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ENVIRONMENT
Oxy Faces Lawsuit Threat Over Amazon Toxins
By Emad Mekay
WASHINGTON, May 4, 2007 (IPS) - Indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon
are warning the U.S. oil giant Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) that it could
soon face a lawsuit in the United States if it fails to clean up toxic
waste in their tropical rainforest.
A new report charges that Oxy's operations for three decades on the border
between Peru and Ecuador have caused indigenous Achuar children to suffer
from high concentrations of lead and cadmium in their blood, believed to
cause serious developmental problems.
Previous studies by the Peruvian government have made similar findings.
"We have told Oxy this week that they must talk with us in good faith
about how they are going to clean up the toxic waste they left in our
rainforest," said spiritual elder Tomas Maynas Carijano, one of the
potential plaintiffs. "We have waited too long already."
"If Oxy doesn't respond satisfactorily and soon, I along with other Achuar
are prepared to sue them for the damages they have caused us," he added.
A spokesperson for the Los Angeles-based company contested the allegations
and told IPS that Oxy is not aware of any health problems as a result of
its operations. He also said that Oxy hasn't had active operations in the
region since late 1999.
The new developments come as the company held its shareholder meeting on
Friday. Two Achuar leaders, including Carijano, attended.
The other envoy is Andrés Sandi Mucushua, who leads the Federation of
Native Communities of the Corrientes River, the main Peruvian group
representing the 12,500-member Achuar community.
"My people are sick and dying because of Oxy. The water in our streams is
not fit to drink and we can no longer eat the fish in our rivers or the
animals in our forests," Sandi said in a statement.
The main arguments the Achuars are using for a possible legal action are
based on a report by the environmental groups EarthRights International
(ERI), Amazon Watch, and the Peruvian legal non-profit Racimos de
Ungurahui, which studied Oxy's operations.
The company began drilling for oil in the area in 1971. The field, near
the Ecuadorian border, later became Peru's largest onshore oil field
complex, eventually producing approximately 42 percent of Peru's oil.
In 2000, Occidental sold its interests in the field to an Argentinean
company, Pluspetrol.
But the report alleges that during its 30 years of operations, Oxy
over-emphasised cost-cutting measures that eventually led to a deliberate
use of sub-standard technology and caused a lingering contamination of
Achuar territory that has lasted until today.
The 30-page report says that Oxy's activities "fell far short of the
accepted industry standards" throughout the course of their operations.
It says the company employed out-of-date practices in the Corrientes River
basin and employed methods long outlawed in the U.S. For example, it used
earthen pits to store drilling fluids, crude oil and crude byproducts.
These were pits dug directly into the ground and were open, unlined and
without protective barriers. They often overflowed onto the ground and
into surface waters and leached into the surrounding soil and groundwater,
says the report.
The company also allegedly dumped an average of 850,000 barrels per day of
toxic oil byproducts from the extraction process, known as "produced
waters", directly into rivers and streams used by the Achuar for drinking,
bathing, washing and fishing.
The company also caused periodic oil spills.
"The Achuar communities live with Oxy's legacy of harm, which consists of
extreme pollution of their lands and waterways, disruption of their
ability to fish, hunt, and raise crops, and persistent health problems,
including widespread lead and cadmium poisoning," says the report.
It says that in total, Oxy dumped nine billion barrels of untreated
"formation waters", a byproduct of the oil drilling process containing a
variety of toxins and carcinogens, directly into the Achuar's unspoiled
tropical rainforest territories.
Richard S. Kline of Oxy told IPS that his company had sold its interests
to Pluspetrol, an Argentinean corporation that has assumed full
responsibility for the past and current operations. He added that all
operations were approved and monitored by the Peruvian government.
A copy of the report released Thursday by the environmental groups is yet
to be submitted to the company for review, he said.
"We have no scientific data of any negative health impacts," Kline said.
"If there's any scientifically credible report or analysis, we'd certainly
like the opportunity to review and evaluate it and we are open to dialogue
and discussion."
Activists contested this, saying the company needs to clear its name and
that its past record doesn't auger well for the future.
"Oxy's history of disregard for the law and for the most basic human
rights of the Achuar is appalling," said Atossa Soltani, executive
director of Amazon Watch.
"Oxy needs to move decisively and rectify its past mistakes by cleaning up
its toxic mess and helping the Achuar deal with their health problems.
Otherwise this scandal could haunt Oxy for years to come with negative
publicity and potential legal actions," she said.
(END)
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