Chevron Risks $27 Billion Fine in Ecuador

An independent assessment concluded that the Chevron Corporation should pay $27 billion to the state of Ecuador, for the damages it had done to the environment, by polluting huge portions of the nation's rain forest, between 1972 and 1992. The report, written by geologist Richard Cabrera, is harshly criticized by the company, which says his data are wrong and misleading.

 

However, Cabrera's reputation is one of impartiality, and the peasants that sued Texaco, now owned by Chevron, say that this is just another attempt made by the international corporation to undermine an impartial court decision, scheduled to be made public in early 2009. They asked for an environmental report after they sued Chevron, saying that the corporation was responsible for dumping more than 18 billion gallons (68 billion liters) of contaminated waters in the forests.

 

In an official statement, released after the expert stated his opinion in court, Chevron said that "Cabrera's work was monitored, supported, and conducted by the plaintiffs. They paid more than $200,000 to fund his 'independent' findings," forgetting that, when the trial started, it too paid for much of the geologist's research, as the law states that the party asking for the report has to also pay for it.

 

Steven Donziger, one of the attorneys hired by the association of farmers, peasants and Indians in Ecuador that sued the international corporation, said that the party he represented had to fund the research, as they were the ones that had asked for it. He added that Chevron would do anything in its power to undermine a potentially negative court order, which would force it to pay billions of dollars in compensation.

 

He told Reuters that "The party that asks for the technical work has to pay for it. Chevron partially payed for Cabrera's work in a previous part of the case. We had to fund his budget because we were the only ones asking for the overall assessment. Chevron is again trying to undermine the court."

 

The company defended itself by saying that it already paid in excess of $40 million back in the 1990s, for a clean-up campaign, and added that the state-run enterprise Petroecuador was largely responsible for the devastation in the nation's rain forest.