Introduction
For more than thirty years, Chevron Company has been making profits from the oil production but people of Ecuador have been suffering from the effects of this company. The company has been drilling oil in Ecuadorian Amazon between 1964 to 1990. In 2001, Chevron merged with Texaco in which they dumped a lot of toxic waste which was hazardous to the environment without considering the wellbeing of the people living around. The practices that the company was not friendly to the environment and above all they were again the laws of the land. This company subjected the environment to a lot of pollution through oil spillage.
The accumulation of oil waste and spillage on the environment led to pollution of the ground water, soil and water streams. This further made people suffer from cancers of various kinds as well as birth complications and even miscarriages. Chevron could not consider cleaning the environment or even disposing the waste in the right manner. The accumulation of oil waste depositions led to damage of the rainforest. In the rainforest, the company left open pits without covering them up. These oil waste deposits leaked into water bodies as well as water especially when it rains leading to water pollution which in turn led to a lot of diseases to the people who lived around that place. The waters of River Oriente were heavily polluted the oil spillage and deposits. This situation led a public crisis in relation to health because this pollution led to many death cases as a result of cancer. Citizens were also exposed to skin diseases and rashes .The land lives of [people were at risk. This contaminated water posed a threat to marine life because the water was hot and at the same time it contained oil which suffocates the organisms in the water bodies.
Over years of battle, the citizens filed a case against the oil company in 1993 and it refilled in 2003.Successive rulings followed in 2011 and 2012, where the ruling was made and the citizens won the case. The company was fined charges worth 19 billion US Dollars for the purposes of cleaning the mess that they left behind, providing clean water to residents as well as healthcare provisions. The outcome of this case was a warning to many of the oil companies to be careful on how they handle the environment and natural resources. The companies are no longer at liberty of abusing human rights sand welfare then escape punishment. The company was sued for polluting the rainforest and water sources. The company was also charged of causing detrimental health effects to the people of Ecuador. The company was supposed to clean the environment and compensate the Ecuadorians for the damages they suffered from these environmental hazards.
The Ecuadorians were compensated for the health bills which were as a result environmental pollution. This was rightful for the citizens because they suffered a lot of cancers and miscarriages due to oil pollution. The citizens were also to be compensated for clean water for consumption because their water sources were polluted by the oil spillage. The Chevron Company was supposed to cater for rehabilitation costs of the landscape and water sources they contaminated. The company was therefore entitled to pay for all the expenses in order to bring the environment to a better condition.
Reference
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKOS0Fwk4LU
