Ecuadorian Court Fines Chevron $17 Billion for Oil Pollution
Finally, 17 years after the case was filed the indigenous people of the Ecuadorian amazon won the case and chevron was ordered to pay 8.6 billion dollars in fines and an equal amount for damages that were inflicted through operations. However, some how some way Chevron is refusing to pay the fine and plans to appeal stating that the decision is illegitimate and unenforceable. They also go on to say that the claims and damages stated by the plaintiffs are fraudulent and they believe that they need to fight the case in court until they believe a fair outcome is reached to put the fraudulent plaintiffs in their place. The funny thing is, is that the case started in the United States however after years of hearings chevron fought hard to move the case to Ecuador because they felt that they would receive more of a fair and transparent hearing. Additionally, the evidence that was presented in the case was all Chevron based and funded data. The soil samples and scientific data presented was derived from scientist within or hired by the chevron cooperation, which poses a high probability for some type of collusion or bias/data manipulation happening to favor the case of the major oil company. However, the plan ultimately backfired, and they lost the case HA. This was the first time in know history where an indigenous group filed a lawsuit against a multination corporation in the country in which the crime happened and won. It jus blows my mind how chevron can say that the claims were fraudulent and illegitimate, I wonder if they saw the same picture and footage that the rest of the world did. If anything, this makes them look fraudulent and ultimately pathetic to the rest of the world. How can you have peace of mind when you know that you are essentially affecting the lives hundreds and thousands of people and in some cases causing their ultimate downfall to be absolutely obliteration the resources in which they rely on. I wonder how Chevron would feel if a company stomped on to their headquarters and started drilling and left everything and contaminated to water and supplies that they have. It just doesn’t make sense to me and I have hopes that they world is a better place than that and I have hopes that there people that have much better morals and ethics than the officials of Chevron because their actions are quite honestly pathetic.
Chevron Oil Pollution In Ecuador
Texaco, which is now owned by Chevron, entered a contract with the Ecuador to drill for oil from basin of amazon. Drilling operations were then conducted for 26 years.
The process that oil corporations like Chevron follow to extract crude oil: They dig a basin next to a drilling site and line the basin with a thick tarp that is tear resistant and serves as a barrier between the oil waste that is disposed of in the basin and the soils. Oil is then extracted from the ground and is separated, crude oil is barreled, and toxic oil waste is disposed of in the tarp lined basin and is later taken from the basin, barreled, and disposed of properly. Additionally, during oil extraction processes the Natural gas that is produced is typically captured and disposed of in a way that minimizes pollution as well. Once the refined oil is barreled and the separation process is over, toxic “produced” water is injected back into the ground, the sludge is take out of the basin along with the tarp and the land is put back to the way it was found…. minus the trees. This is an example of typical operations that would happen in the United States or other developed countries.
In Ecuador instead of pumping the toxic “produced” water back into the ground they installed pipes and drained the water in to local rivers, waste basins in which the toxic sludge was to be stored were not lined in the same manner as they would be in the United States which lead to toxins seeping into the local soils and groundwater. And instead of disposing of the sludge is the typical manner they left it in the pits and installed pipes that also drained it into local rivers. And rather than capture the natural gases produced during extraction they burned it off. So pretty much every regulation and preemptive measure that would be taken in the US to minimize pollution went right out the window. The contract that Chevron had with the country of Ecuador stated that they would use modern technology and take care with the environment that they were working in.
The contamination area caused by the company in Ecuador is equivalent to about the state of Rhode Island. There was an estimated 16 billion+ gallons of toxic waste dumped. Texaco told the local people not to worry and that the oil in the water is full of vitamins and minerals….LOL. there were an estimated 10,000 times more than regulated max of toxins in soils.
Health impacts from exposure to Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons TPH: Brain damage, respitory problems, kidney damage, liver damage, bone marrow damage, blood poisoning, stomach irritation, skin irritation, cancer, death, birth defects. A study shows that more than 9000 people that lived in the area of chevron’s pollution will contract cancer in the coming decades. Something that I bet the officers of Chevron would never even come close to thinking of.
Chevron eventually agreed with the Ecuadorian government to cosmetically fix many of their waste pits, they dumped some dirt and threw some plants down and called it a day, *surprisingly enough* the areas are still affected today. The clean up operations ran at very low costs, much, much less than it would cost for a true comprehensive cleanup. Therefore, further proving that the company was negligent about the widespread destruction that they caused.
