14 Oct 2005

Texpet Remediated Two Pits in Addition to Those Established Within the Scope of Work Recognized by the Ecuadorian Government for Shushufindi-25

Court Shown Evidence of Human Waste Contamination in Water for Domestic Use

Nueva Loja, October 14, 2005 - Yesterday, during the Judicial Inspection of Shushufindi-25, counsel for Chevron presented the Court with a series of photographs taken before, during and after the remediation efforts that were conducted by Texaco Petroleum Company (Texpet) at this site. The photos demonstrated how, in March 1997, Texpet completed work on two additional oil pits that were not originally included within the agreed-upon scope of the Remediation.

Both pits were included in the remediation by request of the State's Supervisors, after a 1996 remediation of a hydrocarbon pit was performed at the same site. The areas where three of these pits formerly existed was visited both by the President of the Court and counsel for both parties in the suit.

Other Highlights:

  • In addition to the remediation photographs and the Acts of November 22, 1996, and October 16, 1997, by which the Ecuadorian Government approved the remediation performed at Shushufindi-25, Chevron's counsel delivered to the Court a copy of Manuel Humberto Reyes Torres' testimony, which was presented by the plaintiffs as part of their evidence in the trial. The testimony presented by the land owner of the land adjoining the well affirms that pits in Shushufindi-24 are "well remediated."
  • During the Inspection, the Court's President was able to witness several proofs of severe problems related to environmental conditions in the Amazonia, and to the health of those who live in this Ecuadorian region, which have nothing to do with Texpet's operations completed over 15 years ago. Two satellite images, one from 1976 and another one taken in 1985, showed the environmental devastation caused by deforestation in the Shushufindi area, as a consequence of colonization over these past nine years.
  • The defense also referred to timber overexploitation in Orellana and Sucumbíos. The effects of this phenomenon on forests and nature have been denounced in the national media (Diario El Comercio 09/10/2005 - Section D). In spite of the severe consequences of deforestation, plaintiffs' lawyers insist on blaming Texpet for the environmental problems in the Amazonia, regardless of the fact that oil fields of the former consortium Petroecuador-Texaco have been exclusively operated by Petroecuador over the past 15 years.
  • By the end of the Inspection, the Court and the participants were able to verify how a stream used by a neighboring house to extract water for domestic use was surrounded and covered with a great deal of domestic waste. The results of the Judicial Inspections have proven that water used by the Amazonian people is polluted by a series of pathogenic bacteria, which can seriously affect the health of those who consume it. The source of this bacterial pollution stems from the inadequate handling of domestic, human, and animal waste, which as witnessed by this instance, are dumped into water sources and have nothing to do with hydrocarbons. This fact has been denied by plaintiffs' lawyers.

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