Chevron is Guilty: Ecuadoreans Prevail in Historic Environmental Lawsuit

By Rainforest Action Network
Chevron guilty
Click this image to send Chevron CEO John Watson an email urging him to clean up his company's oily mess in Ecuador immediately.

After a long and often bitter 18-year struggle, the Indigenous and rural Ecuadoreans suing Chevron to force the company to clean up its oil contamination in the Amazon have prevailed. Earlier today, in a historic ruling, the court in Lago Agrio, Ecuador found Chevron guilty and ordered the company to pay $8 billion to clean up its mess in Ecuador.

Write to Chevron CEO John Watson right now and urge him to finally see that justice is done in Ecuador by cleaning up his company’s oil pollution immediately.

Chevron of course immediately fired off a statement claiming that the judgment was fraudulent and the company would appeal the decision. Enough is enough. The plaintiffs have withstood the impacts of Chevron’s oil pollution on their health and the local environment at the same time that they had to contend with Chevron’s bullying and abusive legal tactics. For nearly two decades, they’ve been living with Chevron’s attempts to deny them basic human rights and a clean and healthy environment. It’s time for Chevron to take responsibility for its oily mess.

Chevron waged an unprecedented PR and legal campaign, but in the end the evidence overwhelmingly proved the company’s guilt. This is a historic moment. It’s one of the largest judgment against Big Oil ever awarded. The battle is won, but the war is far from over. More than ever, the people of Ecuador need us to stand with them.

Over 1,400 Ecuadoreans have already died as a result of the contamination in the Amazon, and some 30,000 more are at risk. They don’t have time to wait for Chevron to continue trying to hide its guilt with legal maneuvering and PR campaigns. John Watson can put an end to the human rights and environmental abuses in Ecuador. Write to Watson now.