- Title: ARGENTINA: Ecuador plaintiffs to sue Chevron in Argentina, Colombia
- Date: 31st October 2012
- Summary: BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA (OCTOBER 31, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF BUILDING WHERE NEWS CONFERENCE IS BEING HELD GENERAL VIEW OF NEWS CONFERENCE LAWYER ENRIQUE BRUCHOU AT NEWS CONFERENCE BOTTLE WITH WATER TAKEN FROM AMAZON REGION WHERE CHEVRON HAS OIL WELLS BRUCHOU WITH LAWYERS PABLO FAJARDO AND LUIS YANZA (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LAWYER ENRIQUE BRUCHOU SAYING: "We are asking the Ecuadorean judge that he level an embargo on activities by Chevron that we have identified in Argentina and Colombia. We told him what those activities are and we identified them and we asked Ecuadorean judge, under this treaty, that he level an order against all the relevant activities by Chevron in Argentina and Colombia."
- Embargoed: 15th November 2012 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Argentina
- Country: Argentina
- Topics: Crime,Business,Environment,Industry
- Reuters ID: LVA1H9V01S6W9JEI5TWFTRFLBXQO
- Story Text: Plaintiffs from Ecuadorean Amazon say they will go after Chevron's assets in Argentina, Colombia.
Ecuadorean plaintiffs plan to sue Chevron in Argentina and Colombia to collect a $19 billion award for pollution in the Amazon that has become one of the world's most high-profile environmental cases against an oil company.
A 2011 decision by an Ecuadorean court ordered Chevron to pay the sum for contamination of watersheds and inappropriate disposing of oil industry waste during crude oil production i n a remote jungle region during nearly 30 years.
Because Chevron has few assets in Ecuador that can be taken as compensation, the plaintiffs are trying to get the ruling enforced in other countries. Chevron calls the ruling unenforceable and illegitimate.
Enrique Bruchou, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs, told reporters in Buenos Aires on Wednesday said Chevron's assets in Argentina are valued at around $2 billion, and noted the company is a key producer of natural gas in Colombia.
"We are asking the Ecuadorean judge that he level an embargo on activities by Chevron that we have identified in Argentina and Colombia. We told him what those activities are and we identified them and we asked Ecuadorean judge, under this treaty, that he level an order against all the relevant activities by Chevron in Argentina and Colombia," Bruchou said, adding Chevron made $26 billion last year and should be able to settle the fine in a matter of months.
Chevron is the fourth-largest producer of oil in Argentina. In September, it signed an accord with state-controlled YPF , Argentina's No. 1 energy company, to consider a joint exploration project in the South American country.
Bruchou said the plaintiffs plan to start legal proceedings against Chevron in Argentina this week and in Colombia at a later date.
The plaintiffs, which include Indians from the Amazon, filed similar lawsuits in May in Canada and in June in Brazil, where Chevron and Transocean Ltd, its drilling contractor, also face civil lawsuits seeking nearly $20 billion in damages over an oil spill.
The plaintiffs from villages in the oil-rich Amazon won an $18.2 billion case against the oil giant over claims that Texaco, bought by Chevron in 2001, contaminated the area from 1964 to 1992.
The ruling was issued by a court in the town of Lago Agrio, in the Ecuadorean Amazon, and ratified by an appeals court in January 2012.
Damages were increased to $19 billion in July. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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