Chevron Lies Through Teeth About Groundwater Contamination In Ecuador

Reposted from the Chevron Pit.

The Ecuador indigenous and farmer communities who recently won an $18 billion judgment against Chevron have long maintained that the oil giant has been taking their comments out of context and lying in its long-running effort to discredit the lawsuit.

Here's a good example.

This week in a blog on its web site, Chevron claimed that that Dr. Ann Maest, a prominent U.S. scientist who worked as an expert for the rainforest communities, testified under oath "that she was not aware of any scientific data indicating that drinking water wells have been impacted in any way by Texpet's operations" in Ecuador.  (Texpet is a Chevron subsidiary.)

What Maest said during three days of deposition testimony was that there was extensive groundwater contamination at Chevron's production sites, but that there was no data from the plaintiffs about contamination in drinking water wells because no such wells were tested.

In her deposition, Maest repeatedly cites multiple and widespread instances of groundwater pollution at every single waste pit in Ecuador where such testing took place. Yet Chevron claims in its blog that "even the plaintiffs own scientists" agree with Chevron's fabricated theory that there is no groundwater contamination in Ecuador.

Here are some relevant excerpts from the Maest deposition that Chevron failed to mention in its blog:

"There has been some sampling of groundwater that's down gradient of pits, and they did find quite high concentrations of TPH [Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons] in groundwater." (see 1/20/11 deposition, page 133)

The plaintiffs found "elevated concentrations of total petroleum hydrocarbons and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons...downstream of one of the separation stations in the concession." (see 12/8/10 deposition, page 161)

Samples tested from the plaintiff's and Chevron proved that "there are also PHs [a type of oil hydrocarbon] that are high in soil and groundwater immediately under the…pits that were allegedly remediated". (see 12/8/10 deposition, page 203)

Here is how Maest answered questions from a Chevron lawyer about groundwater contamination in Ecuador at a deposition that took place on December 8, 2010 (see page 212) – an exchange Chevron ignored in its blog posting:

Q. You had no worry about finding – whether you were going to find it or not?

A. No. We knew at that time that they (the plaintiffs technical team) had found groundwater contamination.

Q. And where was that found?

A. Under pretty much every pit that they looked at.

Just in case you missed that last line: groundwater contamination was under pretty much every pit that they looked at.

So much for Chevron's claim that plaintiff's consultants agree with Chevron that there was no groundwater contamination in Ecuador.

For more on how Chevron lies to shareholders about the Ecuador litigation, see this report from securities lawyer Graham Erion and this letter from Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate the company.

The Canadian Face of the Biggest Lawsuit in the World

Reposted from the Chevron Pit.

The Chevron Pit spoke with Jeff Gray of Toronto's Globe & Mail yesterday about the Ecuadorians' new lawyer, Alan Lenczner. Gray wanted to know why Lenczner decided to take our case.

We told him: "Because he knows he will win, and Chevron will lose."

After an indepth review of the Ecuador and U.S. court record on the case and a trip to Ecuador to view the contamination, Lenczner joined the legal team.

"It (seeing the contamination) influenced my decision a lot. I just saw the devastation ... and I've seen the plight of these people," he said. "... Forget the noise about lawsuits and distraction and internal memos and everything else, the fact remains that this is a mess."

Read the story here.

Countdown Begins for Chevron in Canada

Reposted from Eye on the Amazon

After months of suspense, the Ecuadorian rainforest communities have finally opened up the first front in what is likely to be a worldwide legal battle to force Chevron to pay its $18 billion ruling for environmental devastation in the Amazon.

On May 30, the Ecuadorians' Canadian lawyer, Alan Lenczner, filed suit in Ontario provincial court in Toronto, asking the court to seize the company's subsidiaries, Chevron Canada Ltd. and Chevron Finance Canada Ltd. These two companies' assets include offshore oil production in Newfoundland, tar sands operations in Alberta, and a refinery and gasoline stations in British Columbia.

Here is the filing, and here is a Q&A issued by the legal team.

