[post_thumbnail size=”550”]
New York-based lawyer Steve Donziger has spent the last 20 years trying to get Chevron to recompense for oil contamination in the Amazon. Today, he finds himself being sued by Chevron under claims of fraud.
A Long History of Litigation
The story began in the 1970s, when Texaco was running oil drilling operations in Ecuador. The corporation is reported to have dumped 16 billion gallons of toxic water into Ecuador’s streams between 1970 and 1992. In 2000, Chevron acquired Texaco along with Texaco's past transgressions.
Not surprisingly, Chevron argues Texaco resolved its responsibility for any oil contamination it left behind in the Amazon after it spent $40 million cleaning up after itself when it ended its operations in Ecuador. The sticking point lies in the fact that the clean-up didn't address faulty drilling practices that were responsible for much of the contamination.
In 2011, Donziger won his case against Chevron when a court in Ecuador ruled the company guilty of environmental damage and ordered it to pay $18.2 billion in damages.
Chevron Turning the Legal Tables
Today, in what some might consider an ironic twist, the litigation tables have turned for Donziger, who finds himself facing a lawsuit from Chevron for what could potentially add up to billions of dollars.
This July 30 New York Times article states, "[Donziger] is accused of engineering the ghostwriting of a crucial report submitted to the Ecuadorean court that decided the case, a claim he says is exaggerated and misconstrues local legal customs. Some of his former allies have abandoned him and signed statements taking Chevron’s side." A Chevron spokesperson is quoted as saying, "Donziger created this fiction of massive environmental contamination."
In defense, Donziger has stated, "A giant oil company is trying to destroy me because I was able to hold them accountable for toxic dumping on a mass scale."
While the outcome for either side is far from clear, what is clear is that this situation will continue to be protracted.
The Pachamama Alliance will continue to follow this situation.
Further Resources:
- Lawyer Who Beat Chevron in Ecuador Faces Trial of His Own
- Ecuadorian Victims Secure Rights to $96 Million to Compensate Them in Chevron Oil Disaster
- Will the Lawsuit Over Oil Contamination in Ecuador Ever End?
- Chevron's Chernobyl in the Amazon
