An August 19 New York Times article reported that a number of Ecuadorian and Peruvian indigenous peoples have lost their appeal in their nine year-old case against TEXACO Inc. The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a trial court's ruling dismissing two class-action lawsuits on the grounds that "the United States was not the proper place for the litigation and that Ecuador would be a more convenient location."
TEXACO Inc. (now known as Chevron Texaco Corp. after merging with Chevron in 2001), is an enterprise engaged in the exploration, extraction, production, refining, distributing and marketing of oil, natural gas and petroleum products worldwide. It is also headquartered in the U.S. In 1964, TEXACO was granted the concession to explore and drill in various parts of the Amazon region of Ecuador. From 1972 to 1992 TEXACO drilled more than 400 oil wells in the region and extracted approximately 220,000 barrels of oil per day.
In 1993 and 1994, indigenous peoples and other residents of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon filed two class action suits in the United States against TEXACO, seeking $1 billion in damages. As stated in their suit, the plaintiffs sought "compensatory and punitive damages, and equitable relief, to remedy the pollution and contamination of the plaintiff's environment and the personal injuries and property damaged caused thereby."
The complaints claimed that TEXACO did not follow the American and international standards of environmental safety and protection in its oil extraction operations. Most egregious, it caused massive pollution in the Napo River, a transnational waterway, which resulted in environmental damage spreading across the border into Perú. Plaintiffs who reside in the Peruvian region of the Amazon, in which the Napo River flows, were directly affected. TEXACO is accused of dumping toxic substances into the streams, rivers and wetlands of the region, which flow into the Napo. The complaints further charge that TEXACO constructed oil pipelines without implementing adequate safety features, resulting in spills of millions of gallons of crude oil. The plaintiffs' complaint summarized the situation: "Texaco's acts and omissions have resulted in the discharge of oil and other toxic substances into the Amazon at a rate in excess of 3,000 gallons per day for 20 years. Many times more oil has been spilled in the Amazon than was spilled in the Exxon Valdez disaster in alaska."
The plaintiff groups represent around 55,000 people, including Quechua, Orejone, Yagua and Secoya Indians. These people claim they have been exposed to toxic substances, leading to increased incidence of diseases including cancer. Manuel Antonio Canelos Duende is one of them, a resident of the Community of Angoteros on the Napo River, Perú. He and his children suffer from pre-cancerous body growths as a result of bathing in the Napo River. The suits charge that "the pre-cancerous body growths are directly related to the contamination of the Napo River with crude oil and toxics. This family use the Napo River for all of their water needs including drinking, bathing, cooking, growing their crops."
TEXACO has denied the allegations in the suits, and the cases have never been tried on their merits.The trial court originally dismissed the cases in 1996 and 1997 on the same grounds that Ecuador would be a better location for the trial, citing the expenses and difficulties of investigating the evidence from the U.S. Also, the court suggested that Ecuador would be better equipped to provide the different plaintiffs with interpreters in their own languages. In 1998 the Second Circuit sent the cases back to the trial court for further consideration. In 2001 the trial court again dismissed the cases and the Indians appealed.
In the nine years since the suits were first lodged the plaintiffs have garnered international support from many different organizations and individuals. The case set a singular precedent, representing the first time that indigenous and local organizations filed suit against a transnational company in its country of origin. After the TEXACO case many other indigenous peoples started networking at the national and international level seeking support for cases in the countries of origin of transnational corporations operating in their territories.
In response to the unfavorable recent ruling by the Second Circuit court, the indigenous plaintiffs are considering new appeals.
