Indigenous farmers say $8.6 bln in damages not enough

Chevron says charges of polluting the jungle are false (Recasts, adds plaintiffs appeal, updates throughout)

LAGO AGRIO, Ecuador, Feb 17 (Reuters) – Ecuadoreans suing U.S. oil giant Chevron Corp (CVX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) for environmental damages on Thursday appealed a recent court ruling that awarded them $8.6 billion, claiming that more money would be needed for cleanup efforts.

Residents of Ecuador’s Amazon jungle say that Texaco, which was later acquired by Chevron, dumped polluted water into their rivers and left drilling waste to fester in unlined pits, charges that the company denies.

At $8.6 billion, the damages figure is one of the biggest environmental judgments ever. But plaintiffs say more money will be needed to clean up the Rhode Island-sized swath of rainforest that they accuse Texaco of wrecking when it operated in area during the 1970s and 1980s. [ID:nN16261158]

In their appeal before a three-judge panel at Sucumbios provincial court, in the heart of Ecuador’s Amazon region, the plaintiffs did not say how much they are seeking in damages.

“We do not have an economic figure. It is an open petition,” lead lawyer Pablo Fajardo told Reuters.

The long legal battle in Ecuador, which has spawned related actions in U.S. courts and international arbitration, is seen as a test case widely watched by international oil companies wary of precedents for other major damage claims.

Chevron inherited the case when it bought Texaco in 2001. It says it cleaned up all waste pits it was responsible for before turning the sites over to Ecuador’s state-owned oil firm, Petroecuador, which still operates in the area.

Chevron says the 17-year-old legal saga has been driven more by greedy trial lawyers than concern for the environment.

Calling the charges false, Chevron says it will seek to overturn Monday’s ruling by Sucumbios court judge Nicolas Zambrano that found the company responsible for pollution.

Resolution could still be years away, and few analysts expect the company to pay anything soon, if at all. Chevron’s stock price was not hit by the Feb. 14 ruling, as investors had widely expected the verdict.

ENFORCEMENT SUSPENDED

Company lawyers filed a 31-page request with the court on Thursday, asking to clarify points included in its ruling.

“Our filing today has the same effect as an appeal in that it suspends the enforcement or execution of the verdict,” Chevron spokesman James Craig told Reuters.

“The judge must resolve our request for clarification of his ruling and, upon doing that, the company will have 72 hours to file its appeal,” he said.

Zambrano’s tiny courtroom is in a rundown building in an Amazon town called Lago Agrio near the Colombian border.

In its request for clarification of his Monday ruling, Chevron wants to know more about the formula that Zambrano used to come up with his damages assessment.

The company is also asking the judge if he viewed outtakes from the 2009 documentary “Crude” that were subpoenaed by Chevron as part of U.S. court proceedings related to the case.

The company says the clips, which did not appear in the film, show evidence of fraud on the part of the plaintiffs. [ID:nN10247574] (Additional reporting by Alexandra Valencia in Quito, writing by Hugh Bronstein; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Cynthia Osterman)

“At the moment we have ongoing operations in several locations simultaneously,” JTF spokesman Timothy Antigha was earlier quoted by Reuters as saying before the hostages were freed.

The military had warned on Saturday it planned to carry out raids on suspected criminal camps in the Niger Delta and told civilians in the vicinity to leave.

A major military offensive would be the first in the heartland since an amnesty brokered by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua began in August 2009.

JTF Attacks More Militant Camps, Frees 19 Hostages, Paul Ohia with Agency Reports, All Africa, 17 November 2010

By Oronto Douglas

November 20, 2009

Reposted from NEXT

Militancy and amnesty aside, the challenge of resolving the puzzle that has denied the many communities and clans of the resource rich Niger Delta has reached emergency levels. Although the crisis was easily predictable, successive governments had treated the anger and protests as mere irritations that can be brushed aside with warning shots, arrests or in extreme cases, devastating attacks on communities.

For scholars and survivors, there is something new that should worry all lovers of peace and livelihood – the completed project of the regionalization of anger and the now emerging nationalization of grievances anchored on stubborn defiance.

In the early days of the struggles by our people against the corporations and governments, the focus of mobilisation remained in islands of clans with small numbers of dedicated individuals and rarely was cross clan collaboration involved. In the renewed agitations of the 1990s, the idea of clan collaboration began to take firm root with the emergence of the Chikoko Movement and several groups worked like this.

The Chikoko Movement played a critical role in bringing the youths of Urhobo, Ibibio, Oron, Ogoni, Isoko, Ikwerre, Ijaw, and Etche together in the late 1990s.

Many conferences of ethnic nationalities were to follow and in a rotational way, hosted by the Ijaws (through the INC), Ikwerre (through Ogbakor Ikwerre) among others.

Present day agitation now cuts across states and nationalities, with broad based groups including the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) with its advocacy of armed struggle, insisting on justice. The anger across the region is now also noticeable, even among children. The story is told of a 13-year-old boy in Port Harcourt who can identify the sounds of the different guns – be it Pump Action; AK47; GMG and so on – and would warn his friends about when to be on the lookout. We cannot afford to ruin the future by inaction. We have to do something now.

It is important that we constantly remind ourselves what the struggle is all about.

The struggle of the people of the Niger Delta is about respect for our human dignity. The undemocratic seizure of the resources of the people of the Niger Delta by the military regimes following the civil war; the relentless assault on the environment by the uncaring activities of resource hunters otherwise known as transnational oil companies; the destruction of communal governance traditions , are all part of the fallout of the disrespect for our humanity. Our struggle is aimed at reversing these degrading acts and we must not be mistaken about this.

On this day, in this hour, there is a call to all patriots to rally round to resolve the issues of the Niger Delta because the implications of a non-resolution are unthinkable and unacceptable. On the shoulders of the Niger Delta rest Nigerian and West African regional stability. As we all know, our oil and gas based energy needs are mostly domiciled in the region so also is a majority of our maritime and fishing resources. Should the tide turn and tourism take a greater focus, the Niger Delta with its bounties of beaches and nature will play a critical role in further stabilizing the polity and bringing needed revenue and happiness to our country.

It is in the interest of all that we give unto the Niger Delta what the people of the Niger Delta want within, of course, the limits of justice, fair play and equity. The window of militancy and amnesty is an arithmetic indication of how much the situation had degenerated and a clarion call to all that we prevent a further slide to anomie.

Nigerians are good people. There is nothing complex about our togetherness. It is true that all the nations within our country had no hand in our coming together in the 1914 initiative of the British. Yet, our unique stories and identities add great beauty to the good and running story of our union in the making. It can only get better.

Therefore, we can begin from the very beginning by initiating policies that will protect the haves from the have-nots, enshrine rights, duties and obligations that protect the minorities from the majorities in our unifying constitutional documents. Our yearning for democracy, development and peace will constantly be delayed if not denied except and until we can settle those unsettling issues of our togetherness.

Oronto Douglas writes from San Francisco, California

From The Vanguard (Nigeria Newspaper):

AMNESTY ENDS: Uncertainty persists

Hector Igbikiowubo
MORE than 90 days after the amnesty package for militants in the Niger Delta came to a close, an air of uncertainty persist over the effectiveness of the initiative, especially against the backdrop of threats by the Movement for Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) to call off its cease-fire and reports that government has been busy acquiring fast attack helicopters and flat bed speed boats for a final showdown with militants.  Read Full Article

From the BBC:

Will amnesty bring peace to the Niger Delta?