Centre of the dispute: oilfields in the Lago Agrio region
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Chevron files fresh claim against Quito
US supermajor Chevron, which is fighting a $27 billion environmental lawsuit in Ecuador, said it has filed an international arbitration claim against the Quito government.
Chevron’s claim, related to the pending lawsuit against the company, cites violations of a treaty between the US and Ecuador, investment agreements and international law, it said in a statement.
Chevron alleges the government of Ecuador is interfering with the case and the judge overseeing it is biased.
The move comes a day after an Ecuadorean court restated the judge who recused himself from hearing the suit.
Amazon Basin residents claim in the lawsuit Chevron is responsible for toxic waste from drilling in the jungle from 1964 to 1990, or later.
The plaintiffs claim the pollution was left by Texaco, which Chevron took over in 2001.
The case began in 1993 in New York and is now being handled by a court in Lago Agrio, a town near the former Texaco oil fields.
Ecuador’s prosecutor general, Diego Garcia, told Bloomberg Chevron is seeking to deflect a possible adverse ruling in the lawsuit.
“This new arbitration complaint reflects Chevron’s intention to link the state to the possible damage payments and responsibilities in case the judge in Lago Agrio rules against the company,” Garcia told the news agency in an interview.
“This is part of a global strategy by Chevron to try to make the Ecuadorean state responsible for the damages.”
An court yesterday reinstated Judge Juan Nunez to the lawsuit, saying his recusal on 4 September was “unfounded.”
Chevron’s vice president and general counsel, Hewitt Pate, said the country’s judiciary is “incapable of functioning independently of political influence,” according to today’s statement.
Potential damages in the case may total as much as $27 billion, according to a court-ordered report.
Chevron has said Texaco cleaned up its share of any lingering spills in exchange for a release from future liability before state-owned PetroEcuador took control of the operations almost two decades ago.
Through its claim, Chevron said it seeks to enforce the prior settlement and release agreements that it said Ecuador made with Texaco, according to the statement.
Proceedings have started before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague under the rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, Chevron said.
“Chevron has no choice but to seek relief under the treaty between the US and Ecuador,” Pate said in the statement.
“The government of Ecuador has seriously diminished the independence and integrity of its own judiciary. The government is using the legal process in Lago Agrio to avoid the environmental obligations of its state-owned oil company.”