MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
Chevron will appeal 8.6 billion ‘extortive’ fine imposed by Ecuador judges
US oil giant Chevron says it will appeal against an 8.6 billion US dollars fine imposed by Ecuador judges, carrying on a long-running row over pollution. Chevron's Kent Robertson told the BBC the case was an “extortion scheme”, and accused Ecuador's state-run firm of polluting the country's Amazon region. Read full article
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Disclaimer & comment rulesSo, as I read it……
Feb 16th, 2011 - 04:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 01. Texaco spent 40 million cleaning up the area during the 1990s, and signed an agreement with Ecuador’ Government in 1998 absolving it of any further responsibility. Then Chevron merged with Texaco. Now Chevron have been fined $8.6bn by Ecuador judges
2. The oilfields have been solely operated by the government of Ecuador's own oil company Petroecuador for the last 20 years.
3. Chevron has been fined by a country that it has never operated in. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague has ordered Ecuador to suspend enforcement to allow arbitration to continue, and Chevron have counter-claimed citing corruption.
Well….. legally, Chevron appear to be in the clear. The Ecuador Government would have to show that the 1998 Agreement was illegal, it was not entered-into in good faith, and/or it was pressured into it through an imbalance of power (Texaco being more powerful than Ecuador).
Morally (environmentally) there is a continuing need to fund clean-up and, although Chevron have no need in law to contribute - especially to the last two/three decades of further pollution by Petroeccuador – an arbitration agreement could pave the way to future state-Chevron exploitations.
Chevron’s environmental record – especially in New Guinea rain forests - is very good indeed. The world needs to support good-performers, not stick it up them with massive law-suites.
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