story ran on Fortune.

But, I recently ran across an excellent response to his story. The post on Chevron In Ecuador.com says it all.

WITH DISCOVERY BID, ECUADOR TURNS TABLES ON CHEVRON

2010-09-14T21:41:00.000-04:00

September 14, 2010 By Rebecca Beyer
Daily Journal Staff Writer

SAN FRANCISCO - The Republic of Ecuador, which has seen its judicial system come under attack by Chevron Corp. in the last year, has taken a strategy from the oil giant's legal playbook in an effort to defend itself in an arbitration in The Hague.

Home to a massive environmental lawsuit against the San Ramon-based company, the South American country has stood by for nearly a year while Chevron - armed with a law dating back to the 1800s - has filed multiple discovery requests in federal courts across the United States aimed at proving the Ecuadorean judicial system is corrupt. In Ecuador, Chevron is fighting plaintiffs' claims that the company should be held responsible for cleaning up the devastation from nearly 30 years of drilling by Texaco in the Amazon rainforest (Chevron acquired Texaco in 2001).

On Friday, Ecuador filed its own discovery request in San Francisco federal court under the same law Chevron has been using - 28 U.S.C. 1782, a statute designed to help parties obtain U.S.-based evidence for use in foreign proceedings. Ecuador is seeking to depose Diego Borja, one of two men who secretly videotaped a conversation with the original Ecuadorean judge in the case. In re Application of the Republic of Ecuador, 10-80225. Chevron claims the tapes showed the judge - who denied wrongdoing but recused himself - had already made up his mind to rule in the plaintiffs' favor as part of a bribery scheme. But Ecuador cites a report made by an investigator hired by the plaintiffs that suggests Borja is improperly linked to Chevron.

A spokesman for Chevron said the Borja videos were authenticated by forensic experts and that it was too soon to say whether the company would oppose Ecuador's deposition request. Ecuador's filing is just the latest chapter in litigation that dates back 17 years, spans three continents and includes allegations of corruption and collusion on both sides. The country's 1782 petition also comes after Chevron has had great success using the law to obtain discovery from people involved in the Ecuadorean case on the plaintiffs' side.

"Turn-around is certainly fair play," said Georgene M. Vairo, a professor at Loyola Law School. "It's appropriate for Ecuador to try to protect itself by looking into the alleged wrongdoing of Chevron. 1782 is there to do that."

Although Ecuador is not a party in the litigation within its borders, it is a defendant in an international arbitration Chevron initiated in The Hague last year under the Bilateral Investment Treaty between Ecuador and the United States. There, Chevron is seeking, among other things, a declaration that it has no liability for the damage in the Amazon because of a settlement Texaco signed with Ecuador in 1995 in which the oil company agreed to do some environmental clean-up and Ecuador agreed to release any claims against the company.

In the arbitration, Chevron alleges that it is being denied due process in Ecuador because of a corrupt judicial system. For its part, Ecuador wants to depose Borja about his employment history, his relationship to Chevron, his wife's relationship to Chevron and his meetings with the judge and others. The discovery request is "directly relevant to the Republic's defense in the Treaty Arbitration," Ecuador's attorneys from Winston & Strawn wrote in Friday's filing, and "will help determine the authenticity, importance and relevance of Chevron's videotape evidence, and to discover the underlying motives for Borja to produce such clandestine videotapes."

Ecuador is represented by Washington, D.C. partner Eric W. Bloom and New York partner C. MacNeil Mitchell, who did not respond to a request for comment. Richard A. Lapping, of the firm's San Francisco office, declined to comment. Cristina C. Arguedas, an attorney for Borja from Arguedas, Cassman & Headley in Berkeley, declined to comment.

"I think it is legitimate for [Ecuador] to investigate instances of judicial corruption," said Andrea E. Neuman, a Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partner in Irvine and one of Chevron's lead attorneys. "It strikes me that the target of the investigation here would normally be the judge who was seen on these authenticated tapes soliciting a multimillion-dollar bribe."

Edward A. Klein, a partner at Liner Grode Stein Yankelevitz Sunshine Regenstreif & Taylor in Los Angeles who has handled 1782 cases said Chevron would be "pretty hard-pressed to resist Ecuador's efforts to get discovery in the United States given Chevron's liberal use of the 1782 process."

Chevron has used the 1782 statute to get a wide range of discovery - mostly aimed at proving their claim that consultants on the plaintiffs' side were behind the $27 billion damages estimate found in a court-appointed expert's report - for use in the proceedings in Ecuador and The Hague. Its highest-profile use of the law came when a New York federal judge - and later the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals - agreed with the company that a documentary filmmaker should turn over hundreds of hours of raw footage from "Crude," a film about the litigation (last week the same judge granted Chevron's request to depose the filmmaker). Earlier this month, a magistrate judge in New Mexico granted a discovery request for Chevron and cited the footage as one reason for doing so.

Karen Hinton, a spokeswoman for the plaintiffs in the Ecuadorean lawsuit, said Chevron's discovery efforts "are nothing but theatrics to draw attention away from what the company cannot deny, the overwhelming evidence that Texaco intentionally contaminated the rainforest and Chevron is now responsible for it."

In court papers, the plaintiffs have called Chevron's assertions that they have improperly colluded with the expert "hypocrisy," claiming Chevron's consultants' work appeared in the report of another court-appointed expert. No hearing date has been set on Ecuador's request to depose Borja.

rebecca_beyer@dailyjournal.com

The List Gets Longer and Longer

2010-09-14T09:24:00.001-04:00

The long list of issues that show Chevron's shameless and very often
illegal attempts to hide its crimes in Ecuador and escape the
responsibility keeps on growing. Looks like the real picture of
Chevron is slowly coming out for all of us to see. The Chevron
Pit has posted a short summary of Chevron's
manipulative actions that have backfired and gave us a little preview
of the lengths Chevron will go to hide the truth. Here are some of
them:

· Diego Borja, a Chevron contractor in Ecuador, ran a “dirty tricks”
operation for the oil giant in Ecuador that attempted to ensnare the
trial judge in a corruption scandal, according to taped phone
conversations.

· Borja claimed that Chevron had “cooked” court evidence and that he
would turn against Chevron if company officials did not pay him what
they promised for videotapes he made of the judge in the lawsuit.
Widely covered by the news media, the videotapes were later
discredited.

· Chevron hired Kroll, the publicly traded investigations firm, to try
to pay an American journalist to become an undercover spy for the
company in Ecuador, according to a recent article in The Atlantic.

· Chevron’s lawyers had ex parte meetings with judges and have not
denied having ex-parte meetings with court-appointed experts on the
case – the exact same basis for Chevron’s false claims of “fraud”
against lawyers for the plaintiffs.

· The plaintiffs also produced evidence that a court-appointed expert
adopted many materials wholesale that were prepared by Chevron’s own
expert without citation – the exact same charge that Chevron has
leveled against the plaintiffs.

· Two Chevron officials are under criminal indictment in Ecuador for,
according to the charges, conspiring to defraud the government by
lying about the results of a sham remediation in the mid-1990s.
Chevron’s own tests submitted into evidence show illegal levels of
contamination at the so-called “remediated” sites.

· Due to a series of death threats from unknown sources, lawyers for
the plaintiffs and their families are now protected with armed
bodyguards.

Chevron, Did Cat Get Your Tongue?

2010-09-09T10:16:00.002-04:00

Chevron has been very quiet recently and has not commented on the latest findings about Chevron’s manipulations, mistakes and blatant lying about the contamination in Ecuador. The audits I mentioned in my last blog that show Chevron is guilty of the pollution, unbelievable story of trying to hire a journalist spy to write false stories for Chevron and spying on the people whose lives were destroyed by Chevron. Staying quiet will not make it go away. We will not stop talking about it!

