«Between 1964 and 1990, Texaco (which was acquired by Chevron in 2001) drilled roughly 350 wells across 2,700 square miles of Amazon rainforest. It extracted some $30 billion in profits while deliberately dumping 18 billion gallons of toxic soup, known as production water--a mixture of oil, sulpheric acid, and other carcinogens--into the streams and rivers where people collect drinking water, fish, bathe, and swim.
«In the process, Texaco constructed over 900 oil sludge pits, many the size of Olympic swimming pools. Unlike swimming pools, these pits were unlined punctures in the earth. With no concrete to protect the surrounding soil, poison seeped into the ground water.
«I had heard about what has been called "Chevron's Chernobyl in the Amazon" for years. But nothing could prepare me for the horror I witnessed this week in Ecuador.»
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Also:
Kenneth P. Vogel, «Chevron's lobbying campaign backfires» in www.politico.com.
Angel Gonzalez & Ben Casselman, «Chevron Plaintiffs ask U.S. Court for Action» in online.wsj.com.
