Chevron could lose billions over Ecuador suit

A court-appointed expert in Ecuador has recommended that Chevron Corp. pay $7 billion to $16 billion if it loses a marathon lawsuit over oil-field contamination in the Amazon rain forest.

The estimate, contained in a report filed Tuesday in an Ecuadoran court, marks the latest twist in a bitterly fought case that has drawn international attention, with each side accusing the other of deception and dirty tricks.


The lawsuit’s roots go back to the 1960s, when Texaco began pumping oil in a corner of the Ecuadoran Amazon. Area residents allege that Texaco dumped 18 billion gallons of tainted water and built roughly 1,000 open-air, unlined pits to hold oil and toxic waste.

Although Texaco pulled out of the area in 1992, turning over all operations to its partner Petroecuador, residents sued Texaco in 1993, claiming the company’s practices had wrecked their environment and made them sick. Chevron bought Texaco in 2001, inheriting the lawsuit.

San Francisco Chronicle