Here's what Chevron Pit has to say: Chevron Desperate Over Ecuador Disaster

Proof of Guilt

2010-09-01T09:40:00.001-04:00

Two audits have been submitted to a U.S. Federal Court that show that Chevron is guilty of knowingly contaminating Ecuadorian rain forest and then lying about it. Those audits were conducted at Texaco’s request. (Chevron bought Texaco in 2001.) Looks like Chevron is getting lost in its own web of lies!

Read more here: Court Filing: Chevron’s Own Audits Prove Company Lied About Massive Pollution in Ecuador

Real Life Secret Agent Spy Story

2010-08-13T13:23:00.001-04:00

One day there will be a movie made about the lengths Chevron has been going to in a desperate effort to avoid responsibility for the disaster in Ecuador. Hiring journalists to spy for Chevron and then write false stories is just one of Chevron’s many unethical and quite often illegal attempts to manipulate the facts. I’ve said that many times, Chevron clearly thinks it’s above law and goes ahead with any crazy idea, no matter the consequences, to get out of its own oily mess. What surprises me is that there are people who can be bought and will willingly get involved in Chevron’s dirty defense tactics. Sam Anson of Kroll is the latest accomplice. To find out more about this man, read Chevron Pit’s latest post

Chevron Says One Thing and Does Another

2010-08-04T20:05:00.000-04:00

The Chevron Pit writes about yet another violation and a
shameless move by Chevron. Chevron’s lawyers fought hard to get the
footage from Joe Berlinger’s documentary “Crude” saying it was
necessary for Chevron’s defense and promising it will never be used
for anything else. For anyone who has followed Chevron’s dirty defense
campaign it shouldn’t be surprising to hear that the moment Chevron
got the film outtakes, it passed it along to bloggers.

“60 Minutes” Wins An Award For “Amazon Crude”

2010-06-20T20:42:00.002-04:00

Two “60 Minutes” segments received Edward R. Murrow Award for
excellence in journalism. One of them was for the investigation into
the Chevron lawsuit. It is great news since Chevron has been trying
to discredit the report from the very beginning.

Click for more details: Hard-Hitting 60 Minutes Investigation of
Chevron's Toxic Legacy in Ecuador Wins Prestigious Journalism Award

EXPOSED

2010-06-08T18:56:00.000-04:00

I blogged a few days ago about Chevron’s own lawyer admitting under oath that Chevron has been lying about so-called “remediation” agreement signed by the Ecuadorian government and using it to avoid paying for the environmental disaster Texaco caused. The Chevron Pit posted some of Perez Pallares’ statements which contradict Chevron’s main defense argument.

Disaster in the Amazon

2010-06-07T08:54:00.000-04:00

On June 4th New York Times ran an interesting article about Chevron and Ecuador. You can read it here: Bob Herbert of NYT: Chevron Has Its Own Disaster In Ecuador

CAN YOU STOP US?

2010-06-02T16:47:00.002-04:00

I guess Chevron's CEO John Watson wanted to show everyone how much he cares about the environment when he asked the government for stronger safety standards that would prevent disasters like the one happening in the Gulf of Mexico now from happening again. Doesn't it sound though like he is saying that unless the government stops the oil companies, they will do whatever they want? While trying to save money they will put our world at risk and if anything disastrous happens, they will just find ways to escape the responsibility.

Chevron's Watson to Feds: Stop Us Before We Hurt Somebody

DON'T MENTION ECUADOR

2010-05-27T19:26:00.001-04:00

Chevron's shareholders should be aware! The company will silence anyone who dares to speak about company's unacceptable behavior and environmental crimes that have been committed around the world. Some shareholders were denied entry to the Chevron's shareholders meeting on May 26th, others were arrested. People expressed concern and Chevron did not want to hear any of it. The only thing Chevron's CEO John Watson had to say was that Ecuadorians can count on his empathy. I guess Chevron still has no plans of taking responsibility for its actions.

Read more here: Chevron Condemned for Human Rights Abuses, Ecuador Disaster at Annual Shareholder Meeting Today

The Truth Always Comes Out

2010-05-21T19:12:00.002-04:00

Chevron has been misleading the news media and the US courts about the so-called remediation agreement signed in 1995 by Texaco and the government of Ecuador.

Chevron wants us to believe the agreement releases it from all liability in the lawsuit, but the truth is, it doesn’t. The agreement only applies to government claims, and Chevron’s own attorney said so. Perez Pallares admitted under oath that the release is not valid in this case. Making Chevron look even worse is the fact that Perez Pallares is the lawyer who negotiated and signed the release for Chevron.

The Chevron Pit writes in more detail about Chevron's inability to keep its story straight.

Chevron's Outrageous Demands Criticized

2010-05-19T12:03:00.004-04:00

People are speaking up against Chevron's unfair and selfish demands.

An article by Bill Moyers and Michael Winship criticizing Chevron's attempt to force Joe Berlinger to turn over unused footage from his documentary "Crude" appeared on the Huffington Post recently.
More details on The Chevron Pit

Bill Moyers

Double Standards

2010-05-14T09:16:00.003-04:00

With the oil gushing its way into our reality, we are all in a panic mode. We are worried about our environment, health and the effect toxic oil might have on our lives. It already happened for the people in Ecuador and they have been fighting hard to get through the thick and high wall of lies and denial Chevron has built.

Now, when it’s our lives that are in danger, maybe everyone will understand better what Ecuadorians fighting Chevron have been going through all these years. We are all appalled to hear BP, Transocean and Halliburton deny and blame one another for the spill. Just like Chevron has been refusing to take responsibility and pointing fingers at others, starting with Petroecuador.

President Obama said BP is to be blamed for this disaster, expressed concern and promised BP will pay for the cleanup. Everyone applauded and was very happy to have their President stand for what is right. When the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa visited oil sites Texaco left behind in the Amazonian jungle, Chevron called the whole Ecuadorian government corrupt and unjust. Is Chevron upset with President Obama for getting involved as well?

More here

Environmental disasters are horrible wherever they happen and there can’t be any double standards when it’s time for the ones who caused them to take care of the damage. This nonsense has to stop; Chevron needs to pay for the cleanup in Ecuador and so should BP for what’s happening in the Gulf Coast right now.

Chevron Must Be Blind. The Evidence Is Right There!

2010-05-08T21:27:00.002-04:00

If Chevron wants to see some evidence that tells the truth, a trip to the Ecuadorian jungle will be enough. The oozing oil pits, horrible stories of the families affected by the contamination, test results that show that the levels of toxins are way above legal limits by any standards show a full picture of the blatant environmental crime committed by Texaco.

Nobody, including Chevron, needs Joe Berlinger’s footage to find out the truth and everybody, including Chevron, knows that asking for it is just another cowardly ploy designed to buy some more time.

It was not an accidental spill like the one in Gulf Mexico we are witnessing right now. Texaco wanted to save money and instead of disposing of the toxic waste properly, it dumped it right in the middle of the Amazonian jungle contaminating waterways that 30,000 people depended on for living.

As if deliberately polluting the environment and destroying people’s lives wasn’t embarrassing and shameful enough, Chevron now has the audacity to refuse to take responsibility and keeps coming up with those outrageous schemes.

More here: The Real Corruption Is In The Ground, Not In Film Footage

It Would Take 234 Years To Spill As Much Oil From The Leaking BP Oil Well As Texaco Dumped Into The Ecuadorian Rainforest

2010-05-04T13:15:00.009-04:00

So I’ve been reading about BP’s oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and that the well is leaking at a rate of 210,000 gallons of oil a day. That sounds like a lot, and it is. But my calculator tells me that it would take the leaking BP oil well 85,714 days or 234 years to spill as much oil into the Gulf as Texaco intentionally dumped into the rainforest of Ecuador from 1968, the year Texaco drilled its first well, to 1990, when it stopped operations there.

