An Update on CRUDE and the Chevron case in Ecuador

ELAW Partner Pablo Fajardo continues in his quest to hold Chevron accountable for the devastation to the Ecuadorian Amazon.  According to Pablo and his colleagues, at least 345 million gallons of pure crude oil was purposely dumped via ‘produced water’ in the region, and Chevron’s policy of allowing produced water to spill into surrounding land and water was “a deliberate production decision to maximize profits.”

To give some perspective, as of mid July, government estimates of the total BP spill are in the range of 48 to 140 million gallons.  Unlike BP, which has continually asserted that they will pay “all legitimate claims,” Chevron continues to deny responsibility, and continues to fight all efforts to hold it accountable.

In addition, Chevron has subpoenaed more than 600 hours of documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger’s ‘outtakes’ – the film footage that he produced but did not use when making his award winning documentary CRUDE: The Real Price of Oil.  A Federal District Court judge required that the film footage be released, however an appellate court stayed that order until the appeal is decided.  Oral arguments on the appeal were heard in mid-July and it is expected that the appellate court will issue a ruling soon.  Filmmakers and news organizations from all over the country – including Robert Redford, Bill Moyers, Michael Moore and Ric Burns, the Director’s Guild of America, the Writer’s Guild of America, as well as the NY Times, LA Times, CBS, NBC, ABC, Associated Press, Dow Jones, and HBO – have opposed Chevron’s action in court.

CRUDE: The Real Price of Oil is now available on DVD.  If you would like to consider having a house party to show the film, please contact our Outreach Director Rita Radostitz (rita@elaw.org).