Chevron Hit With Record Judgment

[one...two...tree 2,762]

An Ecuadorian judge on Monday ordered Chevron Corp. to pay $8.6 billion to clean up oil pollution in the country's rain forest in what is believed to be the largest-ever judgment in an environmental case.

And if the U.S. oil giant doesn't publicly apologize in the next 15 days, the judge ordered the company to pay twice that amount.

The ruling brings to an end one chapter of a legal drama that has played out in courtrooms in Ecuador and the U.S. for nearly two decades.

The case has been bitterly fought by both sides, with each accusing the other of improprieties. In recent months, Chevron uncovered a secret memo revealing the plaintiffs' strategy for enforcing any favorable Ecuadorian ruling around the world. That means that Chevron could be forced to defend itself in any of the dozens of countries where it does business.

The oil company, which denies responsibility for the pollution, has no assets in Ecuador and has vowed to fight any efforts to seize its property overseas. Other multinational corporations are closely watching the case.

The plaintiffs, residents of Ecuador's oil-rich Amazon rain forest, are seeking to hold Chevron accountable for environmental damage they say was caused by Texaco Inc., which operated in the country from 1965 to 1992. Chevron inherited the case when it acquired Texaco in 2001.

http://online.wsj.co...d=ITP_pageone_0

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Good news indeed ! All the saps on here saying how much good the oil company's do for us are living in some kind of fantasy land imo. Oil company's have literally wrecked country's, rivers, etc... and it's not like they actually give two sh*ts about the environment. The only thing that keeps the oil company's in check here in Alaska is that they are constantly being watched...but not even that keeps them honest. They constantly find leaks up here in the oil lines due to the fact the oil company's are too cheap to pay for maintaining them. BP, Chevron, Shell, Exxon, etc... all for the money and nothing more. How many businesses have the pull to drag a country into war...like the US invading Iraq for example.

[Kevin and 10]

If contamination from oil is bad enough. The compounds used for fracturing are just as bad if not worse when it comes to contamination.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing

[TBoneTX 45,580]

This one's a tough case. Should Chevron, which bought Texaco, be responsible to pay for Texaco's earlier sins? Also, the legal occurrences on the Ecuadorian side are not exactly free from corruption.