Gulf of Mexico

Texaco has admitted pumping 18 billion gallons of oil and formation water into the streams and waterways of the Amazon basin, instead of re-injecting the toxic sludge back where it came from, way underground – the standard practice for the oil industry then and now.

During the 22 years that Texaco drilled for oil in Ecuador, the oil company saved at least $8 billion in expenses by treating the rainforest like its own personal trash heap with an average daily dump of 2.2 million gallons of oil and formation water, with high concentrations of benzene, a known carcinogen, and other hazardous chemicals and minerals.

As the people of the Gulf Coast in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama know all too well, that much oil and toxic water damages not only the physical environment but also a complete way of life. Families have lost loved ones to the explosion; fisherman and shrimp boaters may have to find another way to make a living; tourists will worry about the safety of the beaches and swimming areas, and scientists will study the area to see how the spill impacts ocean and human life for decades to come.

With no support from their government, the indigenous tribes of the Ecuadorian rainforest faced a much harsher reality when they filed their lawsuit against Texaco in 1993, a year after the oil company left Ecuador. They had been helpless to stop Texaco from wrecking havoc in their homeland. The government never sent in the Navy. The President of Ecuador at that time didn’t demand that Texaco take responsibility and clean up the mess. There were laws against such pollution, but no one enforced them because no one cared.

In 2001 Texaco’s problem became Chevron’s problem with Chevron’s purchase of Texaco. Nothing changed, though. Today the contamination remains, stored in unlined oil pits that continue to leech into the soil and underground water supply. Hopefully a similar fate will not befall the Gulf Coast. Hopefully BP will do the right thing, unlike Chevron, which is using every legal maneuver it can to avoid responsibility for the 18 billion gallons of toxic waste in the rainforest.

As President Obama just did on the Gulf Coast, President Correa visited the contaminated area and expressed his concern for the people who are living near and sometimes on top of toxic pits. Unlike BP, however, Chevron is using the President’s visit to argue in US court that the government is interfering with the lawsuit; that the court system is corrupt, and everyone who has drilled for oil in Ecuador is responsible for the contamination, except, of course, Chevron.

BP may end up scapegoating, too. But right now BP executives look a whole better than Chevron’s who haven’t even bothered to visit Ecuador to see the contamination, conveniently thousands of miles away from its San Ramon, California headquarters.

Chevron’s harassment continues

2010-04-29T09:38:00.002-04:00

In an apparent effort to intimidate everyone involved in the lawsuit or whoever dares to mention the contamination in Ecuador, Chevron went to court to ask Joe Berlinger, the director of “Crude” for access to all the footage that was filmed while working on the documentary. There are over 600 hours of film which includes interviews with people involved in the lawsuit on both sides. Most of the material was filmed with an agreement of confidentiality.

Chevron hopes to find some material that can help their case.

The director says it would be a violation of his First Amendment rights and is prepared to fight Chevron’s request.

A hearing is scheduled for April 30 in federal court in New York.

Click here for more details

Joe Berlinger

“Crime Does Pay”

2010-04-28T15:39:00.003-04:00

Chevron won’t stop at anything! It bends, breaks and disregards the law left and right.

Not happy about the results of tests showing how extensive the damage caused by Texaco is, Chevron just uses phony tests to produce more favorable test results.

Paying people to create fake companies to cover Texaco’s crimes and then paying them off to keep them quiet is just shameless! We should all sue Chevron for trying to make fools out of all of us.

Read the Chevron Pit blog for more details: http://thechevronpit.blogspot.com/2010/04/chevron-paying-whistleblower-diego.html

Lies, Lies, Lies

2010-04-19T12:35:00.007-04:00

Shushufindi 38

I am not surprised to hear that Chevron told a whole bunch of lies to Columbia Journalism Review’s Martha Hamilton about the well site Shushufindi 38, featured on 60 Minutes last year. What amazes me is that it took Chevron a whole year to respond to the CBS program.
Chevron is trying to blame Ecuadorian oil company Petroecuador, even though the court documents show that Texaco was the only operator at this site.
Chevron also claims there is no contamination at Shushufindi 38, while the test show that levels of toxins are over 400 higher than legal limits in Ecuador and over 4,000times the legal limit as allowed in most states in the US!

You can read more at The Chevron Pit blog: http://thechevronpit.blogspot.com/2010/04/chevron-lied-to-columbia-journalism.html

Chevron has nothing to say

2010-04-15T14:03:00.003-04:00

The plaintiffs in the Chevron lawsuit are calling on Chevron to comment on the charges of evidence tampering that its contractor, Diego Borja, made last week. Chevron should speak up and defend itself. Or, maybe it doesn’t because Chevron executives have no defense.

Read more here

Chevron's Con Man Exposed

2010-04-06T20:24:00.005-04:00

Recordings of Diego Borja, a man who has been a contractor for Chevron for several years, revealing Chevron's darkest secrets have been released by Grant W. Fine, a lawyer and investigator hired by the plaintiffs. This is beyond shocking! Things Borja talks about prove what we knew all along...Chevron has been lying and hiding the truth to avoid responsibility for the mess in Ecuador.

Diego Borja

Here's a copy of the Amazon Defense Coalition's statement with more details:

Amazon Defense Coalition
For Immediate Release

April 6, 2010
Contact: Karen Hinton,
703-798-3109
karen@hintoncommunications.com

Chevron “Cooked” Evidence in Ecuador Environmental
Trial, According to Oil Giant’s Own Contractor

Diego Borja & Wife Worked For Chevron & Represented Oil Company’s “Independent” Lab To Test Contamination Samples

Washington, DC (April 6, 2010) – In a series of stunning revelations from recorded conversations, longtime Chevron contractor Diego Borja threatened to reveal damaging evidence “cooked” by Chevron in the environmental trial in Ecuador unless he received enough money for turning over secret videotapes to high-ranking Chevron executives in June 2009.

At one point, Borja laughed and said, “Crime does pay.”

Click here for copies of the report and press release http://chevrontoxico.com/news-and-multimedia/borja-report/

Borja’s disclosures are found in a report released today by Grant W. Fine, a lawyer and investigator hired by the plaintiffs. The report covers more than six hours of audiotapes and 25 pages of online chats that were given to the plaintiffs by Santiago Escobar, a childhood friend of Borja who made the recordings.

In the conversations, Borja said Chevron hired him to create four companies so his work for the oil company would appear “independent.” He suggested that the companies were connected to a laboratory to test contamination samples. Borja said the laboratory was not independent, but rather “belonged” to Chevron.

The investigative report also revealed that Borja’s wife, Sara Portilla, worked for Chevron for four years and represented Severn Trent Labs (STL), a US laboratory that Chevron described as an “independent” lab to test its contamination samples. Court documents obtained by Fine cite Borja and Portilla as representatives of STL. They both signed chain of custody documents with the Lago Agrio court that showed how the samples moved from the contamination site to the testing lab.

Borja – who Chevron always has cast as a good Samaritan – also said that Chevron is paying $6,000 a month in rent for his large home with a swimming pool that abuts a golf course in a gated community near Chevron’s headquarters. Borja said that Chevron is paying him the U.S. equivalent of the salary he made in Ecuador, which was $10,000, and is also paying the costs for a lease on an SUV and for personal security.

