Publish to Newswire
Add an EventFrom the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Students Protest ChevronTexaco at Berkeley's International House
Today at the Berkeley International House, students and community members protested ChevronTexaco for its history of abuses against human rights and the environment.
Students Protest ChevronTexaco at the International House
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WHEN: Wednesday, May 7, 2003 6:00-10:30pm
WHERE: International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley
One of the world’s largest energy companies dined at Berkeley’s International House at a time when the Bush Administration begins the management of Iraq’s oil reserves and within days of the reopening of the country’s second largest refinery in Basra. Today, students and community members protested ChevronTexaco for its history of abuses against human rights and the environment. They asked how the International House could accept financial contributions from such corporations while claiming to promote “a more tolerant and peaceful world.”
As corporate executives dined at the I-House’s 15th Annual Celebration & Awards Dinner & Gala, demonstrators outside staged a die-in, passed out literature, and held a candlelight vigil in memory of lives lost to corporate profits. At one point during the dinner inside, I-House resident Camilo Romero spoke into a bullhorn stating, “Chevron and Bechtel are war profiteers.”
“ChevronTexaco has provided helicopters and other equipment to the Nigerian military to attack communities when they protest and demand clean-up and compensation,” said Adrian Wilson, a Berkeley resident and UC Berkeley graduate. The company has also been implicated in the murder of Nigerians protesting its operations. In the Middle East, former ChevronTexaco CEO Ken Derr has said, “Iraq possesses huge reserves of oil and gas – reserves I'd love Chevron to have access to.”
UC Berkeley student Claire Kimball spoke to a ChevronTexaco executive, describing their Richmond refinery as spewing a deadly array of toxins into the environment, affecting mainly communities of color. “That’s not our fault,” he replied, smiling. “It is well known that they are suffering cancer and asthma as a result,” Kimball said.
The I-House also receives funding from Bechtel, a development corporation that has received criticism for its operations in Bolivia and other regions of the world. Most notably, according to the U.S. government, Bechtel provided “parts, material, training or other assistance to Iraq’s chemical, biological, missile, and nuclear weapons programs throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, some continuing until the end of 1990.”
The stated mission of International House is to promote understanding and fellowship among people of all nations, races, and cultures.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WHEN: Wednesday, May 7, 2003 6:00-10:30pm
WHERE: International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley
One of the world’s largest energy companies dined at Berkeley’s International House at a time when the Bush Administration begins the management of Iraq’s oil reserves and within days of the reopening of the country’s second largest refinery in Basra. Today, students and community members protested ChevronTexaco for its history of abuses against human rights and the environment. They asked how the International House could accept financial contributions from such corporations while claiming to promote “a more tolerant and peaceful world.”
As corporate executives dined at the I-House’s 15th Annual Celebration & Awards Dinner & Gala, demonstrators outside staged a die-in, passed out literature, and held a candlelight vigil in memory of lives lost to corporate profits. At one point during the dinner inside, I-House resident Camilo Romero spoke into a bullhorn stating, “Chevron and Bechtel are war profiteers.”
“ChevronTexaco has provided helicopters and other equipment to the Nigerian military to attack communities when they protest and demand clean-up and compensation,” said Adrian Wilson, a Berkeley resident and UC Berkeley graduate. The company has also been implicated in the murder of Nigerians protesting its operations. In the Middle East, former ChevronTexaco CEO Ken Derr has said, “Iraq possesses huge reserves of oil and gas – reserves I'd love Chevron to have access to.”
UC Berkeley student Claire Kimball spoke to a ChevronTexaco executive, describing their Richmond refinery as spewing a deadly array of toxins into the environment, affecting mainly communities of color. “That’s not our fault,” he replied, smiling. “It is well known that they are suffering cancer and asthma as a result,” Kimball said.
The I-House also receives funding from Bechtel, a development corporation that has received criticism for its operations in Bolivia and other regions of the world. Most notably, according to the U.S. government, Bechtel provided “parts, material, training or other assistance to Iraq’s chemical, biological, missile, and nuclear weapons programs throughout the 1970’s and 1980’s, some continuing until the end of 1990.”
