NEW YORK, May 7 (Reuters) – New York’s top legal officer asked Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research) to disclose information to shareholders about its potential liability for pollution in Ecuador, but the company said it had “communicated fully” with stockholders.
In a letter dated May 4, New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo referred to a lawsuit on behalf of thousands of Amazon rain forest residents charging the oil company with environmental and health damages.
It said shareholders had complained to his office regarding Chevron’s disclosures of the potential litigation risks.
“Given the fact that both New York State and New York City public pension funds hold substantial Chevron shares and that many New Yorkers are also shareholders (including Amnesty International USA), this office has an interest in ensuring that public statements about the litigation are accurate and complete,” Cuomo’s letter said.
“Shareholders also have a right to know what contingencies, if any, have been taken by Chevron in recognition of a possible adverse ruling in the litigation.”
Chevron said in a statement that the company, the second-largest oil company in the United States, had received the letter and would respond.
“We presume the inquiry is a result of a campaign by the American trial lawyers behind this case that seeks to pressure Chevron into a settlement,” the statement said.
“We have communicated fully with stockholders about the Ecuador case and we will continue to do so in the future.”
The Ecuadorean plaintiffs believe Chevron is liable for pollution from oil wells and pipelines built mostly in the 1970s by Texaco Inc, which was bought by Chevron in 2001.
A judge in Ecuador is hearing the case and he could order the company to pay damages of about $27 billion. (Reporting by Grant McCool in New York, with additional reporting by Braden Reddall in San Francisco; editing by Gerald E. McCormick)
