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See
Also:
AGENDA V. TEXACO WEBSITE WWW.CHEVRONTOXICO.ORG
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ECUADOR
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"If this case doesn't go to trial this would be a tragedy.
"
" I think it would be a tragedy in this case because it would
send a message all over the world that an American corporation can
go abroad produce mayhem, kill people, produce poisoning do what
ever they want - they will never be held accountable
anywhere."
Attorney Cristobal Bonifaz
representing the people of Ecuador
The Minimum Cure:
Texaco now
ChevronTexaco should be order by the Court to effectuate a
complete clean up of the oil left in the environment.
Texaco created
351 ponds of oil in the region ranging in size from one to ten
acres in size. In
1995 in a desperate effort to kill the lawsuit by the indigenous
people Texaco negotiated with the then corrupt government of
Ecuador a “clean-up agreement.”
Under the terms of this agreement Texaco agreed to spend up
to 30 million dollars bulldozing earth on top of these oil ponds.
One hundred and forty one ponds were thus covered with
dirt. Since 1995 the
oil has resurfaced on most of these ponds and continues to flow
into the environment. TEXACO
NEEDS TO GO BACK TO ECUADOR AND REMOVE ALL THE OIL LEFT ON THESE
PONDS.
The oil ponds
overflow constantly and the oil contaminated the adjacent swaps
and rivers. There are
more than one hundred swamps contaminated with oil.
THESE SWAMPS NEED TO BE DREDGED AND HAVE ALL THE OIL
REMOVED.
Oil from the
ponds was decanted and dumped on the roads.
There are oil roads completely soaked in oil are a source
of continuous contamination to the watershed.
TEXACO NEEDS TO CLEAN THE ROADS SOAKED IN OIL AND
REBUILT THE SAME.
People exposed to
oil contaminants have develop medical problems as a result of
their exposure to oil contaminants including benzene, toluene,
xylene and other chemical compounds banned from the environment by
the EPA in the United States.
TEXACO NEEDS TO ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THESE
TRAGEDIES AND AS A MINIMUM NEEDS TO ESTABLISH SOME RUDIMENTARY
CLINICS IN THE REGION TO CARE FOR THE IMPACTED PEOPLE.
- Take Moral Responsibility
- Bring pure water to the Region
- Monetary Program to provide
clinics to care for
the health of the
people
-
They owe the people that much!
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There are three separate international human rights law
principles that the plaintiffs claim Texaco violated.
The first principle is the right to a healthy environment,
enshrined in many recent international treaties and agreements.
The second principle protects peoples from cultural
genocide. Because Texaco's oil production in Ecuador has led to
the near extinction of three indigenous tribes, the plaintiffs
assert that the company is in violation of this principle as well.
The third principle protects people from racial and ethnic
discrimination. The plaintiffs claim that Texaco violated this
principle because the company used primitive oil production
techniques in Ecuador that it did not use in the United States and
elsewhere. There are many treaties and practices that provide an
international consensus to support these three legal principles
In
November of 1993, several dozen tribal leaders and other residents
from the Ecuadoran Amazon traveled to New York to file a
groundbreaking, billion-dollar class-action lawsuit against Texaco
in federal court. The Ecuadorans charge the oil company caused
widespread devastation to their rainforest environment by dumping
10 million gallons per day, over the course of about twenty years,
of highly toxic waste water and crude oil into the surrounding
ecosystem. The residents charge that Texaco's practices wrecked
their traditional way of life and created a dramatically increased
risk of cancer for tens of thousands of people. The Cofans have
seen their population dwindle from 15,000 to approximately 500
since Texaco built its first Ecuadoran well on their land in 1971.
Almost six years after the filing of the lawsuit — as the case
moves toward trial despite Texaco's six attempts to have it
dismissed — the residents of the Ecuadoran Amazon continue to
live out their version of an environmental apocalypse: increased
pollution, an alarming cancer rate, a dramatic upsurge in
spontaneous abortions and other diseases, and a devastated
economy.
Texaco has
revenues of approximately $40 billion per year. Over two decades,
it saved about $5 billion by dumping the toxic waste water into
the Ecuadoran rainforest, rather than reinjecting into the ground
as it does in the United States. The plaintiffs estimate that the
clean up and compensation will cost approximately $1 billion.
Texaco has not disputed the claim that it dumped the toxic waste
water. Texaco insists that its practices were not wrong and that
its presence in Ecuador actually raised the quality of life for
the persons who are now suing the company in New York.
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permission from the copyright owner.
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This
website is the creation of the Frente Para La Defensa De La Amazonía. It
is not a website of Texaco Inc. It is website that describes
the plight of the people of the rainforest caused by Texaco Inc.
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