ABSTRACT - Group of American lawyers representing more than 30,000 indigenous people in Ecuador file $1 billion lawsuit against ChevronTexaco Corp; suit is filed in Ecuador on behalf of 88 plaintiffs in Lago Agrio and asserts that from 1971 to 1992, ChevronTexaco dumped over four million gallons per day of toxic wastewater, contaminated with oil, heavy metals and carcinogens into open pits and rivers; also says company left behind nearly 350 open waste pits that killed people and animals; ChevronTexaco denies any wrongdoing and maintains that its practice was consistent with practices of Ecuador's national oil company Petro Ecuador as well as internationally recognized standards; case, in litigation for almost decade, has been dismissed at four times; Amazon Watch, nonprofit environmental group in San Francisco, plans to bring group of 13 indigenous leaders from Ecuador to ChevronTexaco's headquarters in San Ramon, Calif; Amazon Watch representative Leila Salazar and Chris Jochnick, lawyer and founder of Center for Economic and Social Rights, comment; photo (M) A group of American lawyers representing more than 30,000 indigenous people in Ecuador filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the ChevronTexaco Corporation yesterday.

The suit was filed in Ecuador on behalf of 88 plaintiffs in Lago Agrio, a small oil town in northern Ecuador, and asserts that during two decades of operation, from 1971 to 1992, ChevronTexaco dumped over four million gallons a day of toxic wastewater, contaminated with oil, heavy metals and carcinogens into open pits, estuaries and rivers.
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