More Chevron Smoke & Mirrors in Ecuador's Courts - Will They Backfire?

Facing a judgment in a monumental lawsuit for massive contamination of the Amazon rainforest in Ecuador, Chevron unveiled its latest smoke & mirrors sideshow yesterday. In another desperate attempt to delay and disrupt the judicial process in Ecuador, the oil giant filed a motion in Lago Agrio to strike the "Expert Examination" of the contamination and assessment of Chevron's liability, which was performed by the independent court-appointed Special Master, a geological engineer named Dr. Richard Cabrera. The motion also asks for the Expert Examination to be re-performed, which would extend the trial – now in its 17th year – several more years, at least.

Chevron variously misrepresents, omits, or twists critical facts about Dr. Cabrera, accusing him of concealing a conflict of interest from the court and from Chevron. The company says they have "newly discovered" evidence that Dr. Cabrera owns an oilfield remediation company and claims that he stands to benefit from a ruling against the company.

But Pablo Fajardo, the lead Ecuadorian attorney representing the 30,000 indigenous and campesino plaintiffs suing Chevron, says, "Cabrera disclosed to the court that he owned a clean-up company before his appointment as Special Master. This fact was properly cited by the court as one of the reasons he was qualified to do the damages assessment."

In a rebuke of Chevron's press release from the Amazon Defense Coalition, Fajardo responds with a few additional bullet points:

* Chevron thought so highly of Cabrera’s qualifications that it accepted him as a court-appointed expert in an earlier part of the case and paid his fees as required by court rules.

* The fact Cabrera’s company is qualified to bid on clean-up contracts offered by Ecuador’s state-owned oil company is irrelevant. That company, Petroecuador, is not a party to the case against Chevron and would have no role in any eventual cleanup.

* Cabrera by virtue of his role in the case would be barred from having a role in a future clean-up.

Included in Chevron's press release trumpeting their baseless claims about Cabrera are a number of points that the company has highlighted before. The Amazon Defense Coalition refutes the points one-by-one in a document posted here. I encourage you to read both, and attempt to decide for yourself.

Of course, having visited the region myself, spoken to local people, and having followed the tactics from both sides for years, I know where I come down. As far as I'm concerned, this is just the latest predictable tactic in Chevron's 'kitchen sink' strategy. In fact, yesterday's filing was the 29th official motion to disqualify Dr. Cabrera, each of which have been denied by the court. One has to wonder exactly what is the objective behind the lies and hollow legal motions.

With a growing horde of high-powered public relations firms and DC lobbyists enlisted in the fight to evade responsibility for its toxic legacy in the Amazon, it appears that this latest push has nothing to do with a legal strategy in Ecuadorian courts, and is aimed instead at smearing the Ecuadorian judiciary in the court of public opinion.

But on the same day as Chevron filed its motion in the rainforest oil town of Lago Agrio, the Republic of Ecuador filed a motion in U.S. federal court, seeking to stop Chevron from participating in international arbitration under the U.S.-Ecuador bilateral investment treaty. Chevron is trying to use this latest forum to shift liability for damages from its contamination in the Ecuadorian Amazon to the government of Ecuador.

This motion by lawyers for the government of Ecuador refers to how Chevron (then Texaco) “agreed to satisfy any judgments in plaintiffs’ favor," in Ecuadorian courts, when arguing to move the legal proceedings from U.S. courts, where they were originally filed way back in 1993.

An Amazon Defense Coalition press release about the legal filing quotes the motion:

“The stark reality is the respondents (Chevron and its local subsidiary), having moved the case to Ecuador … are reneging on a key condition of the dismissal – their promise to satisfy any judgment. Not only are they refusing to satisfy a key condition… they are asking an not-yet-constituted arbitral tribunal to prevent the Ecuadorian court from deciding a case which it has been hearing for more than six years, by ordering the Republic to force its court to dismiss the plaintiffs’ claims – all without the participation of the plaintiffs themselves.”

Writing about Chevron's attempt to take this case to arbitration on his International Business Law Advisor blog, attorney Santiago Cueto says that "Chevron’s global quest for a favorable forum is a text book example of abusive litigation."

Steven Donziger, attorney for the plaintiffs suing Chevron for clean-up and compensation says, “We believe all of these Chevron attacks will backfire against the company in a later enforcement action to collect on any judgment,” said Donziger. “Judges are not as naïve as Chevron seems to think they are.”

One attorney I spoke to with experience in similar kinds of litigation said that Chevron is trying to build a legal record to try and show that it didn't receive a fair trial in Ecuador, something the company will try to argue when it comes to enforcement of a judgment if they lose.

Another attorney I spoke to who has followed this case for years agreed. But he also thought Donziger's perspective could prove true, and used a similar term as Mr. Cueto, telling me that Chevron is building a "long record of cynical and abusive litigation." He told me that upon reviewing Chevron's "years of legal shenanigans," a judge in an enforcement action could be very cold to any attempts to argue that the company didn't receive due process, demanding the company shut up, clean up, and pay up.

