Oil is one of Ecuador’s most controversial and polarizing topics. On one hand the country is dependent on oil for income, while on the other, oil drilling is a perceived threat to livelihoods in communities where drilling ensues. Testimony given before an international tribunal released Monday, calls into question the legitimacy of Chevron’s star witness in a two-decade long legal battle over oil contamination in the Ecuadorean Amazon.
Communities in Ecuador’s oil rich Amazon filed a class action lawsuit against Chevron for allegedly contaminating land where they drilled for oil in the 1960’s through the 1980’s. Chevron celebrated a victory in the case in March of last year. However, the newly released testimony questions whether or not the linchpin in Chevron’s case, former Ecuadorian judge Alberto Guerra, is a reliable source or if he presented any false evidence to frame those who have suffered illnesses they contribute to oil contamination.
Here is a look at the land and people affected.
Donald Moncayo, who has lived on land allegedly contaminated by Chevron/Texaco in the 1960s through the 1980s, tests the soil for remnants of contamination. Chevron/Texaco says that they cleaned the land in 1997. Photo credit: Tracy Jarrett / NBC News.
Pablo Fajardo, a lawyer who represented community members in the greatly publicized lawsuit against Chevron/Texaco, shows oil residue found no lower than three feet into the ground where Chevron/Texaco purportedly cleaned up after an oil spill. Many people in the community believe the water is clean. Photo credit: Tracy Jarrett / NBC News.
Pablo Fajardo and Donald Moncayo test water contamination near oil well 5 that was allegedly cleaned up in 1997. The pair demonstrates water analysis on what they call a “toxic tour” of Ecuador’s Amazon where Chevron/Texaco began drilling in the 1960s. Photo credit: Tracy Jarrett / NBC News.
Segundo Leonardo Chamorro, 75, has been owned his land for 45 years. When he bought the land in Ecuador’s Amazon he did not know that oil drilling had begun by Texaco/Chevron. Chamorro has experienced sickness such as loss of hair and bloody urine, which he attributes to contamination in the water near oil wells. Photo credit: Tracy Jarrett / NBC News.
An oil pump outside of Lago Agrio in Ecuador’s Amazon. Photo credit: Tracy Jarrett / NBC News.
One of hundreds of yet to be cleaned ponds polluted by oil workers and nearby oil wells. The contamination has caused indigenous tribes and local animals to leave the area because of disease. Photo credit: Tracy Jarrett / NBC News.
Oil pipelines line the roads in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, all the way to the Colombian border. Photo credit: Tracy Jarrett / NBC News.
Elena and Gloria Lapo’s father, Jose, has an unknown illness, which has left him bedridden. The family contributes the illness to living by an oil well and they are witnesses in their community’s case against Chevron/Texaco. Photo credit: Tracy Jarrett / NBC News.
