FACTSHEET ON CHEVRON INFRACTIONS

           FACTSHEET ON CHEVRON INFRACTIONS

Apoi North Incident

On 16^th January 2012 there was blowout at Chevron’s Apoi North Wellhead while a rig was working at the site.

The incident, 120 nautical miles off the coast of the Atlantic Ocean reverberated across typical fishing communities in Bayelsa including Koluama 1 and 2. The explosions were felt in the communities and subsequently affected their livelihoods as they could neither fish nor use the polluted waters for anything tangible. As at 18^th of January when ERA/FoEN visited some of the communities the fires at the rig were still raging.

The huge flames could be sighted deep in the Atlantic Ocean while sheen on the surface of the water had the appearance of a carpet as far as the eye could see. There were dead fish floating and some in throes of death

whistle blowers are angry with Chevron

Parabe Debacle in 1998: Instigating killings

Chevron’s operations go beyond mere oil pollution. Community folks in Ilaje area of Ondo State blame the company for the 1998 killing of youths who were on a peaceful protest on Parabe platform in Ilaje community. The youths were protesting Chevron's regional business activities, alleging negative environmental and social impact. The organizers sought cessation of Chevron’s conduct, reparations, and cleanup.

In a suit filed by Larry Bowoto, one of the lucky few that were on the platform on the day of the incident, soldiers were allegedly hired, transported and paid by Chevron to shoot the youths even after the demonstrators had negotiated an agreement to leave that morning. Two protesters were killed, one shot in the back. Many others were arrested and tortured. The security forces, supervised by Chevron opened fire on the protestors, shooting four of them. Larry Bowoto was shot but survived, Arolika Irowarinun was shot and killed, Bassey Jeje was attacked and injured, and Bola Oyinbo was detained and tortured.

The incident necessitated a suit filed in 1999 at the San Francisco district court by survivors and representatives of the communities - Messrs Larry Bowoto, Bola Oyibo (late), Bassey Jeje and Sunday Johnbul.  The plaintiffs brought claims for torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment under the Alien Tort Statute (ATS), a U.S. law that permits foreign citizens to bring civil suits in the United States courts for human rights violations committed outside the U.S. Bowoto and others also brought claims for wrongful death and assault and battery under both Nigerian and California law and appealed this case after the jury found in favor of defendants on all charges.

The company was however absolved by a US district court which, on December 1, 2008, delivered a complete defense verdict for Chevron. On September 10, 2010 the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a jury verdict in favor of Chevron Corporation. Chevron Nigeria Limited (CNL) from complicity in the matter.

In his closing argument on December 2, 2008 after the ruling, Counsel to the Ilaje Community, Dan Stormer said Chevron “did not want to be held accountable in the press in 1998 so they lied. They don’t   want to be held accountable now.”

Ruination in Warri North

Opuama and Opuekeba Oil fields are very rich in crude oil deposits. The two oil fields are located in Warri North LGA of Delta State, with several communities, including Opuama, Tsekelewu(Polobubor), Gbokoda, Opuekeba etc. Chevron is one of the operators in this Oil field. Chevron is involved in the digging and dredging of several canals opening up to the main River to the Atlantic Ocean with devastating and destructive consequences on the communities and their environment. The opening of the main river into the Atlantic Ocean has brought silt and salt water from the Atlantic Ocean into the naturally fresh water of the Opuama/Tsekelewu River which is the only source of drinking water to the communites. Silt encroachment into the river has reduced the navigable part of about 2metres wide and about 1metre deep all year round. Marine lives have disappeared from the river and fishing now unprofitable and nearly practically impossible.

Chevron in Other Lands

United States: Fouling the Air

On August 6, 2012, a massive fire at the Chevron’s Richmond refinery in California sent 15,000 people to local hospitals for respiratory problems. In Richmond, like in so many other places throughout the world where Chevron operates, it hurts communities on the ground and harms the atmosphere above.

Residents said six months of organic planting were lost in one large plume of toxic smoke bellowing from the Chevron refinery.

The fire was caused by a burst pipe that had thinned out by corrosion which was made worse by the refinery’s continued operation for two hours after the leak was discovered and workers debated what to do about it. The incident prompted the California division of Occupational Safety and Health to slam Chevron 11 willful violations. It found that Chevron disregarded obvious hazards including one the company itself recommended for immediate action, a burst pipe dating back to 2002.

After years of carrying the weight of the pollution from the Chevron refinery, in 2013 Richmond residents filed a lawsuit against Chevron, seeking unspecified damages not for compensation for rescue operations and environmental damages from the fire incident, but for what it calls a pattern of abuse, and a stigma that the refinery has created for Richmond and its people.

While announcing the law suit last year, Mayor of Richmond, Gayle McLaughlin said: “Richmond has been moving forward in a very strong progressive direction in recent years…We’ve really been on the cutting edge of environmental initiatives in terms of what the city can do. A fire like the one that happened stops us in our tracks.”