But, as Rainforest Action Network's Brianna Cayo-Cotter concludes powerfully in her blog, it's about more than money:

This is about the children who are getting sick and dying because they are forced to drink poisoned water. This is about justice for the 1,400 people who have died of cancer. And for the families who were unfortunate enough to build their homes on dangerous oil pits that Chevron (then Texco) lied about properly cleaning up. This is about their right to drink clean water. A right that Chevron denies with every lie and legal trick.

We can expect to see more of these lies and legal tricks from Chevron's lawyers in the near future. But the oil giant's legal smoke and mirrors will do nothing to stop us from building an ever more powerful movement to convince the Chevron's leadership that it's time to try a new approach.

With the courage of the rainforest communities of Ecuador who keep fighting for justice, the new energy of Rainforest Action Network's new Change Chevron Campaign, and the powerful support of Avaaz's global network, the chorus demanding Chevron clean up its mess in Ecuador is growing louder by the day, and will soon be deafening.

Join us!

– Han

Born and raised in Baltimore, Han Shan is a human rights and environmental justice campaigner living in New York City. He is an organizer with the Clean Up Ecuador campaign for Amazon Watch.

Tens of Thousands of Avaaz Members to Chevron: Clean up Your Toxic Mess In Ecuador!

Today, we're proud to announce that we've joined forces with global internet advocacy powerhouse Avaaz to distribute the international petition to the new Chevron CEO, calling for a cleanup of its toxic legacy in Ecuador. Avaaz has set a goal of gathering at least 100,000 additional signatures from people around the world.

Along with our allies at Rainforest Action Network (RAN), Amazon Watch released the petition and with Avaaz's help, we have now gathered well over 100,000 signatures. We'll deliver the petition and signatures soon and RAN is asking its supporters for ideas on how best to deliver the petition to the company to make the greatest impact.

If you haven't signed the petition already, please do so at the Avaaz site or on the website of Amazon Watch's Clean Up Ecuador Campaign.

There you can watch a video from local residents of Ecuador's contaminated rainforest region, appealing to Chevron's new CEO John Watson to take a new approach in dealing with the human and environmental tragedy in the Amazon, and finally take responsibility. The video has been spreading far and wide too, and was highlighted the other day on GritTV with Laura Flanders.

– Han

Born and raised in Baltimore, Han Shan is a human rights and environmental justice campaigner living in New York City. He is an organizer with the Clean Up Ecuador campaign for Amazon Watch.

Cancer Leads To Woman's Death After Living Near Chevron Oil Site For 30 Years

Modesta Briones

Reposted from The Chevron Pit

The Chevron Pit is featuring the first of many personal stories about how the oil contamination left behind by Texaco has impacted the people living near the oil company's former oil sites. Chevron purchased Texaco in 2001.

Their first story is about Modesta Briones, who passed away not long after she and her husband, Segundo Salinas, gave an interview to author Lou Dematteis for his book Crude Reflections (which includes many profound interviews as well as amazing photos and is available here).

Interview with Modesta Briones and her husband Segundo Salinas
Texaco Parahuaco Oil Well #2/ Parahuaco

Modesta Briones: It started with a little sore on my toe, which grew a bit larger. The water near my house, where I washed clothes, was full of crude and the sore grew bigger, as if the flesh were rotting. It didn't hurt, but I couldn't stand its stink. I had a fever and chills.

Segundo Salinas: In Quito they said it was a cancerous tumor, and they had to amputate her leg, or the cancer would spread throughout her body and she could die.

Modesta Briones: When the doctor told me he was cutting off my leg, I was so sick that I thought I was going to die.

He amputated, and the doctor said I should return for a checkup, but I haven't gone back because I don't have the money.

I'm having a hard time getting used to living without my foot. I can't walk with crutches. My husband, daughter and son help me, but it's a hardship for them. Now, I no longer leave the house. Since the operation, I've only left my house once, to request an I.D. card. After losing my leg, I regret moving to the Amazon, but what can one do?

Segundo Salinas: We've lived here some 30 years. We moved here looking for a better future because there was unoccupied land for sale at a good price.

Texaco had already drilled five oil wells. In those days, the oil companies didn't respect any laws. Nor did they respect us. They would say, "This is government land and we've made a deal with the government. And it doesn't include you, so leave." They would arrive, decide they wanted to drill somewhere, and then drill. They brought in machines and crushed our crops.

There are three toxic waste pits near my house, so many animals died. When my horses and chickens fell in, I pulled them out, but they stopped eating and died.

Some of the oil wells here have flares that burn off gas. The smoke rises, and when the rains come, black rain with a rusty smell falls back to earth, contaminating the land and the water.