On the audiotapes, Borja said he has enough evidence to ensure a victory by the Amazon communities if Chevron failed to pay him what he was promised. Before turning over the videotapes to Chevron, Borja said he made sure Chevron “completely understood” he wanted payment for them.

He also said he had incriminating evidence against the oil giant stored on his iPhone and in an undisclosed location in Ecuador that he could use as leverage if Chevron betrayed him. Specifically, Borja said he has a notarized document that contains a version of events that would help the plaintiffs and that Portilla, his wife, is aware of the information.

Representatives of the Amazon communities reacted with shock to the audiotapes. “They prove at a minimum that Diego Borja is a real con man,” said Luis Yanza, President of the Amazon Defense Coalition, which represents the plaintiffs.

Yanza called on Chevron to investigate and disclose the information that Borja has stored on his iPhone and in Ecuador.

Yanza also called on authorities in Ecuador and the U.S. to examine the tapes and include them in their investigation of the videotaping scandal, which Chevron disclosed last August as a way to derail the trial. Chevron also cites the videotapes as evidence of corruption in its arbitration claim against the government of Ecuador, which Chevron filed in September, only four weeks after revealing the videotapes.

Escobar, who said he has known Borja since they were teenagers, said he decided to give the tapes to the plaintiffs because if “I keep quiet about immoral acts, then I become part of the immoral acts.” He said, “Diego always bragged to us about what he was doing with the testing samples to help Chevron avoid prosecution. Everyone knew he was Chevron’s dirty tricks guy. Overtime, I became more disgusted with what Diego was doing. The videotapes and his interest in switching sides was the last straw for me.”

Among other revelations, Borja said:

If Chevron “tricked” him he would “immediately go to the other side… I have correspondence that talks about things you cannot even imagine, dude… I can’t talk about them here, dude, because I’m afraid, but they’re things that can make the [plaintiffs] win this just like that” at which point he snapped his fingers. He also said, “crime does pay.”

Chevron had “cooked” the evidence and, if the U.S. judge who sent the case to Ecuador in the first place ever knew, he would “close [Chevron] down.”

The energy giant used him to set up four dummy companies to make them appear to be independent of Chevron, but in fact they were controlled by Chevron.

The laboratory that processed soil and water samples for Chevron to submit as evidence in the trial was not “independent” as the company represented to the court. “I have proof that they [the laboratories] were more than connected, they belonged to [Chevron],” said Borja, who also indicated he signed the contract to rent the house where Chevron’s laboratory was located.

Escobar also told Fine that Borja said he and wife stored testing samples in their refrigerator in their Quito office before mailing them to STL. (Test America, Inc., purchased STL in 2007.)

As a contractor for Chevron, Borja often worked at the contamination sites and collected evidence, yet he and Portilla also signed chain of custody documents with the court as STL representatives. Portilla signed them as an STL Project Manger and used the email address, sportilla@stl-inc.com

Borja indicated that he and a person from Chevron, whom he referred to as his Florida-based boss, lied to gain entry into the independent laboratory that was processing the soil and water samples for the plaintiffs during the trial. (Yanza said he suspects the person is Ricardo Reis Veiga, a longtime Chevron lawyer based in Miami currently under indictment in Ecuador for lying about Texaco’s remediation results.)

Borja said he has worked for Chevron on the Aguinda trial since 2004 and has signed numerous court documents – contrary to Chevron’s claim at the time it released the videos that Borja was a mere “logistics contractor” for the company. Portilla has worked for Chevron for four years, and his uncle has been employed by Chevron for 30 years. Borja also said he has worked for Chevron since he was 24 years old (nine years ago). Chevron’s legal team, Borja, his wife and uncle have office space in a Quito building his uncle owns.

Borja conceded there was no bribe of the Ecuador trial judge, Juan Nunez, in the videotapes -- confirming the long held contention of the plaintiffs and contradicting Chevron’s assertions. With the videotapes, Borja said he did in “two days” what Chevron had been trying to do for a year, which was to get the judge dismissed.

Borja also said Chevron promised to make him a “business partner” for turning over the tapes. When Escobar said he would have it “made” once he became a partner of Chevron, Borja responded: “That’s right, you dog… I mean, it’s a brass ring brother.”

Fine, a lawyer and investigator based in San Francisco, California, conducted the investigation. Fine also conducted an earlier investigation into Wayne Hansen, the so-called American “businessman” who claimed to be in Ecuador to identify contract opportunities for remediation work and partnered with Borja to videotape meetings with Nunez and others, using a spy pen and spy watch. Fine discovered that Hansen had never worked in remediation before, currently has no means of visible financial support and was sentenced to 32 months in a federal prison for drug trafficking over 275,000 pounds of marijuana.

About the Amazon Defense Coalition

The Amazon Defense Coalition represents dozens of rainforest communities and five indigenous groups that inhabit Ecuador’s Northern Amazon region. The mission of the Coalition is to protect the environment and secure social justice through grass roots organizing, political advocacy, and litigation. Two of its leaders, Luis Yanza and Pablo Fajardo, are the 2008 winners of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.

Newest Statement of the Amazon Defense Coalition

2010-04-05T19:32:00.005-04:00

The Amazon Defense Coalition has released a statement in response to Dr. Charles Calmbacher's bewildering testimony today.

Below are some quotes, you can read the release here:
http://thechevronpit.blogspot.com/2010/04/real-fraud-in-27-billion-environmental.html

“Dr. Calmbacher clearly agreed to have his signature placed on materials, including reports, that were to be submitted to the court, and he acknowledged he was actively reviewing the reports with our local, technical team. We are bewildered, frankly, at his testimony."

"On August 27th, 2004, a major media outlet quoted him as saying: ''Their defense is a lot like the tobacco industry saying there is no evidence linking smoking and lung cancer,'' said Charles Calmbacher, a certified industrial hygienist who works as an expert for the plaintiffs.”

Atacapi 5- One of many Chevron's dirty secrets

2010-03-29T10:11:00.005-04:00

Chevron needs to stop using the 1995 remediation agreement between Texaco and the Ecuadorian government as its defense. It is useless!!!! It required Texaco to clean up its oil pits but it has never been done.

The Chevron Pit just posted a chart showing that the oil sites Texaco said it remediated still show illegal levels of toxins.

http://thechevronpit.blogspot.com/2010/03/next-time-chevron-tells-you-texaco.html

Throwing some dirt on the top does not count as clean up!

Dirt laden with oil, dug only three inches deep from the pit at the well site, Atacapi 5

Stories of the Victims

2010-03-19T13:08:00.000-04:00

Rosana Sisalima with her granddaughter, San Carlos on November 24, 2004

The Chevron Pit is featuring stories about people who have been affected by the oil contamination left behind by Texaco in the Ecuadorian rainforest. These stories are incredibly sad and disturbing. I hope you will read them and pass them along to others who care about how our oil companies treat people and their environment in countries where they explore for oil.

Here's the link:
http://thechevronpit.blogspot.com/2010/02/texaco-throws-dirt-on-oil-pit-after_18.html

Stories of the victims

2010-03-16T21:17:00.005-04:00

Angel Toala

The Chevron Pit has posted another story about people who have been affected by the oil contamination left behind by Texaco. This one is about Luz Maria Martin and her husband Angel Toala, who died of stomach cancer.

You can read the their story here: http://thechevronpit.blogspot.com/2010/03/father-of-six-moved-to-find-good-job.html

California Lawmakers moved by Emergildo Criollo’s story promise support

2010-03-06T09:17:00.002-05:00

Emergildo Criollo, the Indigenous leader from Ecuador, told the story of how Chevron’s toxic mess killed his wife and two sons and ruined his life to some of the California Senators and Assemblymembers and asked for their help in the fight against Chevron, California’s biggest company.

