Now if Chevron could only muster the courage to tell U.S enviros where to go and how to get there real fast.
The Latin American Herald Tribune reports:
U.S. oil supermajor Chevron Corp. refused to issue a public apology for pollution in Ecuador’s Amazon region before a court-imposed deadline, saying it is not responsible for toxic drilling waste that has spoiled ecosystems and harmed local communities’ health.
The refusal doubles the damages award to more than $18 billion in a long-running court battle pitting the company against plaintiffs representing some 30,000 Amazon peasants and Indians.
Chevron’s position merely demonstrates its “arrogance and high-handedness” in the face of a clear-cut verdict, plaintiffs’ attorney Pablo Fajardo said on Friday, referring to two court decisions handed down against the U.S. multinational in the northeastern Ecuadorian province of Sucumbios…
Wish I had seen this earlier. The money doesn’t go to the “peasant/Indian.” It goes to clean up Chevron’s mess, provide health care for the sick and provide clean drinking water.
Oops, that’s $600,000. Even so, that’s more money than a peasant/Indian would see in a lifetime, and in the lifetimes of their grandchildren, etc.
If I’ve done the math right, that’s nearly $2.7 million per peasant/Indian.