Landmark Case against Texaco for Amazon Pollution Nears End

Sixteen years after the lawsuit was first filed by Ecuadoran residents of the Amazon rainforest against Texaco—now owned by Chevron—for polluting their lands and waters, the end is finally in sight. At stake is the largest damages award for an environmental case in history—more than $27 billion. Leading the case against Chevron is Ecuadorian Pablo Fajardo, a former oil worker who is now fighting to protect the rights of his community and his people. For their heroic commitment, Pablo Fajardo and colleague Luis Yanza won the 2008 Goldman Environmental Prize, a prestigious award for the world’s leading environmental activists.

A judge in Ecuador will decide the case by the end of 2009, after years of building tensions and accusations between the plaintiffs and Chevron/Texaco. Charges include that Texaco did not sufficiently clean up waste from oil production and that the resulting contamination has had serious impacts on community health. A report by a court-appointed team last year concluded that pollution caused mainly by Texaco’s Ecuadoran affiliate, Texaco Petroleum, had led to 1,401 cancer deaths in this stretch of Amazonian jungle. The team’s leader, Ecuadoran geologist Richard Cabrera, reported finding high levels of toxins in soil and water samples near Texaco’s production sites. Read Washington Post article about the case here and New York Times article here.

Chevron has denied the charges, stating that the case is a ‘farce’. As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle: “We feel confident that we’ll ultimately prevail,” said Chevron general counsel Charles James in a telephone interview from the company’s San Ramon headquarters. “Even if they get a bogus decree out of a court in Ecuador, their ability to enforce this is going to be very limited. We would contest enforcement based on the poor [legal] process.”

Greengrants has supported this drawn-out legal case with several small grants that enabled the Amazon Defense Coalition, the organization organizing the plaintiffs, to collect evidence and distribute information, and to help indigenous communities monitor the impacts of the oil industry. Up against extraordinary odds and a powerful and deep-pocketed corporation, the leaders of this case have demonstrated incredible persistence and patience in building the case against Chevron. They have been the target of intimidation and death threats. The approaching final ruling on this case—no matter what the outcome—is testament to the critical importance of ensuring that vulnerable communities’ rights are protected and demonstrates the grave injustices that they face in advocating for the health of their lands, waters, and health.

Access the latest updates on 60 Minutes and National Public Radio.

Global Greengrants Fund

Global Greengrants Fund believes solutions to environmental harm and social injustice come from people whose lives are most impacted. Every day, our global network of people on the frontlines and donors comes together to support communities to protect their ways of life and our planet. Because when local people have a say in the health of their food, water, and resources, they are forces for change.

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