Chevron pulls strings, kicks 'Runners for Human Rights' out of pre-Chevron Houston Marathan expo

Our friends at Rainforest Action Network (RAN) have recently joined the effort to demand justice for the people of the Ecuadorian Amazon suffering from Chevron's massive contamination of their rainforest communities. In true RAN style, their first big public initiative is smart and engaging– a handful of RAN activists are "running for human rights" in the Chevron Houston Marathon, taking place this Sunday. As part of the Chevron-sponsored (and thoroughly branded) marathon, the organizers present a big public Expo, at which the RAN runners paid for a table to distribute info about why they're running.

But at 10am this morning, before the Expo even opened, the RAN team – registered and credentialed – was threatened with arrest and kicked out of the Expo building by police. According to the RAN team, Chevron Marathon Managing Director Steven Karpas told them that "higher ups at Chevron are freaking out." And apparently, the Chevron big-wigs' "freak-out" was enough to deny the RAN team of their right to free speech and get them ejected from a building owned and operated by the city of Houston.

This is another pathetic example of Chevron throwing its weight around and resorting to dirty tactics in attempt to hide the truth from the public. Let's hope that Chevron won't be able to stop the registered runners from taking part in the marathon. And regardless, we know they'll do a great job raising awareness in Houston, with plans to unveil banners along the race route, and host a screening of the explosive documentary CRUDE in Houston. Read the full RAN press release after the jump.

UPDATE: Read the Associated Press story.

RAN's press release:

For Immediate Release January 15, 2010

Contact: Brianna Cayo Cotter, Rainforest Action Network, (415) 305-1943 (in Houston)

Houston Chevron Marathon Marred by Denial of Runners’ Free Speech

Runners for human rights barred from Chevron Houston Marathon Expo, threatened with arrest

Houston, TX – A team that is running for human rights in Ecuador at this Sunday’s Chevron Houston Marathon was just kicked out of the marathon’s Expo by Chevron Marathon Managing Director Steven Karpas. The runners had paid for a table to distribute “I’m Running for Human Rights” stickers and information about Chevron’s refusal to clean up over 18 billion tons of toxic oil sludge they are responsible for in the Ecuadorean rainforest.

At approximately 10 a.m. this morning, Managing Director Steven Karpas told the Rainforest Action Network team, “higher ups at Chevron are freaking out” and threatened to arrest the peaceful runners. Police then ejected the runners from the city-owned and operated building for exercising their right to free speech.

“We are outraged that Chevron would deny marathon participants the right to run for what they believe, in our case, human rights in Ecuador,” said Rainforest Action Network runner Maria Ramos. “It is sad that the Chevron Houston Marathon - which raises awareness and money for many important causes - would deny the rights of participants to appease a corporate sponsor that is clearly ashamed of its human rights record.”

When asked for a reason for their ejection, Steven Karpas told the runners they were being removed for “protest activities.” The Rainforest Action Network team’s objective at the Expo was not to protest, disrupt the Expo or dampen other runners experience at this important race. The runners merely wanted to sit at their table and invite other runners to run with them for human rights.

While in Houston, Rainforest Action Network advocates will run in the race, unveil “Energy Shouldn’t Cost Lives” banners along the race route, distribute “I’m Running for Human Rights” stickers to other runners, and host a free screening of Crude – the critically acclaimed documentary about the crisis in Ecuador – for Chevron employees and the Houston community.

Chevron is currently facing a $27.3 billion pollution judgment against the company in an Ecuadorean court over Chevron’s toxic legacy in the Amazon rainforest. Just yesterday, representatives of Amazonian indigenous groups in Ecuador went to U.S. federal court in New York today to enjoin Chevron from initiating a closed-door international arbitration against Ecuador’s government designed to eliminate the company’s potential $27 billion liability for contaminating a huge swath of rainforest and devastating the local population.

– Han

Born and raised in Baltimore, Han Shan is a human rights and environmental justice campaigner living in New York City. He is currently serving as an organizer with the Clean Up Ecuador campaign for Amazon Watch.

Video-Message from Ecuador to New Chevron CEO

"We don't want to continue dying from cancer."

This is the message that Emergildo Criollo, leader of the indigenous Cofan tribe in Ecuador's Amazon region, is sending to John Watson, the new CEO of Chevron, in a new video.

Just days into Mr. Watson's tenure as Chairman and CEO of California-based Chevron Corporation, the affected communities in the Ecuadorian Amazon have recorded a heartfelt video message, in which they appeal directly to Watson to visit Ecuador, and address the oil company's toxic legacy.

The powerful video message accompanies the launch of a global petition driven by Amazon Watch's Clean Up Ecuador Campaign. The petition supports the communities' demands for clean-up of the contamination, compensation for health and environmental impacts, and access to health care and potable water for the affected people. Please add your name to the petition here: www.ChevronToxico.com.