Not much of a diary, but news summary nonetheless.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Near the contaminated Santa Fe River is Lago Agrio, a town founded as an oil camp in the 1960s. Way back in 1973, villagers had sued Texaco for leaving a mess.
Monday’s award against Chevron “is one of the largest judgments ever imposed for environmental contamination in any court,” said David M. Uhlmann, University of Michigan.
Ten percent of the damages go right away to the plaintiffs:
http://www.texacotoxico.org/...
A Chevron spokesman, Kent Robertson, says Chevron will appeal and will not pay the damages.
Almost lost in the various disputes related to the lawsuit is the fact that Chevron and plaintiffs have agreed that oil exploration contaminated what had been largely undeveloped swaths of Ecuadorean rainforest.
For more on the appeal: http://www.businessweek.com/...
Chevron’s Ecuador Judgment May Be ‘Unenforceable,’ Analyst Says
Updated by CupofTea at Tue Feb 15, 2011, 02:43:07 AM
Correction made: I had quoted $9 billion. The sum is $8 billion.