Chevron: Ecuadorian plaintiffs withdraw in Canada a lawsuit against the company
Residents of the Ecuadorian region of Lago Agrio have been trying to force Chevron to pay for water and soil contamination between 1964 and 1992 caused by Texaco, which Chevron acquired in 2001
A protester holds up a sign as he demonstrates against Chevron's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) trial in New York, October 15, 2013/ REUTERS/ Carlo Allegri
Reuters | Ricardo Figueroa
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Chevron said on Monday that Ecuadorian plaintiffs dropped a lawsuit against the company in Canada seeking to pay a US $ 9.5 billion contamination ruling issued by an Ecuadorian court, adding that they agreed to pay court costs.
Leer en español: Chevron: querellantes ecuatorianos retiran en Canadá una demanda en su contra
Residents of the Ecuadorian region of Lago Agrio have been trying to force Chevron to pay for water and soil contamination between 1964 and 1992 caused by Texaco, which Chevron acquired in 2001.
The villagers won a trial against Chevron in Ecuador in 2011, a ruling that sparked a legal saga between local communities and the US oil company. The company has no assets in the country, so they have been trying to sue it in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Argentina to enforce the decision.
"Chevron is pleased, because the promoters of a fraudulent plot have apparently realized that no legitimate court will apply a decision they bought in Ecuador," said the vice president and general counsel of the firm, R. Hewitt Pate, in a statement.
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"Chevron will continue its efforts to hold accountable the lawyers and investors behind this fraudulent scheme," he added.
In September of last year, an international court unanimously ruled that the contamination ruling issued by an Ecuadorian judge against Chevron "was obtained through fraud, bribery and corruption and was based on claims that the Republic of Ecuador had already resolved and solved years before".
