TEXACO REJECTS CLAIMS IN ENVIRONMENTAL LAWSUIT BY PERUVIAN INDIANS

Jan. 16, 1995
Texaco Inc. has denied charges in a $1 billion lawsuit filed by Peruvian Indians alleging that it caused severe environmental damage to Peru's northern jungle. The suit blames the damage on Texaco operations in Ecuador that allegedly spilled oil into a river that flows into Peru.

Texaco Inc. has denied charges in a $1 billion lawsuit filed by Peruvian Indians alleging that it caused severe environmental damage to Peru's northern jungle.

The suit blames the damage on Texaco operations in Ecuador that allegedly spilled oil into a river that flows into Peru.

In 1993, a group of Ecuadorian Indians filed a $1.5 billion lawsuit in New York against Texaco for alleged environmental damage to the rain forest and a purported increase in the incidence of cancer among the tribes that they blamed on the company's oil production operations in the Oriente region of Ecuador (OGJ, Nov. 22, 1993, Newsletter).

Texaco late last month asked a federal judge to dismiss the Ecuadorian suit, contending it had met a court's requirement for dismissal by negotiating with the Ecuadorian government an agreement under which Texaco will clean up its former drilling/production sites (OGJ, Aug, 22, 1994, Newsletter).

Last month, Texaco, Ecuador's government, and state owned Petroleos del Ecuador (Petroecuador) signed a letter of understanding that set up a framework for environmental remediation work to be completed in the affected areas.

Texaco handed over the Ecuadorian jungle operations to Petroecuador in 1992 after operating them for more than 20 years,

PERUVIAN LAWSUIT

Texaco said it had not received court papers. But judging from statements by the Peruvian Indians' attorneys, it said the lawsuit "is frivolous, and we will vigorously defend ourselves."

The suit was filed-by the same attorneys who filed the Ecuadorian suit-on behalf of 25,000 Peruvian Indians living on the Napo River, a tributary of the Amazon River.

The suit said Texaco failed to properly dispose of unprocessed crude and residues and spilled millions of gallons of oil from pipelines not equipped with proper safety controls.

The suit alleges pollutants entered the Napo in Ecuador and flowed east into Peru. It also alleges Texaco discharged waste-water from its Ecuadorian wells into open pits, streams, rivers, and wetlands at a rate of 3,000 gal/day during 20 years.

The suit was filed in the southern district of New York. Texaco's headquarters are in White Plains, N.Y.

Copyright 1995 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.