Ecuador Lawsuit is in the News Again
September 6, 2009
Ecuador Judge Says Recuses Himself From Lawsuit Vs Chevron
QUITO (Dow Jones)–The Ecuadorean judge purportedly caught on videotape discussing a multi-billion dollar lawsuit against Chevron Corp. (CVX) has recused himself from the on-going case, Judge Juan Nunez said Friday.
Chevron released recordings Monday that it claims shows Nunez, who oversees the Lago Agrio court where the trial is being held, affirming that he would hold the oil company culpable for environmental damages. It said the videos prove the judge should be disqualified from the case.
Nunez has contended that the video footage was manipulated. Chevron has said the videos are authentic and haven’t been doctored.
“I have communicated with both sides in this case that I recuse myself from continuing with this case,” Nunez told Dow Jones Newswires. “However, I will continue with my work as a judge, and as president of the Lago Agrio Court, because I have not committed any illegality or irregularity.”
Nunez declined to explain the reason for his recusal. He did say that he had notified both Chevron and the plaintiffs, a group residing in the Amazon region that accuses Chevron of being responsible environmental contamination that took place decades ago, of his recusal.
The group claims that Chevron should pay for pollution caused by the oil operations of Texaco, which the energy giant acquired in 2001, while Chevron says Ecuador released it from liabilities after a cleanup by the company.
Comments
2 Responses to “Ecuador Lawsuit is in the News Again”
Got something to say?
Those tapes were fabricated to delay the ruling but Chevron did such a lousy job that it looks like it’s going to backfire. Even Chevron’s translation is inaccurate. The judge said there are formalities related to the appeal, not that the appeal was only a formality as Chevron translated it. The judge recused himself so the case can move on even though nowhere in the tapes did he really accept the bribe; which by the way was not mentioned until Chevron found out these two men were taping the officials.
Scientific evidence has proven the case against Chevron and I hope none of those dirty tricks will work and Chevron will be held responsible.
For more info, see http://www.chevrontoxico.com
Anna,
You are dead wrong about the company to blame. Your blog only shows your ignorance in this matter. Here is a response from Chevron’s communications department:
Chevron has never operated in Ecuador. [It was Texaco.] Texaco has not operated in Ecuador in nearly 20 years. Before leaving Ecuador, Texaco performed a 40 million dollar remediation program, in which the company remediated a percentage of sites that were equivalent to its stake in the consortium.
Since then, the government oil company, Petroecuador has had a horrific record of spills and mismanagement. The photos of fresh oil are depictions of current petroecuador operations.
Justin Higgs
Chevron Corporation