The refinery established in 1902 sprawls across five square miles of Richmond’s shoreline

Disputes between Chevron and Richmond residents date back decades. Local environmental justice networks blocked a refinery expansion plan in 2009, and the city and oil giant have sparred over millions of dollars in property taxes with a series of competing lawsuits. But the Aug. 6 fire opened a new chapter in this story.

Having no way to wriggle, when the case was called up for hearing, the company pleaded no-contest to six misdemeanor charges stemming from that fire regarding labor standards and negligent discharge of pollutants. It was fined $1.28 million, another $575,000 in compensation to agencies that responded to and investigated the incident, in addition to a $145,000 contribution to a local job training program. The company is also paying out tens of thousands of medical claims to locals sickened by the fire, totaling in the millions. Another $145,600 in air quality fines levied earlier this year was just another drop in the bucket.

Residents of Richmond however feel that the fines were like a slap in the wrist judging by the company’s profits. In 2012, it was second only to Exxon Mobil in top U.S. profits, raking in $26.2 billion.

Ecuador: Pollution and Intimidation Tactics

In 2001 while drilling for oil in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest region, Chevron deliberately dumped billions of gallons of toxic wastewater into rivers and streams, spilled millions of gallons of crude oil, and abandoned hazardous waste in hundreds of unlined open-air pits littered throughout the region. The result is massive and widespread devastation of the rainforest ecosystem and indigenous communities in what has been adjudged one of the worst environmental disasters in history.

Chevron's toxic contamination of their soil, rivers, streams and groundwater caused the local indigenous campesino communities to suffer an epidemic of cancer, miscarriages, birth defects and other ailments.

Following outcry from the locals, Chevron did not carry out any meaningful clean-up of the mess it is responsible for, and its infrastructure continues to poison the communities of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Today, more than 30,000 Ecuadorians are fighting for justice with an international campaign and a landmark class action lawsuit in Ecuadorian courts. Despite Chevron's repeated efforts to sabotage the trial, the local people have remained determined to hold Chevron accountable, demanding clean-up costs and compensation for the devastation the company caused. To intimidate the impacted communities and their plaintiffs, Chevron employed 60 law firms and 2,000 legal professionals, systematically depleting the locals’ resources, intimidating experts and witnesses, and discrediting individuals involved in the suit.

The case was adjourned several times and suffered several set-backs. In 2011, the plaintiffs obtained a $19 billion judgment against Chevron for environmental damages -- one of the largest class-action rulings ever. The amount was later scaled down to $9.5 billion.

But trust Chevron not to give in.

Rather than continuing to fight in Ecuador, the company brought a civil suit in the United States, arguing that the plaintiffs in Ecuador had masterminded an international criminal conspiracy to land cash. Chevron alleged that Donziger, a party in the suit blackmailed and bribed Ecuadorian judges. This is true to type with Chevron’s style and a throwback to what one of its spokespersons, Donald Campbell told the Global Post in 2009. In his words “Chevron will fight this (case) until hell freezes over — and then we’ll fight it out on the ice”

Romania: Fracking Is the Issue

Chevron is set to press ahead with fracking – a technology that uses hydraulic fraction to extract gas from rocks.  Thousands of Romanians continue to protest Chevron’s plan to explore for shale gas in eastern Romania. Environmentalists and community groups from the country say the technique to extract the gas by fracking, poses serious threats that include contaminating groundwater and triggering earthquakes. Fracking is dangerous -- when you light a match to a tap linked to a water source that is nearby a fracking site, you can cause a fire.

In 2013 Chevron suspended activities in the site where it planned to embark on shale gas venture following protests in the rural Pungesti commune.  Hundreds of protesters, mainly villagers from Pungesti, broke through wire mesh fences around Chevron’s site to protest against its plans to drill for shale gas. The protests lasted nonstop for more than six weeks until police forcefully dislodged the protesters. A day after on December 8, 2013 Chevron said it has resumed activities to build its first shale gas exploration well in Romania.

That incident was the second time that Chevron was forced to suspend its activities. The company has insisted it will go ahead.

Argentina: Sleazy Deals

A FEDERAL appellate court in Argentina has ordered a criminal investigation into the approval of a billion-dollar deal between the Argentina government and Chevron to produce oil and gas by hydraulic fracturing in the world's third-largest shale deposit. 

The Argentine President Cristina Fernandez is accused of abusing her power and harming the environment by issuing a decree last year that facilitated the deal.

Chevron announced its first substantial investment in Argentina's Vaca Muerta shale deposit the day after Fernandez lowered currency and tax restrictions on investors that spend at least $US1 billion ($A1.08 billion) in the oil sector.

Environmentalists accuse the Cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich of becoming Chevron’s mouthpiece as the insists the Chevron deal with state oil company YPF was transparent and constitutional. He accuses environmentalists of wanting Argentina to return to a pre-industrial society without cars or planes.