Eventually Ecuadorian court ordered the company to pay 18 billion dollars to the country for relief efforts…decades later. Chevron claimed they will not pay the judgement. Mind-blowing.
The process that oil corporations like Chevron follow to extract crude oil: They dig a basin next to a drilling site and line the basin with a thick tarp that is tear resistant and serves as a barrier between the oil waste that is disposed of in the basin and the soils. Oil is then extracted from the ground and is separated, crude oil is barreled, and toxic oil waste is disposed of in the tarp lined basin and is later taken from the basin, barreled, and disposed of properly. Additionally, during oil extraction processes the Natural gas that is produced is typically captured and disposed of in a way that minimizes pollution as well. Once the refined oil is barreled and the separation process is over, toxic “produced” water is injected back into the ground, the sludge is take out of the basin along with the tarp and the land is put back to the way it was found…. minus the trees. This is an example of typical operations that would happen in the United States or other developed countries.
In Ecuador instead of pumping the toxic “produced” water back into the ground they installed pipes and drained the water in to local rivers, waste basins in which the toxic sludge was to be stored were not lined in the same manner as they would be in the United States which lead to toxins seeping into the local soils and groundwater. And instead of disposing of the sludge is the typical manner they left it in the pits and installed pipes that also drained it into local rivers. And rather than capture the natural gases produced during extraction they burned it off. So pretty much every regulation and preemptive measure that would be taken in the US to minimize pollution went right out the window. The contract that Chevron had with the country of Ecuador stated that they would use modern technology and take care with the environment that they were working in.
The contamination area caused by the company in Ecuador is equivalent to about the state of Rhode Island. There was an estimated 16 billion+ gallons of toxic waste dumped. Texaco told the local people not to worry and that the oil in the water is full of vitamins and minerals….LOL. there were an estimated 10,000 times more than regulated max of toxins in soils.
Health impacts from exposure to Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons TPH: Brain damage, respitory problems, kidney damage, liver damage, bone marrow damage, blood poisoning, stomach irritation, skin irritation, cancer, death, birth defects. A study shows that more than 9000 people that lived in the area of chevron’s pollution will contract cancer in the coming decades. Something that I bet the officers of Chevron would never even come close to thinking of.
Chevron eventually agreed with the Ecuadorian government to cosmetically fix many of their waste pits, they dumped some dirt and threw some plants down and called it a day, *surprisingly enough* the areas are still affected today. The clean up operations ran at very low costs, much, much less than it would cost for a true comprehensive cleanup. Therefore, further proving that the company was negligent about the widespread destruction that they caused.
Eventually Ecuadorian court ordered the company to pay 18 billion dollars to the country for relief efforts…decades later. Chevron claimed they will not pay the judgement. Mind-blowing.
Texaco vs Indigenous People in Ecuador
The negligence that was taken by the Chevron oil company while operating in Ecuador is mind blowing. Countless pits of oil waste were left neglected as if it would not affect anything or anyone. It is almost like chevron had an “out of sight out of mind” mentality when in all reality the actions that they took and the decisions they made left long-standing impacts for years upon years to come. They affected the quality of live and the ability to live life for so many. Something that they might not have even thought of because civilization in the Ecuadorian Amazon is so much different than where they are based from. However, in no way does that mean that the people in these areas mean nothing, and it doesn’t mean that the surround environment is invincible and will recover no matter what. For example, this kind of negligence in terms of leaving toxic oil pits to sit for 20+ years and as well as pumping produced water back into water ways instead of back into the ground would never fly in United States operations. So what makes it ok in Ecuador? Which is a million times more biologically diverse as well as ecologically fragile due to the high level of diversity, ecosystems are much more intricate and immense damage can be done. There are 8 indigenous tribes that are still local to the areas that have been affected and continue to be affected. Individuals who live in these areas and are affected by this pollution face much higher risks to cancer and other diseases and health conditions that are detrimental to their overall vitality. Along with the ecological and human effects this has had it also creates an unneeded sense of hostility in the area among tribes and among oil drilling corporations. Major Oil companies need to take a serious reflective look at the damage that they personally create and the amount of lives they directly effected because half the time these companies believe that they didn’t even do anything wrong which blows my mind even more. Responsibility must be taken.