13 Aug 2007
Court Appointed Expert Demonstrates Incompetence and Bias by Inspecting Oil Field Site from which Texaco Petroleum Company Never Produced
Chevron Lawyers Ask Court to Immediately Address Irregularities and Conduct of Richard Cabrera
Fundamental Error Demonstrates the Court-Appointed Expert is "Unethical" and "Unqualified"
NUEVA LOJA, Ecuador, August 13, 2007 - In a striking example of his lack of competence and questionable integrity, Richard Cabrera, the expert appointed by the Court to oversee the second evidentiary phase of the environmental suit against Chevron, began his investigation by inspecting an oil field site from which Texaco Petroleum Company (Texpet) never produced. In a July 17, 2007 complaint filed with the court, Chevron pointed out the serious error by Cabrera, and again urged the Court to reconsider its appointment of Cabrera for this important assignment, calling his conduct "illegal and unethical."
In its complaint, Chevron asserts, "This poorly intended act committed by Cabrera, to choose a site that has never been operated by Texpet, is yet another demonstration of the bias he displays towards plaintiffs including his intent to manipulate historic information to try to favor the interests of plaintiffs."
All public records confirm that the Charapa-1 site has always been the sole responsibility of Petroecuador. Although Charapa-1 was drilled in 1967 as part of the original concession, Texpet never put the site into production. Instead, as a result of Supreme Decree 925 dated August 16, 1973, the area in which the Charapa-1 site is located was stricken from the original concession area and relinquished back to the Government of Ecuador. Petroecuador (then CEPE) was responsible for the operations of that site from 1973 until 1999, at which point it was assigned as a marginal field to the Bellweather Company. When that concern later chose not to produce at the site, it was relinquished back to Petroecuador which remained the sole entity responsible for that site.
"It is a mystery why Mr. Cabrera would choose to inspect this site," said Ricardo Reis Veiga, vice president and general counsel of Latin America Products for Chevron. "All we can deduce is that it is either another example of his gross incompetence, or his clear bias in favor of the plaintiffs. Either way, his continued involvement with this trial will only serve to destroy the credibility of the judicial process and deny Chevron the right to due process."
Veiga continued, "It seems to us that Mr. Cabrera is clearly operating his examination in reverse: Assign blame to Texpet first, then find evidence to support it. The most basic standards of justice cannot be met in the face of such bias, and Chevron again calls on the Court for Cabrera to be removed."
Chevron exposed further evidence of Cabrera's bias and lack of integrity in its July 2, 2007 complaint demonstrating that he had received money from an organization affiliated with plaintiffs. Further, in his work proposal submitted to the Court, Cabrera disregarded Petrocuador's exclusive 17-year operations of the oilfields when he blamed Texpet for all environmental impacts within the former concession area. More recently, Cabrera displayed his utter complicity with plaintiffs' interests by echoing their calls for Petroecuador to halt its remediation obligations in the former concession area that have been unfulfilled since 1998. A mining engineer by trade, Cabrera has no experience in the evaluation of hydrocarbon impact. During the course of his work as the Court-appointed expert, he has made numerous mistakes and lapses in basic scientific protocols, to the point which all of the evidence he collects must be considered fatally corrupted.
Chevron's July 17 complaint called on the Court to ensure that Cabrera comply with Court order by including the historical information about Petroecuador's responsibility for the site in his assessment of the "original cause and chronology of damages."
Veiga concluded, "Until the Court acknowledges the grave error it has made in the Cabrera appointment, we will continue to alert the world to this miscarriage of justice."
For additional information on this litigation, please visit http://www.texaco.com/sitelets/ecuador/en/
Back to top