The stated mission of International House is to promote understanding and fellowship among people of all nations, races, and cultures.
For more information:
http://www.actagainstwar.org
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
More info can be found here:
For more information:
http://www.actagainstwar.org/downloads/Why...
Here is an article from the NY Times of today, 5/8/03, and it says that some indigenous leaders from Ecuador will be coming this weekend to protest what ChevronTexaco has done in their country. The protest will be in San Ramon. Does anyone know details?
Suit Says ChevronTexaco Dumped Poisons in Ecuador
By ABBY ELLIN
A group of American lawyers representing more than 30,000 indigenous people in Ecuador filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the ChevronTexaco Corporation yesterday.
The suit was filed in Ecuador on behalf of 88 plaintiffs in Lago Agrio, a small oil town in northern Ecuador, and asserts that during two decades of operation, from 1971 to 1992, ChevronTexaco dumped over four million gallons a day of toxic wastewater, contaminated with oil, heavy metals and carcinogens into open pits, estuaries and rivers.
Advertisement
It also says the company left behind nearly 350 open waste pits that killed people and animals.
"We believe that what ChevronTexaco did in the Ecuador rain forest was not only negligent but might rise to the level of reckless behavior," said Joseph Kohn, a lead lawyer for the plaintiffs and a partner in Kohn, Swift & Graf in Philadelphia.
ChevronTexaco denies any wrongdoing and maintains that its practice was consistent with the practices of Ecuador's national oil company, Petro Ecuador, as well as internationally recognized standards.
The case, in litigation for almost a decade, has been dismissed four times. In August 2002, the United States Court of Appeals in New York ruled that the case should be sent to Ecuador, as ChevronTexaco originally wanted. It also ruled that American courts could step back in if the plaintiffs were unable to bring their case or if ChevronTexaco did not adhere to the Ecuadorean court's final decision.
The suit filed in Ecuador yesterday is the first step in adhering to the appellate court's direction.
Typically, cases against multinational corporations tried in developing countries languish there, as most plaintiffs cannot afford to sue in third world countries or do not have proper legal representation. If a corporation does lose, it often contends that the case was unfair or that "the proceedings in the foreign county did not adhere to our notions of due process," said Michael P. Van Alstine, a professor of international commercial law at the University of Maryland.
This case is significant, legal experts say, because it could create a new way for multinational corporations to be held financially accountable for environmental abuses in foreign countries.
Chris Jochnick, a lawyer and founder of the Center for Economic and Social Rights, a human rights organization with offices in New York and Ecuador, said: "The case has become something of a symbol for the abuses and lack of accountability of U.S. multinationals abroad, and of the efforts of local communities to organize and try to bring pressure to bear on those companies. You have both sides represented."
Any financial penalty imposed on ChevronTexaco is enforceable in the United States, which "adds an additional layer of security for the plaintiffs," Mr. Jochnick added.
In 1993, ChevronTexaco hired environmental consulting firms to conduct audits and identify the need for any remediation, said Chris Gidez, a spokesman for ChevronTexaco in Fairfield, Conn. In 1995, ChevronTexaco began a $40 million cleanup of about 250 drilling sites, which the Ecuadorean government deemed complete in 1998, Mr. Gidez said.
Mr. Gidez added that the oil operations took place over about 6,400 acres, or less than 1 percent, of the Ecuadorean rain forest. "The Ecuadorean government," he said, "encouraged growth — colonization, building of roads — in that area. To ignore all that activity as having a contributing impact on the environment is like walking around with blinders on."
This weekend, Amazon Watch, a nonprofit environmental group in San Francisco, plans to bring a group of 13 indigenous leaders from Ecuador to San Ramon, Calif., the world headquarters of ChevronTexaco. The organization plans to stage protests and hold educational forums to "raise awareness with community members of what their neighbors are doing in the rain forest," said Leila Salazar, an organizer with Amazon Watch's ChevronTexaco campaign.
