August 24, 2006
Plaintiffs Have Abandoned Their Claim for Remediation of Oil Field Sites in the Oriente
Quito, Ecuador, Aug. 24, 2006 - On August 22 Judge Yanez, President of the Superior Court in Nueva Loja, under undue and improper pressure from plaintiffs' attorneys and Amazon Defense Front, accepted a plaintiffs' motion seeking to reduce the number of oil field sites to be inspected in the ongoing environmental lawsuit. Chevron, defendant in the case, issued the following statement:
"Plaintiffs' characterization of this ruling as a victory is consistent with the tactics used by the plaintiffs since the inception of the case to litigate through deception, propaganda and pressure tactics. The ruling allows Plaintiffs to forego the collection of evidence and precludes the Court from ordering future remediation of those oil field sites.
"There is no legal justification to support this ruling. In fact, it violates Ecuadorian Constitutional law. It also happens to contradict three prior rulings of the court, raising serious questions about the validity of such a ruling and plaintiffs' tactics. This ruling also contradicts what Judge Yanez had said to the media. In comments following the March 8 inspection of the Sacha-Sur site and his rulings, Judge Yanez said, `We will continue with all the inspections that were requested.... We cannot decide until all the legal procedures requested by both parties are completed.'
"While the plaintiffs may have waived their right to inspect these sites, they cannot evade their obligation to present proof to support their claims. By waiving their rights to conduct judicial inspections that they themselves petitioned the Court to undertake, the plaintiffs have actually abandoned their claims since the Court will have no evidence to even consider their allegations and requests.
"Moreover, the court cannot ignore the overwhelming body of evidence obtained through the 42 judicial inspections conducted to date, which proves the effectiveness of Texaco Petroleum Company's remediation program and that neither the people nor the environment face any significant oil-related risk in the areas remediated by Texaco Petroleum Company. To date, the plaintiffs have not produced any credible evidence to support their claims, and have had to resort to fabrication, misrepresentation and deceit to try to mislead the court and the public. It seems clear the plaintiffs want to prevent additional inspections because each new inspection further weakens their case.
"We are concerned that the Superior Court has submitted to the pressure from the plaintiffs and the Amazon Defense Front and accepted their request to reduce the number of sites to be inspected by the court. We are considering all the options before us, and it is our intention to aggressively defend the company against what are baseless allegations. We are entitled to justice and due process, and will not settle for anything less."
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