06 Oct 2004
Sabotage at Sacha-10 Prompts ChevronTexaco to ask Judge to Protect the Integrity of Sites
Oil Poured in Hole to Intentionally Damage the Site
NUEVA LOJA, Ecuador, October 06, 2004 - ChevronTexaco requested Judge Efrain Novillo, President of the Superior Court of Justice of Nueva Loja, to protect the integrity of the sites before, during, and after the inspections. There is evidence that illegal and harmful actions took place in Sacha-10. Apparently the main objective was to sabotage the judicial sampling at that site.
The inspection of Sacha-10 began Wednesday, September 29. Judge Novillo visited that site, where in April 1996 Texaco Petroleum Company (Texpet) remediated the only pit that existed using the method known as in-situ stabilization, according to the requirements of the Ecuadorian Government. The experts from ChevronTexaco and the Plaintiffs started to take samples, but could not finish the job that day or the next, because the judicial inspection of Sacha-51 had to take place. Both parties agreed to finish the sampling at Sacha-10 on Saturday, October 2.
When the judicial experts and their teams returned to Sacha-10 they found that the site had been altered. In pit 1 unidentified persons drilled a new hole next to one made by ChevronTexaco, and inside petroleum or another similar substance was intentionally poured.
Near the wellhead, two holes were drilled during the inspection, one by the Plaintiffs and the other by ChevronTexaco. Unidentified persons removed stones from the Plaintiffs' hole that had been used to temporarily close it. Unidentified persons also damaged a cement cap covering the sampling hole made by ChevronTexaco's experts.
"These illegal acts negatively impact the due process and affect the rights of everyone to know the truth," said Ricardo Reis Veiga, Vice President and General Counsel of Latin America Products for ChevronTexaco.
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