UPDATE: 5/26/12  “One of the several paradoxes of the epic Chevron-Texaco litigation is that after nearly two decades of bitter legal combat—with no end in sight—very little has changed on the ground for the poor campesinos and indigenous tribe members. Until now.  View story: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-22/a-hopeful-turn-in-the-chevron-ecuador-fight

“There is a battle raging between Equador and Chevron Oil. Texaco (now merged with Chevron) drilled the Ecuadorian Amazon region from 1964 to 1990. They deliberately dumped over 18 billions of toxic wastewater, “spilled” about 17 million gallons of crude oil, and left hundreds of open pits of hazardous waste when they pulled out. They chose to use environmental practices that were outdated (not effective) and did not meet the industry standards. Why? It was cheaper.

They left behind one of the worst environmental disasters in the world. The Amazon Rain Forest acts as am air filter for the planet. And Chevron (along with other oil companies, they are not alone) left a legacy of contaminated soil, ground water, and surface streams. Those native to the area are suffering from mouth, stomach and uterine cancers, birth defects, and spontaneous miscarriages. You can imagine the damage to the delicate enviroment of the Rain Forest. Chevron is gone, but they left their mess behind and it continues to poison the ecosystem of the rainforest…something everyone should be concerned about.

An environmental suit was brought by lawyers for some residents of the Amazon, and an Ecuadorian court issued an $18.2 billion judgment against Chevron in 2011. Of course Chevron claims that they are being misrepresented and they never drilled a drop in Equador (but the subsidiary of Texaco (Tex-Pet) whom they purchased, did).  But what did you expect them to say? They’ve been putting profits over people for decades.

If you follow the stories from people who have been affected by Fracking, you already know that Big Oil does not always tell the truth about the dangers involved with their extraction processes. but not only does Fracking create the same contamination, it also has been linked to increased earthquake activity. Like BP, Chevron took the cheap way out, got caught, and now don’t want to pay for the consequences. The violations they were charged with were and are illegal in Equator AND The United States.

The whole dirty low down can be found here. http://chevrontoxico.com/

Related articles

• Chevron/Texaco GUILTY of Amazon slaughter (thefreeonline.wordpress.com)
• Top Strategists On Gas Price Messaging: Americans Want a ‘Realistic Long-Term Plan’ Not ‘Empty Political Promises’ (thinkprogress.org)
• Thom Hartmann – Talk Radio News Service – Brazil Arrests 17 Chevron Oil Execs For Enviromental Crimes – 25 March 2012 (lucas2012infos.wordpress.com)
• Kerry Kennedy: Chevron Blames Victims of Its Deliberate Contamination of Ecuadorian Rainforest (huffingtonpost.com)