Ecuadorian Abuelita Takes Down Chevron

Oil giant Chevron was ordered by an Ecuadorian judge to pay $9.5 billion in fines and damages after decades of polluting parts of that country where María Aguinda and her family live. She recounts countless wrongs and damages, deaths of family members, that are attributable to pollution by Texaco and Chevron in her home.

“Mary Aguinda et al” are the opening words of the suit launched in 1993 on behalf of 30,000 residents of Orellana and Sucumbios provinces, in which they charge Texaco dumped billions of gallons of toxic crude during its operations, fouling rivers, lakes and soil and causing cancer deaths in indigenous communities.

Aguinda said she believes her husband and two of his 10 children died from effects of the pollution, which rights group Amazon Watch says has affected an area the size of the US state of Rhode Island.

Several of her family members “have skin problems, like fungus,” Aguinda said as she lifted her granddaughter’s foot off the dirt floor to show an outbreak on her leg…

A strong petroleum smell permeates Rumipamba, home to nine families, some of whom complain of headaches. Several areas of Sucumbios are also contaminated, according to the plaintiffs, who argue that merely sinking a shovel into the ground yields a thick layer of crude.

The suit was seeking $27 billion in damages, but Chevron has called the $9.5 billion judgement “illegitimate and unenforceable,” which is ridiculous, considering that Chevron pulls in billions upon billions every quarter in pure profits. This is a classic David-and-Goliath story, Aguinda and her fellow Quechua won this round, but Chevron and its high-powered lawyers will probably find a way around it, leaving her and her family knee-deep in toxic crude.

Follow Sara Inés Calderón on Twitter @SaraChicaD