Chevron Corp. vs Donziger el al

            For any of you who follow environment law, or just news-related subjects, the ongoing case between the Chevron Corporation and a group of Ecuadorian villagers from the Lago Agrio region within the country, continues after more than ten years. Just recently, the guardian posted an article in which an Ecuadorian lawyer named Juan Pablo Saenz, and who represents small farmers against Chevron in this case, received death threats – “They said to me: ‘Think very carefully about what you are doing, because it would be a shame if something happened to you and your family’.” This comes after an Ecuadorian court ruled in favor of the villagers, and fined Chevron USD 8bn in damages for widespread contamination in the Amazon basin in Ecuador during the years Texaco was operational in the country, roughly 1962 to 1990, though the years change by ten years depending on the report that you read. Texaco was acquired by Chevron in 2001.

            This seems like something straight out of a scene of the popular Netflix series, House of Cards. However, Chevron, rightfully defending itself, asserted that the main lawyer in this case, Steven Donziger from the United States, acted on fraud, corruption, and other related means. It is so much Chevron’s belief that this is so, that in February 2011, they filed a civil lawsuit against him and his associates under the “Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO)” in a District Court in Southern New York, with Judge Lewis Kaplan.

            What follows, is the strange stance Judge Kaplan has taken in this case. After ruling in favor of Chevron in the US District Court of New York, Chevron, as well as the Judge, have taken upon themselves to issue a global injunction against the Ecuadorian team from seeking damages wherever else Chevron does its operations. In fact, a court in Canada has decided to hear out cases regarding this issue despite the effort. My own understanding of the workings of a Judge, is that they are to rule on cases, and then move on to the next, not continually support one side against the other. In response to this, the website, chevrontoxico, issued a report where they state that Judge Kaplan holds Ecuadorian law unworthy of his attention. They say that “Judge Kaplan revealed his disrespect for the courts of a small, Latin American nation like Ecuador in comparison nations, such as the United Kingdom, apparently deemed worthy of [his] respect.”

            Besides the above, many questions linger. The initial ruling said Chevron had to pay USD 18bn, however, the Ecuadorian National Court of Justice reduced the payment. Moreover, during his legal process, little mention has been of the environmental damage that has been caused. As the Swedish, Umea International School of Public Health states, “more than 30bn gallons of toxic wastes and crude oil had been discharged into the land and waterways of Ecuador’s Amazon basin.” In comparison, this is a vastly bigger number than the 205m gallons by BP’s Deepwater Horizon, or 10.8 by Exxon Valdez in 1989. Lastly, a documentary, titled Crude, leaked footage where Donziger knowingly and straightforwardly acknowledges efforts to intimidate the Ecuadorian Judge in charge of the case in the country. However, one begs to question, why would he be foolish enough to say that in camera? Did he know what he was saying was going to be leaked? Did he have underlying purposes going farther than the obvious?

            These are just good questions to look for when reading on this ongoing legal case. Whatever the result, we must remember that it is the people of Ecuador who are being affected, and who need relief and assistance from their polluted homeland