According to the Miami Herald, an appeals court in Ecuador has upheld an $18 billion judgment against Chevron Corp. for the dumping of millions of gallons of contaminated wastewater into streams and creeks in the country. The environmental contamination was caused by Chevron's predecessor Texaco over several decades up until the 1990s, followed by the two companies merging in 2001.
Chevron has refused to accept the ruling in the case that has extended for over 18 years and says it will continue to fight the decision. Here are some facts about the oil contamination in Ecuador:
* PBS reported that Texaco discovered oil in the South American country in 1967, which helped contribute to the nation's first oil boom and economic growth during the 1970s.
* Today, Ecuador is in about $14 million worth of debt and money from oil proceeds makes up approximately 40 percent of its export earnings and roughly 33 percent of the government's total revenue.
* The country had initially invited Texaco to explore and produce oil through a partnership with the Ecuadorian government in which the oil company designed the wells and built the transportation pipeline, according to the University of Michigan.
* Texaco disposed of highly toxic oil byproducts, also called production water, by dumping it into pits next to each well and then allowing it to flow into nearby waterways after the pits reached capacity.
* The wastewater was high in cancer-causing chemicals like benzene and hydrocarbons and contaminated the pristine land and water of numerous indigenous tribes in Ecuador.
* NPR noted that in 1993 the original lawsuit was filed against Texaco in a New York court, but Chevron later argued that the case should be moved to Ecuador instead.
* The lawsuit includes 145,000 pages of evidence of oil contamination through the 30 years that Texaco extracted 1.5 billion barrels of crude oil in the country.
* An article from the Examiner added that the court case represents around 30,000 indigenous people and farmers who are looking for the cleanup of contaminated areas in addition to health care.
* Currently the $18 billion in damages is approximately close to one-third of Ecuador's gross domestic product and it's the most expensive environmental lawsuit in history.
* Ecuadorian government officials have decided to close off the Yasuni National Park in the Amazon, a large undeveloped oil field with an estimated 1 billion barrels, to oil companies through at least 2013 as a way to protect the area, according to UPI.
* Government-owned oil company Petroecuador said that it is spending millions to clean up numerous sites contaminated by Texaco.
Rachel Bogart provides an in-depth look at current environmental issues and local Chicago news stories. As a college student from the Chicago suburbs pursuing two science degrees, she applies her knowledge and passion to both topics to garner further public awareness.
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