Lago Agrio oil field

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  2. Environmental disasters
  3. Oil fields of Ecuador
  4. Oil spills
  5. Sucumbíos Province


Lago Agrio oil field
Location of Lago Agrio oil field
Country Ecuador
Region Sucumbíos
Location Nueva Loja
Offshore/onshore onshore
Coordinates

0°4′28.6″N 76°45′28.5″W / 0.074611°N 76.757917°W / 0.074611; -76.757917Coordinates: 0°4′28.6″N 76°45′28.5″W / 0.074611°N 76.757917°W / 0.074611; -76.757917{{#coordinates:0|4|28.6|N|76|45|28.5|W|type:landmark_dim:20km |primary |name=

}}
Operator(s) TexPet (1967–1990)
Petroecuador (1990–...)
Field history
Discovery 1967
Start of production 1972

The Lago Agrio oil field is an oil-rich area in the Ecuadorian province of Sucumbíos, discovered in the 1960s. The Lago Agrio field is known internationally for the serious ecological problems that oil development has created there, including water pollution, soil contamination, deforestation and cultural upheaval.

Since 1993, lawyers representing local residents have sought to force former well operator Texaco and its now parent company Chevron Corporation to clean the area and to provide for the care of those allegedly affected. In February 2011, an Ecuadorian court ordered Chevron to pay $8 billion in compensation, a ruling the company called "illegitimate" and vowed to appeal.[1][2]

Development and ownership

In 1964, Texaco Petroleum Company (TexPet) began exploring for oil in northeast Ecuador. The following year it started operating a consortium owned equally by itself and Gulf Oil, to develop a tract around present-day Nueva Loja. The consortium struck a gusher in 1967 and began full-scale production in 1972. The Ecuadorian government, through its national oil company CEPE, now Petroecuador, obtained a 25 percent interest in the consortium in 1974.[3] Gulf sold its interest to CEPE. By 1976, the consortium was majority-owned by the Ecuadorian government.[4] TexPet transferred management of the consortium to Petroecuador in 1990. TexPet's concession expired in 1993, leaving Petroecuador as the sole owner. Petroecudaor continues drilling in the area.[1]

Over a period of 20 years, the Lago Agrio field produced 1.7 billion barrels (270×10^6 m3) of oil[5] with a profit of $25 billion. According to Chevron, 95 percent of the profit from the consortium went to the government.

Impact

Pollution

TexPet directed produced water from its wells into open pits, as was common industry practice at the time, rather than re-injecting the toxic water back underground. According to environmental activists, the produced water was heavy in cancer-causing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and is responsible for present-day contamination of the regional water supply. They allege that there has been a 150% increase in cancer cases in the community and region.[5] Chevron and its supporters maintain that no causal link between the produced water and cancer has been shown.[6]

Remediation efforts

In 1995, amid litigation, Texaco agreed to clean a number of waste pits in proportion to its interest in the consortium, at a cost of $40 million. In exchange, the Ecuadorian government released Texaco from further liability. Chevron has used this agreement as its primary defense against the ongoing legal claims, although numerous sources show the remediation efforts to have been largely cosmetic. [7]

Litigation

Lawyers for the indigenous residents of the Lago Agrio field sued Texaco in New York in 1993. The 30,000 member class-action lawsuit accused TexPet of discharging produced water into the same water that was used by the locals for fishing, bathing, and drinking. This case was dismissed for improper venue,[3] and litigation has continued in Ecuador.[7]

Chevron claims that the company is being unfairly targeted as a deep pocket.[8] It maintains that responsibility for damage and cleanup now lies with Petroecuador and the government, and contends that much of the present damage comes from Petroecuador's activities since 1990, including spills from a pipeline system built by the consortium that Petroecuador has not maintained.[9]

In 2008, a court-appointed expert issued a report accusing Texaco employees of not only widespread pollution, but deforestation and cultural destruction as well. The report estimated the damages by TexPet between $8 billion and $16 billion dollars,[5] which the expert later increased by $11 billion.[10]

One plaintiffs' lawyer, Cristobal Bonifaz, was dismissed from the litigation in 2006. He went on to file a case against Chevron in 2007 on behalf of new clients who claimed that pollution had given them cancer. The court found that three of the plaintiffs did not have cancer. After dismissing their claims (leaving two claims active), the court imposed a $45,000 fine against Bonifaz for making frivolous claims.[9][11]

Attorney Pablo Fajardo, who represents the plaintiffs, and activist Luis Yanza received the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2008 for their work in this case. The prize is considered the most prestigious award for environmental protection in the world.[5][12]