The reception was held in Sacramento, CA and was packed with California lawmakers who all expressed deep concern about the contamination in Ecuador.

At Least The Butler Could Have Taken The Letter

2010-03-03T07:10:00.009-05:00

These Chevron people are unbelievable! Two environmental groups, RAN and Amazon Watch, escorted an Ecuadorian tribal leader, Emergildo Criollo, to the house of Chevron CEO John Watson to deliver a letter with the names of over 325,000 people who want Chevron to clean up its toxic waste mess in Ecuador’s rainforest. No one was home, even though Watson knew they would be visiting him. At least Watson’s butler and other domestic help could have taken the letter.

Here are two blogs that tell the whole story:
http://www.chevroninecuador.com/2010/03/emergildo-criollo-delivers-letter-and.html

http://changechevron.org/blog/emergildo-criollo-delivers-petition-to-chevron-headquarters/

Why Doesn’t Chevron Just Clean Up Its Mess?

2010-03-01T20:01:00.009-05:00

Charles James

Too bad this Chevron lawyer, Charles James, didn’t take the opportunity to clean up the oil contamination in Ecuador’s rainforest when he was in charge of the legal strategy in the lawsuit against Chevron in Ecuador. He could have made Chevron an environmental hero! Instead, the company symbolizes everything that can be wrong with an American corporation.

Read this blog on Daily Kos: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2010/3/1/11347/48124?new=true

I want Avatar director James Cameron to mention real-life Ecuador struggle against Chevron at Oscars

2010-02-24T07:30:00.003-05:00

Avatar's director James Cameron has said that he wants to use the success of his latest movie to direct people's attention to real environmental problems in the world. Yesterday on the San Francisco Chronicle website, Becky Tarbotton of the Rainforest Action Network pleaded with him to help spread the word about Chevron's crimes in Ecuador. She has had this brilliant idea of Cameron mentioning Ecuadorians' fight against Chevron during his Oscars' acceptance speech. Wouldn't that be wonderful?!

In the mean time, help spread the word and tweet, post on your facebook page or own blog: I want Avatar director James Cameron to mention real-life Ecuador struggle against #Chevron at #Oscars:http://bit.ly/aOwuNI #realavatar

Stories of the victims

2010-02-19T11:35:00.006-05:00

Rosana Sisalima with her granddaughter, San Carlos on November 24, 2004

Here's the link:
http://thechevronpit.blogspot.com/2010/02/texaco-throws-dirt-on-oil-pit-after_18.html

Finally Chevron Speaks Truth With Freudian Slip

2010-02-14T14:55:00.010-05:00

Ricardo Reis Veiga (Managing Counsel, Chevron Latin America)

Chevron’s Managing Counsel for Latin America finally speaks truth about what Texaco did and did not do in Ecuador. Chevron bought Texaco in 2001 and, with the purchase, acquired a potential $27 billion liability resulting from an oil contamination lawsuit filed by indigenous groups in Ecuador. Texaco has admitted to dumping over 18 billion gallons of oil and toxic water into the rainforest from 1964 to 1990.

Check out this blog: http://livinnthebigtime.blogspot.com/2010/02/chevrons-8-steps-ricardo-reis-veiga.html

Chevron's General Counsel reduced to taking out company's trash

2010-02-11T23:12:00.023-05:00

Hewitt Pate

If I’m understanding this interesting blog at The Chevron Pit correctly, it means having Chevron’s General Counsel Hewitt Pate roll out a public charge that the court-appointed expert in the contamination lawsuit against Chevron is corrupt is like making President Obama take out his own trash every morning. Speaking of trash, Pate’s announcement stinks to high heaven.

Here we go again

2010-02-10T10:04:00.003-05:00

Chevron is at it again-trying to stall the lawsuit. Now it is about Richard Cabrera- the court appointed economist who assessed the damages in Ecuador at 27 billion dollars. Chevron once said Cabrera wasn’t qualified to do the assessment. Now it’s saying he is qualified because he owns a company that does oil cleanup work.

This is not Chevron’s first attempt to exclude Cabrera, but so far the court has rejected Chevron’s motion every time. The oil giant ignores the fact that Cabrera did disclose to the court that he owned the company before he was even appointed as Special Master. Chevron had nothing against Cabrera and accepted him as the court-appointed expert with no objections at the beginning of the lawsuit. Besides, Cabrera would be banned from doing any cleanup work connected to the lawsuit anyway because of his role as Special Master.

Now, as Chevron grows more desperate, it tries to disqualify anyone who has anything to do with the lawsuit.
For more details, visit this site:

itsgettinghotinhere.org/2010/02/09/chevron-lies-people-die/

What Chevron’s money can buy…

2010-02-04T09:43:00.003-05:00

I just read another story about Chevron using its power and money to influence people’s perception of the oil giant and to hide the unpleasant truths like Chevron’s toxic waste pits leaking oil into Ecuadorian rainforest.

Last month Chevron had the Rainforest Action Network activists kicked out of the Houston Marathon expo because they wanted to spread the message about Chevron’s crimes in Ecuador.

Now Chevron decided that RAN’s ads in the Washington Post and the New York Times do not go with Chevron’s made up, innocent image and the company’s legal team wanted the ads pulled. The New York Times did not give in but The Washington Post did.

RAN's ad from The New York Times and The Washington Post

Three points — One, I don’t think this move will bring any good to Chevron because there’s a new ad that RAN hopes the Washington Times will run, and it’s even better than the first one.

RAN's second ad

Two, this story will probably get more attention than the ads would, and three- again we see that Chevron will stop at nothing to evade responsibility.

Chevron just wants to silence anyone who dares to say anything that had not been approved by Chevron’s PR people.

To read the whole story, go here:

http://understory.ran.org/2010/02/01/chevrons-free-speech-v-ran/

"Crude" nominated for NAACP Image Award!

2010-01-31T23:48:00.006-05:00

Great News! Joe Berlinger’s "Crude" has been nominated for NAACP Image Award in Outstanding Documentary (Theatrical /Television) category.

"Capitalism: A Love Story" (Overture Films)
"Crips and Bloods: Made in America" (Gravitas Ventures)
"Good Hair" (Roadside Attractions)
"More than a Game" (Lionsgate)

"Crude" is a remarkable documentary about a $27 billion environmental lawsuit between Texaco and 30,000 Ecuadorians who have spent three decades battling Texaco -now owned by Chevron for contaminating their land and water with toxic oil sludge. It tells a horrifying story of pollution, cancer, illness and death on one side and Chevron's refusal to accept responsibility for it on the other.

"Crude" is a must see for those who care about the environment and social justice!

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded in 1902 and is the nation’s largest and most influential civil rights organization. It advocates social, political, educational equality of all people and stands against racial discrimination.

The annual NAACP Image Award is given to the individuals and groups who promote social justice in the arts and entertainment.

This year, over 1,200 entries were received. From those entries, a special committee of 300 industry professionals and NAACP leaders from across the country selected five nominees in each of the 53 categories. Any artist, manager, publicist, production company, record label, studio, network or publishing house could submit an entry to the NAACP Image Awards. The final selections are voted on by NAACP members.

To become a member and cast your vote as well, visit the NAACP website: http://www.naacpimageawards.net/

The Award Ceremony will air live 8/7 c on FOX Friday February 26, 2010

The Chevron Way: If We Repeat Lies Enough, Maybe Somebody Will Believe Us!

2010-01-28T19:38:00.000-05:00

Chevron’s only defense in the massive oil contamination lawsuit brought by Ecuadorians living in the Amazon rainforest is that Texaco cleaned its share of the oil sites in exchange for a liability release in a 1995 agreement with Ecuador. Problem is, this isn’t true: 1) Tests show lethal levels of toxins at 45 of 54 of the so-called “cleaned” pits & 2) The agreement did not release Texaco from individual claims, only those by the government. See the list of the pits below.

