AlterNet: Call Chevron to Account for Its Assault on the Amazonian Ecosystem

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Call Chevron to Account for Its Assault on the Amazonian Ecosystem

By Byard Duncan, AlterNet. Posted September 2, 2009.

Over the past 28 years, the oil giant has polluted rivers, poisoned the atmosphere and caused immeasurable damage to children.




To say that Chevron (formerly Texaco) has unleashed an environmental hell in the Ecuadorian Amazon would be a gruesome understatement.

Over the last 28 years, the company has dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic formation waters into the Oriente, a river that about 30,000 native people depend on for bathing, drinking and cooking.

In 1995, Chevron vowed to "clean up" the mess it had made, but the actual effort was pathetic. Less than 1 percent of the 350 drilling sites it had opened were adequately dealt with, and most of the others were simply covered with a thin layer of dirt. Leftover crude byproducts were burned off into the atmosphere.

Today, the surrounding populations continue to suffer from decades of irresponsible ecocide. Studies have linked 1,401 cancer deaths, as well as an unusually high rate of miscarried pregnancies, to oil contamination. And across many villages, children endure a variety of birth defects and disfigurements.

There is good news in all of this: the affected communities are fighting back. Their lawsuit against Chevron, first filed in 1993, gained steam in November 2008 when a court-appointed expert estimated the amount of damages to be between $7 billion and $16.3 billion. If won, it would be a step toward calling the oil giant to account. It would also send a pointed message to other huge conglomerates hoping to exploit people for profits. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/action/142334/call_chevron_to_account_for_its_assault_on_the_amazonian_ecosystem/