February 17, 2005
Safety of Remediated Sites Now Confirmed by Six Scientific Reports
No Threat to Human Health from Oil-Related Contaminants
Plaintiffs' Report on SA-94 Inspection Filled with Factual Errors and Distortions; Plaintiffs Only Report Data for 15% of Samples Collected
Laboratory Findings Verify Effectiveness of Texpet's Environmental Remediation; Company Met or Exceeded All Applicable International Evaluation Criteria
QUITO, Ecuador, February 17, 2005 - Final laboratory results from two more judicial site inspections - Sacha -53 and Sacha-94 - confirm that the sites remediated by Texaco Petroleum Company (Texpet) contain no harmful levels of oil-related contaminants and that they pose no threat to human health or the environment. The results, contained in the fifth and sixth reports filed respectively by the Company with the Superior Court of Nueva Loja, confirm that Texpet acted responsibly, and that its remediation program was effective and in full compliance with Ecuadorian and international environmental evaluation criteria in place at the time.
By contrast, a review of plaintiffs' report for Sacha-94 - only the second report plaintiffs' have submitted since the judicial inspections began seven months ago - shows that it violates court order by reporting only 15% of samples taken, and contains such a magnitude of flaws in scientific methods and reporting as to make it scientifically invalid. The errors found in this report repeat many of the inaccuracies, violations of basic scientific procedures, and selective reporting of data found in plaintiffs' report for Sacha-53, which was reviewed by an objective, third-party expert in environmental science and deemed to be flawed, incomplete and unscientific.
Veiga said, "What we're seeing here is a dangerous pattern in which - either due to gross incompetence or outright deceit - plaintiffs' are trying to play fast and loose with the facts in an attempt to fool the Court, and the Ecuadorian people. In a repeat of what plaintiffs tried to pull with SA-53 last December, their report is so riddled with technical errors and breaches of Court order that their findings are invalid from the standpoint of honest science. Plaintiffs' not only reported a fraction of their samples (15%) when Court mandate required all to be submitted, they blatantly ignored the Court's order to sign protective chain-of-custody documents that would prove that the samples weren't tampered with on their way to the lab. And, in almost perfect replica of inept past performance, plaintiffs' used the wrong procedures to sample certain materials, and applied the wrong standards to support their allegations."
Plaintiffs' continued disregard for Court order is also evident through missed filing deadlines and failure to substantiate claims. To date, plaintiffs' attorneys have missed two court-mandated deadlines for submitting inspection reports, for both Sacha-06 and Sacha-21. Plaintiffs also failed to comply with a November Court order demanding that plaintiffs' technical expert Charles Calmbacher produce documentation to substantiate his claim that samples taken from these sites were compromised by U.S. customs agents. Additionally, the report plaintiffs' submitted for Sacha-53, was reviewed by an objective, third-party expert in environmental science and was found to be flawed, incomplete and unscientific.
Veiga concluded, "We are so outraged at plaintiffs' persistent failure to follow even the most basic scientific procedures and judicial rules, we have filed a complaint with the Court asking that plaintiffs' experts be ordered to follow the scientific protocols we established when this process began. Until they do, this proceeding will continue to be flooded with baseless allegations and deliberate mistruths, and justice will not be served."
Laboratory Findings From Sacha-53 and 94 Verify Effectiveness of Texpet's Environmental Remediation; Company Met or Exceeded All Applicable International Evaluation Criteria
The inspection of Sacha-53 and Sacha-94 was conducted by Superior Court President Efraín Novillo on September 1st and 8th 2004, respectively. The results show conclusively that:
- The remediated sites pose no public health or environmental risks.
- Texpet conducted an effective remediation that met the closure requirements of the Remediation Plan approved by the Government of Ecuador and Petroecuador, and international criteria.
- Petroleum residue remaining after remediation was found to be asphaltic - like asphalt used in roads, immobile and not a threat to the environment - and no one is being exposed to harmful levels BTEX or PAHs.
- No heavy metals were found that exceed the natural concentrations of the native soils of the site.
- Test results for all nearby drinking water sources showed that it contains no traces of petroleum or heavy metals that would exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or World Health Organization standards.
- Test results for drinking water showed high levels of bacterial contamination - both fecal and total. These bacteria, which are completely unrelated to petroleum, often result from human or animal waste associated with poor sanitation.
Soil samples taken of specific areas near the remediated sites at Sacha-53, but outside of Texpet's area of responsibility show:
- The site contained an area that was neither identified in the initial audit nor Texpet's Remedial Action plan, and which has not been remediated by Petroecuador to meet international evaluation criteria for TPH. Nevertheless, the technical expert concluded that this area does not pose a health risk to people or the environment because
- No specific substances known to cause disease (for example, PAHs or benzene) were present in drinking water at levels that exceed health based standards; and
- People and livestock are not exposed in such a way as to result in a health impact.
- These areas are the responsibility of Petroecuador, exclusive operator of the site for the past 15 years.
Ricardo Reis Veiga, vice president general counsel, Latin America Products for ChevronTexaco, said: "We've always welcomed the judicial inspection process because it gives the Ecuadorian people an opportunity to see the facts in the case for themselves - rather than relying on the baseless and misdirected accusations that plaintiffs' attorneys prefer. Now, with the completion of six scientifically based reports - four more reports than plaintiffs have managed to deliver - we have further concrete proof that the sites remediated by Texpet present no health or environmental risks, that the remediation program carried out by Texpet was completely effective, and the claims made by the plaintiffs have been proven false."
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