In the list below, you’ll see TPH; that stands for total petroleum hydrocarbons. The higher the TPH, the worse the contamination. In the US, a lot of states allow only 100 parts per million of TPH. In Ecuador, it’s 1,000 parts per million. As you can see below, the numbers are thousands of times higher than what the law allows. And, Chevron wants us to believe these pits are clean!

Chevron, though, never lets the facts stand in its way. See this CNN interview by Anchor Rick Sanchez with Chevron attorney Silvia Garrigo, preceded by an interview with human rights activitist Kerry Kennedy who visited the oil pits recently and spoke out against Chevron’s refusal to take responsibility for the contamination.

http://chevrontoxico.com/news-and-multimedia/2009/1022-kerry-kennedy-interviewed-on-cnn.html

Before signing off, Garrigo also happily informs Sanchez that some of her best friends are Ecuadorians. If that’s the way she treats her friends, then ......

#	SITE	CHEVRON’S CLAIM	TPH	NUMBER OF TIMES OVER LEGAL LIMIT
1	Sacha 18	Complete Remediation	35,380	35.3
2	Sacha 65	Complete Remediation	32,444	32.4
3	Shushufindi 27	Complete Remediation	26,413	26.4
4	Atacapi 5	Complete Remediation	21,976	21.9
5	Sacha 21	Complete Remediation	17,000	17
6	Shushufindi 21	Complete Remediation	16,033	16
7	Shushufindi 67	Complete Remediation	13,587	13.5
8	Shushufindi 45A	Complete Remediation	13,290	13.2
9	Shushufindi 48	Complete Remediation	13,000	13
10	Shushufindi 7	Complete Remediation	12,715	12.7
11	Shushufindi 25	Complete Remediation	10,956	10.9
12	Shushufindi 27	Complete Remediation	10,452	10.4
13	Ron 1	Complete Remediation	9,632	9.6
14	Lago Agrio 5	Complete Remediation	8,830	8.8
15	Sacha 94	Complete Remediation	8,700	8.7
16	Aguarico 8	Complete Remediation	8,183	8.1
17	Sacha 57	Complete Remediation	8,100	8.1
18	Sacha 65	Complete Remediation	7,519	7.5
19	Sacha 53	Complete Remediation	7,430	7.4
20	Shushufindi 13	Complete Remediation	7,415	7.4
21	Sacha 51	Complete Remediation	7,200	7.2
22	Shushufindi 45A	Complete Remediation	5,721	5.7
23	Sacha 94	Complete Remediation	5,600	5.6
24	Shushufindi 25	Complete Remediation	5,574	5.5
25	Guanta 4	Complete Remediation	5,510	5.5
26	Shushufindi 7	Complete Remediation	5,334	5.3
27	Shushufindi 48	Complete Remediation	5,000	5
28	Shushufindi 18	Complete Remediation	4,881	4.8
29	Lago Agrio 2	Complete Remediation	4,777	4.7
30	Auca 19	Complete Remediation	4,014	4
31	Yuca 28	Complete Remediation	3,876	3.8
32	Shushufindi 46	Complete Remediation	3,697	3.6
33	Sacha 56	Complete Remediation	3,600	3.6
34	Sacha 6	Complete Remediation	3,300	3.3
35	Shushufindi 21	Complete Remediation	3,133	3.1
36	Sacha 51	Complete Remediation	3,100	3.1
37	Shushufindi 48	Complete Remediation	3,000	3
38	Sacha 10	Complete Remediation	2,802	2.8
39	Shushufindi 48	Complete Remediation	2,700	2.7
40	Sacha 57	Complete Remediation	2,400	2.4
41	Shushufindi 24	Complete Remediation	2,180	2.1
42	Parahuacu 3	Complete Remediation	2,065.12	2.065
43	Shushufindi 24	Complete Remediation	2,000	2
44	Shushufindi 8	Complete Remediation	1,600	1.6
45	Lago Agrio 6	Complete Remediation	1,300	1.3

Shifty Chevron

2010-01-22T11:59:00.002-05:00

I’ve read articles about Chevron using fake videos produced to look like “real news” to promote its lies about the $27 billion lawsuit against the oil company in Ecuador. Well, here’s another one from shifty Chevron. I found this photo online. It’s an old Texaco oil site, called Parahaucu3. Part of the site included an oil pit built by Texaco to store remaining oil and formation water from the well, drilled and operated only by Texaco. Petroecuador, the government-owned oil company, never drilled at this well. Chevron maintains Texaco cleaned this pit, as required by a remediation agreement in 1995.

It looks clean, right? It isn’t. I’m told that Texaco only filled the unlined pit with dirt. Today it’s covered with vegetation, but underneath is oil. The court’s independent expert tested this pit for contamination and found 206,512 parts per million of total petroleum hydrocarbons, 206.5 times above the legal limit in Ecuador, 2,060 times above the US norm.

That’s shifty Chevron for you.

"…Higher ups at Chevron are freaking out."

2010-01-16T14:07:00.005-05:00

It didn’t take much for Chevron to get mad and show some muscle at the Houston Marathon. Runners, representing the Rainforest Action Network, bought a booth in the Expo Center, where participants picked up their packets, to display materials about their organization, as well as Chevron’s bad practices in Ecuador. Trouble with that is Chevron is a sponsor of the marathon. When Chevron found out about the booth, they called Marathon Managing Director Steven Karpas. Karpas then told the RAN runners they had to leave because “the higher ups at Chevron are freaking out.” Karpas called the police who escorted them out.

I find it impossible to understand Chevron’s reasoning. Haven’t anyone there thought for a second that denying somebody’s right to free speech and going as low as this will bring more damage to Chevron’s already shattered image than do any good?!

I guess the good news is that Chevron drew more attention to the RAN runners and their message. Now, everyone in the Houston press is talking about it!

You can read more about the incident and RAN’s press release here: http://www.chevroninecuador.com/2010/01/chevron-pulls-strings-kicks-runners-for.html

Below is a story that ran in the Houston Press.

By Paul Knight in Spaced City

Fri., Jan. 15 2010

A group of marathon runners were kicked out and banned from the ChevronMarathon Expo for displaying material that was critical of the oil company,but one of the runners tells Hair Balls that the group is continuing asplanned.

"We are still going to, at least try to, run the race on Sunday. We arecompletely undeterred," says Briana Cotter, a member of the RainforestAction Network. "Chevron puts on the marathon so they can pretend like theycare about the community, but the reality is that communities all over theworld are suffering, and even dying, because of Chevron's behaviors."

The runners from Rainforest Action Network -- the main office is in SanFrancisco -- are participating in the marathon on behalf of EmergildoCrillo, an Ecuadorean man who they believe is dying, along with his family,from the billions of gallons of toxic sludge that has been allegedly dumpedin the rainforest during the last three decades. Chevron is involved in acourt battle http://www.chevron.com/news/press/release/?id=2009-09-11 in Ecuador because of the sludge.

Steven Karpas, the managing director of the Chevron marathon, wasn'timmediately available for comment.

The problems started for the Rainforest group earlier today, when it wassetting up a booth for the marathon's expo, an event that runs today andtomorrow. "There's a million causes that have tables that are trying toraise money through the marathon, and we thought we were just one of them,"Cotter says.

According to Cotter, Karpas came over to the booth and said that "Chevronhigher-ups were freaking out," and he told the group it had to leave immediately or be arrested.

