Panel rules for Chevron in Ecuador Amazon case
Plaintiffs' hopes for collecting a $19 billion judgment awarded by an Ecuadorean court against Chevron Corp. for oil contamination in the Amazon have suffered another potential setback.
A three-judge international arbitration panel in The Hague has ruled that an agreement signed in 1995 by Texaco Corp., which Chevron later purchased, released the oil giant from financial responsibility from any claims of "collective damage."
However, the interim ruling Tuesday by the Permanent Court of Arbitration left open the possibility that Chevron could still be liable for damages incurred by individuals.
Chevron has been fighting in multiple courts on three continents litigation that began two decades ago and led to the February 2011 judgment and award for contamination caused by a Texaco-led consortium in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest between 1972 and 1990.
http://news.yahoo.com/panel-rules-chevron-ecuador-amazon-case-235906087--finance.html