Ecuador: Chevron not liable for Environmental Claims per Tribunal

Theamazonreport.com reported that an international arbitration tribunal issued a partial award in favor of Chevron Corp. ( CVX ) and found the U.S. oil company isn’t liable for collective environmental damage claims in Ecuador.

The case stems from a decades-old dispute over environmental contamination in Ecuador allegedly produced by Texaco Inc., a company Chevron bought in 2001. The plaintiffs in 2011 won a verdict against Chevron over contamination in the country’s oil-rich jungles, among the largest environmental awards ever. But the oil company has refused to pay, instead pursuing a lawsuit in New York federal court that alleges the judgment was obtained illegitimately.

The tribunal found agreements that Ecuador entered into with Texaco Petroleum Co. released Texaco and its affiliates of any liability for all public interest or collective environmental claims. Chevron said the Lago Agrio plaintiffs’ lawyers have repeatedly admitted their claims are exclusively collective and not individual. Read Article
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