"We were very nicely escorted out by police, and all of our things were taken away," Cotter says. (Here's an electronic version of a pamphlet http://vvoice.vo.llnwd.net/e7/4324047.0.pdf the group planned to handout.)

When the group races on Sunday -- if they are allowed -- Cotter says therunners plan on wearing t-shirts that say, "I'm running for Emergildo. AskChevron why." The group also has about 2,000 stickers, Cotter says, thatdisplay a similar message."

Before we got kicked out, we had talked to a group of high school studentsand they were really excited, saying, 'We want to wear those human rightsstickers. We care about human rights,'" Cotter says. "So they'll be runningwith the stickers on Sunday."

The Rainforest Action Network also plans to have supporters -- Houstonlocals trying to change Chevron, Cotter says -- planted at different pointsalong the marathon route, and they'll be holding 20-foot banners that saythings like "Energy shouldn't cost lives."

"So we'll be there, and if [Chevron] continue to suppress our right to freespeech, we'll have visible signs to get out our message," Cotter says.The whole thing could make for an interesting Sunday. Let's just hope itdoesn't include tear gas and riot gear.

If Karpas gets back with Hair Balls, we'll be sure to update the story.

CRUDE premieres in Britain

2010-01-10T17:50:00.005-05:00

Joe Berlinger’s CRUDE has gotten great reviews in the US and now it made its way across the ocean to Britain. It’s time to show the rest of the world the environmental mess Texaco left behind in the Ecuadorian rainforest. The indigenous people deserve to be heard and we need to make sure Chevron is held responsible!

Here’s the link for Sunday edition of The Independent that talks about CRUDE:

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/who-will-pay-for-amazons-chernobyl-1863284.html

Chevron's arguments

2009-12-29T16:13:00.004-05:00

Chevron keeps saying it is not responsible for the mess Texaco left in the Ecuadorian jungle because Texaco left Ecuador 20 years ago. Why Chevron makes this argument is beyond my comprehension. The lawsuit is about the damage that was done by Texaco when it was operating in Ecuador between 1964 and 1992. It’s about over 900of Texaco’s substandard waste pits that continue to ooze oily slime into the soil and underground water, making people sick and causing them to die from cancer! The fact that Texaco left without cleaning it up just shows how little the company cares about the environment and the Ecuadorian people.

Lago Agrio 5 — an oil pit Texaco said it cleaned! It doesn’t look clean to me

For ten years in a US court, Texaco and then Chevron argued the case should be moved to Ecuador. The US court agreed, after both oil companies praised Ecuador’s courts for their fairness and independence. Promptly, the plaintiffs re-filed the exact, same lawsuit in Lago Agrio in 2003 — again for damages stemming from Texaco’s intentional and purposeful contamination of the Amazon rainforest. When evidence began to incriminate Chevron, the oil company’s views changed, and Chevron wanted out of Ecuador. Through its high-priced public relations and lobbying firms, Chevron began to disseminate inaccurate and misleading information to American politicians and journalists.

Most discount Chevron’s spin, which doesn’t stop Chevron from blaming Petroecuador. But this lawsuit is not about Petroecuador’s actions. Nothing in the lawsuit holds Chevron accountable for any action by Petroecuador unrelated to Texaco’s operations. As I understand, Chevron has the legal right to sue Petroecuador, if Chevron is convinced that the state-owned company shares responsibility. I also understand that Chevron tried to pull Petroecuador into the lawsuit through related litigation filed in US courts and has failed each time.

Avatar

2009-12-25T09:06:00.007-05:00

I saw the multimillion dollar James Cameron’s blockbuster “Avatar” the other day. It’s a truly captivating story about an innocent humanoid Na'vi tribe being attacked by humans who are after some precious resource. The indigenous Na’vi people are blue and might look like aliens but the story seems very real. Raiding a foreign nation, killing its people just to exploit their land… sounds a lot like Chevron in Ecuador, doesn’t it?

Texaco came to Ecuador and pretended to be everyone’s friend. The company got the oil it wanted but it also contaminated the land and water and destroyed the lives of unsuspecting Ecuadorians.

I wish that story had a good ending! If only Chevron finally understood avoiding responsibility and refusing to bring any relief to the Ecuadorians is simply WRONG!

Here’s an interesting article comparing Na’vi’s struggle to what many small nations are going through while fighting against the big oil:

http://news.mongabay.com/2009/1222-hance_avatar.html

Press release

2009-12-15T21:54:00.009-05:00

Today I read a press release from Congresswoman Linda Sánchez office asking the United States Trade Representative to ignore Chevron’s recent appeal to take away Ecuador’s trade preferences. Congresswoman Sanchez is trying to explain that the plaintiffs “deserve their day in court” and the US Trade Representative should not let Chevron disrupt the lawsuit. I could not agree more!

Here’s the press release, the full text of the letter and the link to an interesting Los Angeles Times article about the issue:

Members of Congress Urge USTR to Ignore Chevron Petition on Ecuador Legal Case

Members Sign Letter Expressing Concern About Chevron Efforts to Yank Ecuador’s Trade Benefits

Washington D.C. –Rep. Linda Sánchez (D-CA) and 25 other Members of Congress are urging the United States Trade Representative (USTR) to reject efforts by Chevron to threaten the cancellation of trade benefits for Ecuador because the oil giant faces a multi-billion dollar liability in the South American nation for allegedly dumping billions of gallons of toxic oil waste into the rivers and streams of the Amazon rainforest.

A letter sent December 15 to USTR Ambassador Ron Kirk, says: “We write to express our concern about news reports indicating that Chevron Corporation continues to request that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) withhold U.S. trade preferences for Ecuador. We urge you to reject Chevron’s request and reaffirm that U.S. trade agreements will not be used as leverage to interfere in private claims processing through Ecuador’s legal process.”

“Chevron pushing the Administration to take the extraordinary step of yanking special trade preferences for Ecuador turns the goal of the U.S. trade preferences program on its head,” said Rep. Linda Sánchez. “Trade preferences should be used as a hand up to provide needed help to the families of developing nations, not a paddle to punish governments who refuse to succumb to the demands of multi-billion dollar corporations.”

When it came to her attention that Chevron had been lobbying Members of Congress and the Obama Administration to punish Ecuador because its government refused to intervene in a private lawsuit, Rep. Linda Sánchez began an awareness campaign. Testifying before the Ways & Means Trade Subcommittee hearing on trade preference systems, Sánchez advocated for tens of thousands of indigenous Ecuadorians who have been seeking remediation from Chevron for more than fifteen years from a human and environmental tragedy to have their day in court. The population in the affected area suffers from high rates of cancer and birth defects, and too many mothers have experienced miscarriages and the loss of a child.

“Rather than allowing this case to come to a conclusion, embarking on clean-up efforts, or even seeking mediation, Chevron has engaged in a lobbying effort that looks like little more than extortion,” continued Sánchez. “Apparently, if it can’t get the outcome it wants from the Ecuadorian court system, Chevron will use the U.S. government to deny trade benefits until Ecuador ‘cries uncle.’”

Rep. Sánchez and her colleagues write: “We do not prejudge the outcome of the case, nor do we take a position on the litigation. We do believe, however, that the tens of thousands of indigenous residents of Ecuador who have brought this case deserve their day in court. We further believe that the USTR should not interfere in an ongoing judicial matter, particularly when this case involves environmental, health and human right issues that have a regional, and even global, importance.”

