Oil Giant Texaco goes on Trial in Ecuador by Edison Lopez The Guardian 2:17pm 22nd Oct, 2003   October 22, 2003 3:01 AM    "Oil Giant Texaco Goes on Trial in Ecuador" by Edison Lopez . Associated Press Writer    LAGO AGRIO, Ecuador (AP) - A decade after Texaco pulled out of the Amazon jungle, the U.S. petroleum giant went on trial Tuesday in a lawsuit filed on behalf of 30,000 poor Ecuadoreans who say the company's 20 years of drilling poisoned their homeland.    The case is the first time a multinational oil company has been subjected to Ecuadorean jurisdiction for allegedly damaging the environment in this small Andean nation, which depends on oil for its development.    Former Ecuadorean Supreme Court Justice Alberto Wray, with the assistance of an American legal team, wants California-based ChevronTexaco to pay for cleanup and medical monitoring costs, which the plaintiffs say could reach $1 billion.    Judge Alberto Guerra rejected an opening challenge to the court's authority by the oil company's lawyers, who argued the judge did not have the authority to bring ChevronTexaco to trial for alleged damage caused by Texaco, which merged with the parent company in 2001.    ChevronTexaco ``is not the successor to Texaco. Therefore it cannot be held responsible for anything,'' ChevronTexaco lawyer Adolfo Callejas said.    Wray dismissed that argument, saying ``we believe that ChevronTexaco assumed Texaco's obligations.''    Some 300 people - including Indians in body paint and feathers - marched outside the courthouse in Lago Agrio, a ramshackle town about 110 miles northeast of Quito.    Among the 30,000 plaintiffs are an estimated 5,000 Indians whose ancestral jungle homelands have allegedly been polluted.    The lawsuit alleges that Texaco took advantage of lax Ecuadorean environmental standards to cut costs by pouring wastewater brought to the surface by drilling into some 350 open pits instead of reinjecting it deep underground.    ``We have water studies that show that people are drinking contaminated water caused by this pollution, caused by the oil - that they are drinking contaminants that are known to cause cancer,'' said Steve Donziger, a U.S. lawyer representing the Ecuadorean plaintiffs.    A ruling in favor of his clients would send ``a powerful message to the oil industry that they have to adhere to the best technical practices when they drill in the Third World,'' Donziger said.    ChevronTexaco has denied the allegations, saying it followed Ecuadorean environmental laws and spent $40 million under a clean-up agreement with the Ecuadorean government in 1995. The government certified the clean-up three years later.    The plaintiffs' lawyers originally wanted the case tried in U.S. courts, arguing the Ecuadorean government's dependence on oil revenues would make the country's courts unlikely to deliver justice. Oil exports account for about 40 percent of Ecuador's revenue.    The case was sent to Ecuador in August 2002 when the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York ruled it should be heard where the damage allegedly occurred.    For settler Jose Aguilar, the legal arguments mean little, compared with damage to crops and farm animals and the health of the region's inhabitants.    ``It is irreparable damage,'' he said outside the courthouse as protesters read testimonials from cancer victims. ``Everything has been damaged. People have died. Everything has been lost.''    Swamps and streams are frequently covered with a thin layer of oil. The region's inhabitants complain of stomach cramps, sore throats and difficult-to-treat skin rashes, which they blame on the pollution.    Ricardo Beija, a vice president and legal adviser for the oil company, told reporters the damage caused by drilling was ``minimal'' and ``normal for any operation.''    ``We have confidence in the Ecuadorean courts,'' he added.    In the company's opening arguments, Callejas also warned the case would scare away other multinational corporations considering investing in Ecuador. (Ends).    (Witness Rights Alert: The rights organisation Witness is currently profiling video footage of interviews with members of Ecuador's indigenous people. Visit the newest online video Rights Alert at www.witness.org and learn about indigenous people and farmers in Ecuador fighting to hold ChevronTexaco accountable for what they call an environmental disaster in the Amazon Basin. Watch "ChevronTexaco: Ecuador's Black Plague," produced with partner Amazon Watch, and you can take action now by joining the Campaign to Clean Up Ecuador. Go to www.witness.org) Visit the related web page
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