Deliberate dumping by Chevron, of billions of gallons of toxic waste, decimated six indigenous groups, and caused at least 1,400 deaths from cancer, a representative of the amazon communities testified before congress this week.  

"The environmental degradation of this area, done intentionally by Texaco [now Chevron] to lower production costs, has today produced a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions,"  -Steven Donziger, lawyer for the affected Amazonian communities, before the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission

A 15 year civil trial in Ecuador charges that Chevron, purposefully discharged billions of gallons of "formation water" into the rainforest, and abandoned 900 toxic waste pits in the jungle. The pits continue to leak toxins into the soil, contaminating the drinking water supply of the local population.  Formation water, a byproduct of oil drilling, contains hydrocarbons, including benzene.

 "Texaco pumped the oil out of the ground, separated the crude and sold it on the commercial market, and then dumped billions of gallons of toxic waste into the Amazon. In this area of Ecuador the water, soil, and air on which thousands of people depend for almost every aspect of their daily sustenance is for the most part poisoned."-Donziger

The cancer death statistics are widely considered low as most in this remote area die without ever seeing a doctor.

Donziger also testified that there were three other human rights violations related to the Chevron case.

• The victimization, death threats, and assaults faced by those named in the lawsuit.
• The "abuse of the judicial process" by Chevron in order to "obstruct and delay" the trial, and negatively impact the abilities of the plaintiffs to resolve claims.
• The "environmental racism" practiced by Chevron in that it purposefully desicrated the environment of indigenous peoples, while simultaniously operating safely in the U.S.

Weather or not Chevron is racist, I doubt they would think twice about doing the same thing in the U.S. or anywhere else. The reason they did this is that they thought they could get away with it.

Chevron has informed U.S. government officials it expects "significant adverse judjement" regarding the dumping, later this year.

Tags: "oil drilling" Ecuador, Benzene, Chevron, Ecuador, hydrocarbons, Information-News, oil drilling, Texico