On August 31, 2009, a video surfaced showing an alleged member of Ecuador's ruling party, Alianza PAIS, bribing Judge Juan Núñez, who is the presiding judge in the case.[13] In the video,[14] the judge agreed to rule against Chevron, to deny Chevron's appeals, and also discusses the allocation of the $3 million bribe between himself, the president, and the plaintiffs. The video also shows discussion regarding the awarding of remediation contracts that would result from a ruling against Chevron. The judge was forced to resign.[2] Chevron claims it had no involvement in the videotaping, however in April 2010 it was found that one of the men involved in the filming was a long-time Chevron contractor, who in turn himself was later caught on hidden camera saying he "has enough evidence to ensure a victory by the Amazon communities if Chevron failed to pay him what he was promised". This man was later relocated to the United States with his family at Chevron's expense, where he is also receiving an undisclosed amount of living expenses. The other man involved in filming the video is a convicted drug smuggler.[15][16]

In February 2011, Chevron sued several people involved in the plaintiff's case, alleging that they made up evidence and tried to manipulate the legal system of Ecuador.[2] Chevron had acquired outtakes of the 2009 documentary Crude which covers part of the case. The outtakes suggest that New York lawyer Steven R. Donziger, who acted as a spokesman and lobbyist for the plaintiffs, had urged Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa to issue criminal indictments against two Chevron laywers involved in the settlement negotiations of the late 1990s. The two lawyers were subsequently indicted. When Donziger was ordered to testify about this in a U.S. federal case, he claimed attorney-client privileges but was rebuked by the judge.[4]

Plaintiffs in the Ecuadorian court case had initially demanded compensation payments of $27 billion. When the court ordered Chevron to pay $8 billion in February 2011, the company vowed to appeal, calling the ruling "illegitimate" and "unenforceable in any court that observes the rule of law", and said that "the United States and international tribunals had already taken steps to bar enforcement of the ruling."[1] Plaintiffs were also planning to appeal, as a recent report put the damages at $113 billion.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Chevron ordered to pay $8 billion by Ecuador court". Los Angeles Times. February 14, 2011. http://articles.latimes.com/2011/feb/14/business/la-fi-chevron-20110214.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Ecuador Judge Orders Chevron to Pay $9 Billion". The New York Times. 14 February 2011. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/world/americas/15ecuador.html?ref=americas.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 <cite>Aguinda v. Texaco Inc.</cite>, 303 F.3d 470 (2d Cir. 2002).
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Judge, In Deposition Order, Lambasts Lawyer Suing Chevron". Forbes Blog. 5 November 2010. http://blogs.forbes.com/danielfisher/2010/11/05/judge-in-deposition-order-lambasts-lawyer-suing-chevron/.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Feige, David (2008-04-20). "Pursuing the polluters". Los Angeles Times. http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/20/opinion/op-feige20. Retrieved 2009-02-23.
  6. ↑ Stephens, Bret (2008-04-19). "Banana Republic and Friends". The Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120856180625127903.html. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Sanchez, Mariana (2007-03-27). "Amazon tribe sues Texaco for $6bn". Al Jazeera English. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2007/03/2008525172535500875.html. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  8. ↑ Jungle Law: Politics & Power, Vanity Fair, May 2007
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Stephens, Bret (2007-10-30). "Amazonian Swindle". The Wall Street Journal. http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/bstephens/?id=110010801. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  10. ↑ "Chevron Estimate for Amazon Damages Rises by $11 Billion". Bloomberg. 2008-11-27. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=af8f.cmZHsHk&refer=us.
  11. ↑ Brown, Steven E. F. (2007-11-19). "Ecuador cancer suit against Chevron dismissed". San Francisco Business Times. http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/11/19/daily11.html. Retrieved 2008-10-07.
  12. ↑ Goldman Environmental Prize - South and Central America Recipients 2008
  13. ↑ Videos Reveal Serious Judicial Misconduct and Political Influence in Ecuador Lawsuit. Welt Online. Published August 31, 2009. Last accessed August 31, 2009.
  14. ↑ Judge Nunez Misconduct Overview - Chevron Ecuador Lawsuit. YouTube. Posted by username: TexacoEcuador. Posted August 31, 2009. Last accessed August 31, 2009.
  15. ↑ "Revelation Undermines Chevron Case in Ecuador". The New York Times. October 29, 2009. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/world/americas/30ecuador.html?_r=1.
  16. ↑ Chevron in Ecuador: Chevron's 'Dirty Tricks Guy' in Ecuador, Diego Borja

References

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