With 2.1 billion barrels of proven reserves, Ecuador is an important player in the Latin American oil business. "It's going to be interesting to see how a country that's so dependent on oil development is going to hold this corporation accountable," Ms. Salazar said.
Suit Says ChevronTexaco Dumped Poisons in Ecuador
By ABBY ELLIN
A group of American lawyers representing more than 30,000 indigenous people in Ecuador filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the ChevronTexaco Corporation yesterday.
The suit was filed in Ecuador on behalf of 88 plaintiffs in Lago Agrio, a small oil town in northern Ecuador, and asserts that during two decades of operation, from 1971 to 1992, ChevronTexaco dumped over four million gallons a day of toxic wastewater, contaminated with oil, heavy metals and carcinogens into open pits, estuaries and rivers.
Advertisement
It also says the company left behind nearly 350 open waste pits that killed people and animals.
"We believe that what ChevronTexaco did in the Ecuador rain forest was not only negligent but might rise to the level of reckless behavior," said Joseph Kohn, a lead lawyer for the plaintiffs and a partner in Kohn, Swift & Graf in Philadelphia.
ChevronTexaco denies any wrongdoing and maintains that its practice was consistent with the practices of Ecuador's national oil company, Petro Ecuador, as well as internationally recognized standards.
The case, in litigation for almost a decade, has been dismissed four times. In August 2002, the United States Court of Appeals in New York ruled that the case should be sent to Ecuador, as ChevronTexaco originally wanted. It also ruled that American courts could step back in if the plaintiffs were unable to bring their case or if ChevronTexaco did not adhere to the Ecuadorean court's final decision.
The suit filed in Ecuador yesterday is the first step in adhering to the appellate court's direction.
Typically, cases against multinational corporations tried in developing countries languish there, as most plaintiffs cannot afford to sue in third world countries or do not have proper legal representation. If a corporation does lose, it often contends that the case was unfair or that "the proceedings in the foreign county did not adhere to our notions of due process," said Michael P. Van Alstine, a professor of international commercial law at the University of Maryland.
This case is significant, legal experts say, because it could create a new way for multinational corporations to be held financially accountable for environmental abuses in foreign countries.
Chris Jochnick, a lawyer and founder of the Center for Economic and Social Rights, a human rights organization with offices in New York and Ecuador, said: "The case has become something of a symbol for the abuses and lack of accountability of U.S. multinationals abroad, and of the efforts of local communities to organize and try to bring pressure to bear on those companies. You have both sides represented."
Any financial penalty imposed on ChevronTexaco is enforceable in the United States, which "adds an additional layer of security for the plaintiffs," Mr. Jochnick added.
In 1993, ChevronTexaco hired environmental consulting firms to conduct audits and identify the need for any remediation, said Chris Gidez, a spokesman for ChevronTexaco in Fairfield, Conn. In 1995, ChevronTexaco began a $40 million cleanup of about 250 drilling sites, which the Ecuadorean government deemed complete in 1998, Mr. Gidez said.
Mr. Gidez added that the oil operations took place over about 6,400 acres, or less than 1 percent, of the Ecuadorean rain forest. "The Ecuadorean government," he said, "encouraged growth — colonization, building of roads — in that area. To ignore all that activity as having a contributing impact on the environment is like walking around with blinders on."
This weekend, Amazon Watch, a nonprofit environmental group in San Francisco, plans to bring a group of 13 indigenous leaders from Ecuador to San Ramon, Calif., the world headquarters of ChevronTexaco. The organization plans to stage protests and hold educational forums to "raise awareness with community members of what their neighbors are doing in the rain forest," said Leila Salazar, an organizer with Amazon Watch's ChevronTexaco campaign.
With 2.1 billion barrels of proven reserves, Ecuador is an important player in the Latin American oil business. "It's going to be interesting to see how a country that's so dependent on oil development is going to hold this corporation accountable," Ms. Salazar said.
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Donate
$220.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network