Lenczner, one of Canada's most prominent litigators, asked the court to appoint a receiver over Chevron's assets, which would then be sold to pay the Ecuadorian ruling.

Legal observers quoted in media reports said Canada's courts generally defer to foreign courts' judgments. Unlike the United States, where unilateralism and America-first "exceptionalism" dominate debates over international issues, Canadian political and legal culture is generally respectful of international law.

The Ecuadorians are expected to file similar motions in other nations, seeking to add to the pressure on Chevron. Plaintiffs' attorney Pablo Fajardo has mentioned Venezuela (home to huge Chevron oil production operations) and Panama (where Chevron tankers often transit the canal) as likely targets.

The upshot is that Chevron's octopus-like worldwide presence has gone from being a strength to a critical weakness for the company. A legal sword of Damocles is swinging in the air, but where it will fall next, nobody outside the legal team knows. The company is embroiled in bitter controversies in many nations, including Australia, Angola, Brazil, Nigeria and Kazakhstan. Will one of those countries finally say "enough"?

For a summary of this rogue's gallery of misconduct, see the True Cost of Chevron report.

In the meantime, Chevron may face trouble much closer to home. On June 6th, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-Ill., wrote a letter to Mary Schapiro, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, asking her to investigate whether Chevron has concealed from the investment community the danger of its potential multi-billion-dollar liability in Ecuador.

Schakowsky referred to a recent report by Graham Erion, one of the Ecuadorians' attorneys, Chevron's Misrepresentations in Public Filings Regarding its $18.1 Billion Environmental Liability in Ecuador.

Schakowsky wrote: "Chevron may have failed, over a period of years continuing through the present time, to disclose material information to investors concerning the likelihood, scope and impact of its potential liability for massive environmental damage to a large part of the Ecuadorian rainforest and the associated health and other negative effects of that damage upon tens of thousands of indigenous farmers and individuals."

Legal nightmares in Canada and possible SEC investigations at home are part of the ever-mounting pressures facing Chevron CEO John Watson. These pressures – and the danger for company shareholders – will keep rising until Chevron owns up to its responsibility to clean up its shameful mess in Ecuador.

– Paul Paz y Miño

Ecuadorians Shake Up Chevron Shareholder Meeting

Reposted from Eye on the Amazon

At its Annual General Meeting in San Ramon on Wednesday, Chevron executives gave a good show – and a chillingly hard line. CEO John Watson told the assembled shareholders and activists from around the world that all was well, the company was raking in money and there was nothing to worry from those pesky multi-billion-dollar legal judgments and threatened fines against the company.

Watson showed a series of slick videos about Chevron's global business, including one purporting to show how the $18 billion Ecuador judgment against Chevron was a "fraud." For an in-depth and truthful expose on their disaster see chevrontoxico.com.

Pressed by shareholders and large institutional investors who urged Watson to settle the case, Watson dug in his heels and took the hardest line he has yet taken publicly in the 18-year-old case.

"We are resisting until Hell freezes over," Watson said. "We don't intend to pay criminals who seek to defraud your company."

Although the Ecuadorian rainforest communities who won the lawsuit are now preparing to seek court orders internationally to seize Chevron's assets, Watson said "no country that observes the rule of law" would do so.

He emphasized the company's Hail Mary legal strategy, in which it has asked an international arbitration tribunal to force the Ecuadorian government to pay the $18 billion. Although the tribunal has not yet granted Chevron's request, Watson said flatly – and falsely – that it had: "The tribunal has said the Ecuadorian government is liable for the judgment."

He confirmed previous reports that the company was trying to do an end run around the lawsuit by cutting a side deal with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa.

"We are seeking a dialogue with the government of Ecuador, but so far that has not moved forward."

Chevron's board of directors gave Watson frequent applause. One of those in the audience who was not so easily wowed by Watson's fancy videos was Luz Cusangua, a 60-year-old grandmother from eastern Ecuador.

