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JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Chevron fined $8 billion in Ecuador

World Feb. 15, 2011 - 06:05AM JST ( 7 )

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7 Comments

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elbudamexicanoFeb. 15, 2011 - 02:28PM JST

Good for little Ecuador! I hope Chavez, Castro, Morales etc..are all behind Ecuador to help them regain their dignity from those big, evil, greedy oil companies from north of the border.
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proxyFeb. 15, 2011 - 05:44PM JST

It will drag on for years and in the end Texaco will pay nothing or close to it.
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lesgrandeFeb. 15, 2011 - 08:21PM JST

This is the type of story that normally people never hear about. It is how multinationals work with western governments to exploit other countries. This is why people are p.o.'d about the US meddling in everyone's backyard around the world. Shout "democracy" while draining a country's resources/befouling its environment and using cheap labor. And yes, the military are often called in to soften up the natives and get things set up, so they are part and parcel of the whole criminal operation.
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MolenirFeb. 15, 2011 - 08:38PM JST

Good for little Ecuador! I hope Chavez, Castro, Morales etc..are all behind Ecuador to help them regain their dignity from those big, evil, greedy oil companies from north of the border.

So its all the fault of the big greedy oil companies north of the border, and that Petroecoador has absolutely nothing to do with it. Right? I mean, that would make it so Ecuador itself was to blame, and theres no way in hell that would work right?
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SuperLibFeb. 15, 2011 - 10:47PM JST

Obviously a case of a kangaroo court just making stuff up to go after the deep pockets. These 3rd world countries should learn a thing or two about the legal process, and at the end of the day the people owe their neighbors to the north a debt of gratitude for keeping the oil out of the hands of the corrupt governments that run their countries into the ground. The US is often in the position where we have to save countries from themselves and we have strong enough shoulders to handle the misguided criticism from the little people.

Naturally I know nothing about the case, but that's not really important since I can just string together emotional catchphrases that people can substitute for evidence.
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yabitsFeb. 16, 2011 - 05:31AM JST

The actions committed by Texaco in the 1970s -- which was bought out by Chevron in 2001 -- were solely their own.

The simple fact is that Texaco dumped over 18 billions of gallons of toxic effluent (consisting of salt, crude and benzene) into the streams and jungles of Ecuador, polluting an area the size of Rhode Island. Texaco was the sole operator of the concession that intentionally polluted that region of Ecuador, so it's hard to pin blame on PetroEcuador. (Even though they may have added to the pollution after Texaco fled the scene.)

Chevron has admitted to Texaco's past actions. Proper disposal of the effluent would have required pumping it deep into the earth. Instead, Texaco just dumped it onto the surface, where it ran off and poisoned everything in its path.

In essence, Chevron's legal team is running the case the way OJ Simpson's team ran his defense: Make it an issue of plaintiff and investigative procedures, rather than focus on the crime.
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yabitsFeb. 16, 2011 - 05:36AM JST

Just to put things in perspective, 18 billion gallons is over 400 times the amount of the BP Deepwater Horizon spill.

The BP spill can be classified as an accident, relative to the intentional dumping of toxic effluent by Texaco in Ecuador.