"Over a quarter century in the Ecuadorian Amazon, oil giant Texaco (now Chevron) perpetrated an ecological disaster: It dumped 3.2 million gallons of toxic waste, spilled 17 million gallons of crude oil and flared nearly 50 million cubic feet of methane gas. The company also collaborated with U.S. evangelical missionaries to forcibly displace Indigenous peoples from their oil-rich lands. The victims have received no compensation."
""Our territories, our forests will never be the same," said Penti Baihua, a traditional leader of the Baihuaeri Waorani of Bameno. Baihua lived with his community in the forest, uncontacted by outsiders, until the evangelical missionaries Texaco assisted forced contact on him when he was around 6 or 7 in a campaign dubbed "Operation Auca." Auca is a pejorative term meaning "savage.""
"Now, three arbitrators have ordered that compensation be paid - by the Ecuadorian government to Chevron. The total: $220 million, according to legal documents made public this week. The ruling marks the latest twist in a decades-long legal saga that has stretched across continents and consumed millions of dollars in legal fees, all while the local population bears the burden of displacement and high cancer rates from the contamination."
An Ecuadorian activist displays hydrocarbon waste on his hands over a pool used in drilling the Aguarico 4 oil well in Lago Agrio, Sucumbíos Province. Over a quarter century in the Ecuadorian Amazon, Texaco (now Chevron) dumped 3.2 million gallons of toxic waste, spilled 17 million gallons of crude oil and flared nearly 50 million cubic feet of methane gas. The company collaborated with U.S. evangelical missionaries to forcibly displace Indigenous peoples from oil-rich lands, and victims received no compensation. Three arbitrators ordered the Ecuadorian government to pay Chevron $220 million. The legal saga spans continents, consumes millions in fees, and leaves local communities facing displacement and high cancer rates.
#chevron #ecuadorian-amazon #environmental-contamination #indigenous-displacement #legal-arbitration
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