Full text of the letter is below:

December 14, 2009
The Honorable Ron Kirk
United States Trade Representative
600 17th Street NW
Washington, DC 20508

Re: Ecuador’s Inclusion in Andean Trade Preferences Benefits

Dear Ambassador Kirk:

We are writing to express our concern about news reports indicating that Chevron Corporation continues to request that the United States Trade Representative (USTR) withhold U.S. trade preferences for Ecuador. We understand that this request arises as part of an effort to quiet a legal claim brought against Chevron by some 30,000 Ecuadorians who reside in Ecuador’s northeastern Amazon region. We urge you to reject Chevron’s request and reaffirm that U.S. trade agreements will not be used as leverage to interfere in private claims progressing through Ecuador’s legal process.

For nearly four years, Chevron Corporation has made similar requests of the United States Trade Representative’s Office (USTR). To its credit, USTR has rejected them. A judgment is expected sometime next year by the Ecuadorian court in a civil case in which the Ecuadorian plaintiffs allege that Texaco, subsequently acquired by Chevron dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste water into unlined pits and waterways in Ecuador’s Amazon forests while drilling for oil, resulting in severe human health and environmental problems in the region.

We do not prejudge the outcome of the case, nor do we take a position on the litigation. We do believe, however, that the tens of thousands of indigenous residents of Ecuador who have brought this case deserve their day in court. We further believe that the USTR should not interfere in an ongoing judicial matter, particularly when this case involves environmental, health and human right issues that have regional, and even global, importance.

We appreciate your consideration of our request that you continue your past policy of allowing the case against Chevron to unfold without pressure from the USTR. We look forward to hearing from you soon. Should you have any questions on this matter, please contact Celeste Drake in the office of Congresswoman Linda T. Sánchez.

Sincerely,

Linda T. Sánchez (CA-39)
Lloyd Doggett (TX-25)
Danny Davis (IL-7)
John Lewis (GA-5)
Earl Blumenauer (OR-3)
Bill Delahunt (MA-10)
Sam Farr (CA-17)
Raul Grijalva (AZ-7)
Phil Hare (IL-17)
Brian Higgins (NY-27)
Steve Israel (NY-2)
Hank Johnson (GA-4)
Marcy Kaptur (OH-9)
Barbara Lee (CA-9)
Betty McCollum (MN-4)
Jim McGovern (MA-3)
Michael Michaud (ME-2)
James Moran (VA-8)
Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC)
John Olver (MA-1)
Mike Quigley (IL-5)
Lucille Roybal-Allard (CA-34)
Jan Schakowsky (IL-9)
Pete Stark (CA-13)
Betty Sutton (OH-13)

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/editorials/la-ed-chevron3-2009dec03,0,12813.story

Tiger Woods

2009-12-06T23:06:00.005-05:00

Tiger Woods has gotten a lot of media attention recently and his immaculate image is being torn apart. The car accident and marriage troubles should not be any of our business but the fact that Tiger Woods wants to be associated with Chevron, who is the title sponsor of the Tiger Woods Foundation World Challenge Golf Tournament, needs to be talked about!

Woods said in a press release in April "Chevron has a track record and a commitment to bettering the communities where they operate," Haven’t Tiger Woods Foundation done any research before going into this business relationship? How could they not hear about Chevron’s track record of exploitation, pollution and complete lack of accountability? The oil giant is currently in the middle of the biggest environmental lawsuit- Ecuador vs. Chevron. Chevron dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste into waterways in Ecuador polluting the land and drinking water. People are getting sick and dying because of Chevron’s contamination.

Why would Tiger Woods want to associate himself with a company that destroys everything around it just to get what it wants and refuses to take any responsibility for its actions!

Woods should walk away from this partnership and show the world that Tiger Woods Foundation, unlike Chevron, actually cares about the environment, sustainability and people’s lives. It won’t fix Wood’s marriage crisis but it will get people talking about Chevron’s crimes.

For more detail see: http://thechevronpit.blogspot.com

Chevron's lobbying campaign backfires.

2009-11-21T11:02:00.002-05:00

A few days ago KENNETH VOGEL of Politico wrote an interesting article on how Chevron’s fallacious defense strategy is bringing the oil giant down.

Here’s the link for the article: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29560.html

With what seems to be unlimited financial resources, Chevron is having really hard time trying to defend itself. A while ago, as a response to CBS’s 60 Minutes, Chevron released a video showing Chevron’s side of the story. The oil giant was trying to get its point across but made the mistake of trying to fool people into believing it was a real news report. That was not taken well by the viewers.

A few months later Chevron took it even further and released videos of two men offering a bribe to the Ecuadorian judge. The problem...those recordings were made by a convicted felon and a Chevron contractor and the judge never accepted the bribe! Chevron claims it had no knowledge of the videos being made, but it seems completely unbelievable. Again, the public was misled.

Chevron fought for a very long time to have the case moved to Ecuador. Now, as we’re getting close to a ruling from the Ecuadorian court, Chevron is getting desperate.

As I mentioned in my last post, Chevron is trying to have Ecuador’s trading preferences taken away for supposedly not acting in accordance with the 1995 remediation agreement. The fact that it is Texaco that did not fulfill the main requirement of the agreement is ignored. Testing on samples from the waste pits prove that there was no clean up. The sites that were supposed to be remediated are as toxic as the ones that have never been touched. (See the list in my post form Nov 7th.) This itself makes the agreement invalid.

Chevron can afford to hire the best people in the business to improve its image but it seems like every step they take ends up making them look as guilty as they really are.

For more detail see: http://thechevronpit.blogspot.com

Whatever it takes to avoid taking responsibility …

2009-11-17T11:21:00.003-05:00

With its enormous profits and unlimited number of paid consultants, Chevron is lobbying Congress and the Office of the US Trade Representative to impose trade sanctions on Ecuador hoping it will halt the lawsuit for oil contamination in the Ecuadorian rainforest. The oil giant claims the 1995 remediation agreement between Texaco and the government of Ecuador releases Texaco from any liability. Chevron is trying to punish Ecuadorian government for supposedly not abiding by the agreement. But there are a few facts Chevron does not mention.

This remediation agreement released Texaco of any government liability but not individual people’s right to sue. The Ecuadorian indigenous groups filed this lawsuit in 1993 two years before the remediation agreement was signed.

Most importantly, the agreement is invalid as Texaco never cleaned up the pits as the agreement required. Tests taken during the trial show that almost all of the oil sites that Texaco had supposedly cleaned up still show illegal levels of toxins. Many of them are as bad as the ones Texaco did not remediate. Dumping dirt on top of the waste pits does not count as a cleanup and does not take the problem away.

Interestingly, two Chevron lawyers and several former Ecuadorian officials have been indicted by the Ecuadorian government for lying about the results of Texaco’s remediation. So not only is the agreement not valid, but it also seems to have been a hoax from the very beginning.

Chevron is getting tangled up in its own web of lies!

Why did Texaco let this happen?

2009-11-12T11:11:00.007-05:00

I was thinking… why did Texaco let a disaster like this happen? Texaco dumps 18 billion gallons of oil and toxic water into the rainforest and walks away. Now the people living there are sick and dying, and they want it cleaned up! Can you blame them? It’s hard to believe Texaco didn’t know its system was substandard or that dumping toxins into waterways would cause a major environmental problem. Did Texaco just not care and chose the cheapest way to dispose of the toxic sludge by simply dumping it into the streams and leaving it to poison people and the Amazonian forest?

Texaco committed a crime first by polluting the soil and water and then by pretending to clean it up. Scientific tests have shown that 98% of the oil sites that Texaco had supposedly cleaned up still have illegal levels of toxins. Most of them are as bad as the ones that have not been remediated!

Now there’s Chevron… covering up Texaco’s crimes, refusing to help those affected by them and trying to derail the lawsuit.

For more information about the contamination, go to: www.chevrontoxico.com or www.thechevronpit.blogspot.com