"It's not so easy to wash your hands of this. I saw what you did in the 1970's. Mother Earth has been contaminated."

She continued, looking straight at Watson:

"This video is an insult to us. Chevron needs to pull up its pants and act like grown-ups, and accept responsibility for its mess in Ecuador."

– Paul Paz y Miño

Taking it to Chevron's Doorstep

Reposted from Eye on the Amazon

Tomorrow, May 30, Chevron will be practicing the elaborate rite of corporate public relations known as the Annual General Meeting for shareholders. At the company's headquarters in San Ramon, California, there will be plenty of image-buffing and apple-polishing for top executives and the board of directors, plus praise for the company's obscene profits.

Of course, denial of reality also will be part of the show. Chevron executives are likely to make only passing mention of their dire legal situation internationally, from Ecuador to Brazil to Nigeria, where the company faces tens of billions of dollars in fines for environmental crimes.

That's where Amazon Watch comes in. As in previous years, we will be accompanying indigenous leaders from northeastern Ecuador to speak truth to power.

Here are their stories:

Luz Cusangua

Luz Cusangua, 60, is a farmer from area of the Sacha oil field, which was developed by Texaco (now Chevron) in the 1970s and 1980s. After she moved with her family to the Ecuadorian Amazon from the highlands region of Ibarra in 1975, she witnessed firsthand the destruction of the tropical paradise as oil operations expanded around her. The river Wilya, which her family used for bathing, washing clothes, fishing and drinking, became a source of poisons. Her children suffered from various illnesses including skin diseases. Her mother was diagnosed with skin cancer, which was attributed by health professionals in the area to oil contamination.

The nearest well is a scant 100 meters from her home. To this day, the river Wilya remains contaminated.

Luz is the mother of five children and seven grandchildren. Her husband is deceased. Despite the contamination, she has managed to create a sustainable ecological farm, including coconuts, cacao, coffee, heliconia, orchids, medicinal plants and Amazonian fruit trees.

Robinson Yumbo

Robinson Yumbo, 39, is the president of the National Indigenous Federation of the Cofan People (FEINCE). Born in Lago Agrio, the oil town founded by Texaco, Robinson has lived his entire life in the community of Cofan Dureno along the shores of the AguaRico river. As a child, he witnessed firsthand the environmental devastation caused by Texaco's (now Chevron's) operations in the ancestral territory of the Cofan people. What was once the Cofan people's ancestral territory was transformed by Texaco (Chevron) into a massive oil field, characterized by continuous spills, the deliberate dumping of toxic wastewater into rivers and streams, and 24-hour flaring of natural gas.

Robinson witnessed the onset of a public health crisis within the Cofan community, including spontaneous miscarriages, birth defects and cancer. Texaco's oil operations also opened up the Cofan territory to uncontrolled migration, in the form of homesteading colonists, a phenomenon that led to large-scale deforestation (illegal mining and logging operations), the reduction of ancestral territory, the loss of game, and severe cultural threats.

 

Luz and Robinson will be joining other grass-roots leaders from California, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Australia and the Philippines who will participate in a public teach-in Tuesday night on the True Cost of Chevron. The event, at the David Brower Center in downtown Berkeley, is from 6:00-8:00 pm.

The next morning, they will be face to face with Chevron executives inside the shareholder meeting. Also speaking truth to power at the meeting will be a coalition of 40 institutional investors from the United States, Canada and Europe, with a combined total of $580 billion in assets under management. The coalition, which includes New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, sent Chevron a letter calling for it to settle its lawsuit in Ecuador, which has resulted in an $18 billion judgment against the company.

DiNapoli, is trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, which owns 7.24 million shares worth an estimated $713 million in Chevron, issued a statement last week slamming the company: "The company's attempt to undo the court's verdict only keeps the case in the public eye and further damages Chevron's reputation. Chevron's actions are hurting shareholders as well as the indigenous people of the rainforest. I urge the company's leadership to settle the case and put this issue to rest."

– Paul Paz y Miño