Pollution Ecuador Citizens Claim was Left By Chevron Courtesy of The Chevron Pit
Chronically late for spa appointments and hula dancing lessons, we at US Democrazy aren’t usually critical of people running behind.
But when we found out a legal battle involving the citizens of Ecuador and the petroleum giant Chevron-Texaco has spanned across the last two decades, we wondered if the court’s watch was broken!
What could be taking so long?
We soon found out the case was a mess.. and the case was ABOUT a mess!
The mess was a toxic mess created from oil extraction that citizens claim Chevron-Texaco did not clean up before leaving Ecuador.
The pollution left behind has certainly poisoned the landscape and health of Ecuadorians, but whose responsibility is it to clean it up?!?
Chevron pointed the finger at the Ecuadorian government in the past, and is now trying to change the location of the trial away from Ecuador. One things for sure, US Democrazy is glad its not our responsibility to clean up the oil crude mess!
Chevron has also found fault with the Ecuador’s courts claiming Judge Nunez, who recently stepped down from the trial, was guilty of bribery.The basis of those claims has been heartily disputed.
The Amazon region has been experiencing quite a lot of oil drama, but with $27 billion at stake, we are willing to bet this lawsuit has enough fuel to drag out over the NEXT two decades!
Grow the hell up
Don’t let Chevron’s drama or flair for frantic legal maneuverings fool you. No matter how the oil giant tries to spin it, when Texaco (now Chevron) was the SOLE operator from 1964 to 1992, the entire system was second-rate and caused extensive contamination. It is responsible not only for the contamination resulting from the time it explored for oil but also the contamination that flowed later as a result of its substandard system. For more info, see http://www.chevrontoxico.org