Ecuador: Texaco faces $1bn lawsuit

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A trial has begun in Ecuador's jungle town of Lago Agrio of the US oil giant ChevronTexaco, which is accused of polluting the country's rainforest and water resources.

A billion-dollar lawsuit against the firm was brought by the lawyers for 30,000 Ecuadoreans, who say a Texaco subsidiary - which later merged with Chevron - poured contaminated waste water into open pits.

The plaintiffs say the company's activities have destroyed large areas of rainforest and also led to an increased risk of cancer among the local population.

ChevronTexaco denies the accusations, and its lawyers say the company had cleaned up the area after drilling the oil.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3212698.stm

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1. More detail: Ecuador trial begins over Amazon oil damage

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...Former Ecuadorean Supreme Court Justice Alberto Wray, with the assistance of an American legal team, wants California-based ChevronTexaco to pay for cleanup and medical monitoring costs, which the plaintiffs say could reach $1 billion.

Judge Alberto Guerra rejected an opening challenge to the court's authority by the oil company's lawyers, who argued the judge did not have the authority to bring ChevronTexaco to trial for alleged damage caused by Texaco, which merged with the parent company in 2001.

ChevronTexaco "is not the successor to Texaco. Therefore it cannot be held responsible for anything," ChevronTexaco lawyer Adolfo Callejas said.

Wray dismissed that argument, saying "we believe that ChevronTexaco assumed Texaco's obligations."

http://www.bayarea.com/mld/cctimes/business/7073531.htm