And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: >Date: Mon, 01 Feb 1999 16:22:04 -0500 >From: Monica Wilson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.05 [en] (Win95; I) >To: Shell-Nigeria-Action <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > corp list <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > "Earth First! Journal" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > sovernet list recipients <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, > ecojustice <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: Ecuador Indian suit against Texaco >Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND MULTINATIONAL OIL >CORPORATIONS > >Indians sue Texaco for $1 billion > >NEW YORK, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Indian tribal leaders from the Amazon >region of Ecuador are arriving in New York for a courtroom faceoff >with Texaco over a billion-dollar lawsuit. > >The lawsuit charges the oil giant caused widespread devastation to >the Indians' rainforest environment, ruined their traditional way of >life, and dramatically increased the risk of cancer for tens of >thousands of people. > >The groundbreaking class-action lawsuit is the first of its kind to be >filed by foreign plaintiffs in a U.S. court. The court hearing comes on >the heels of a major shift in strategy by Texaco, which recently >conceded that the case must go to trial in either Ecuador or the >United States. > >Today's hearing will determine whether the tribal leaders are able >to present their case to a jury of American citizens in federal court in >New York, or whether Texaco's motion to dismiss the case for trial >in Ecuadoran courts will be granted. > >The plaintiffs have claimed for years that they cannot receive justice >in Ecuador, whose civil code sets up many barriers to environmental >litigation, including a prohibition on class-action lawsuits. > >The suit alleges that Texaco engaged in ``negligent, reckless, >deliberate and outrageous acts'' in the Ecuadoran Amazon by >installing defective drilling technology that led to the spillage of >millions of gallons of toxic waste water over a 20-year period. > >The suit charges that rather than pump the poisonous water back >into the ground -- as is the industry standard, and as Texaco does in >the United States -- the oil company dumped it into hundreds of >unlined pits, which its workers dug throughout the Amazon region. >>From the pits, the suit states, the waste water contaminated with oil >and heavy metal salts slowly decanted into the rivers and wetlands of >the region over two decades. > >Lawyers for the plaintiffs estimate that Texaco saved about $6 billion >over the 20-year period by using this dumping practice. > >However, water and soil samples taken from the area by >toxicologists indicate life-threatening levels of carcinogenic >Polyciclic Hydrocarbons in the region's drinking water. > >The lawsuit seeks compensation for the thousands of people >allegedly injured by Texaco's oil exploration practices. It further >seeks a court order mandating that Texaco pay for the clean-up of >the rainforest, a process the Ecuadoran government has agreed to >facilitate should the U. S. court so order. > >The attorneys estimate that the clean-up cost to Texaco could run >over $1 billion. > > > Mon, 1 Feb 1999 10:40:21 PST Story from UPI > Copyright 1999 by United Press International (via ClariNet > > >Photo Caption ( Photo is attached) > >NEW YORK, UNITED STATES, > >1-FEB-1999: Indian tribal > >leaders from the Amazon > >region of Ecuador arrive for > >a hearing in federal court in > >New York as plaintiffs in a > >billion-dollar class action > >lawsuit against Texaco, the > >American oil company, > >February 1. The hearing will > >determine whether the > case will be held >in the United States or in Ecuador. The suit > charges the oil >company engaged in "negligent, reckless, > deliberate, and >outrageous acts" in the Ecuadoran Amazon > over a 20-year >period. [Photo by Henny Ray Abrams, AFP] > >-- >Monica Wilson Essential Action >P.O. Box 19405, Washington, DC 20036, 202.387.8030, 202.234.5176 (fax) >[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.essential.org/action/shell/ > &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
