Indigenous Woman Helped Slap Judgment on Chevron

ECUADOR

In a landmark case of David-and-Goliath, indigenous villager Maria Aguinda (61), despite lack of legal training or even of ability to speak Spanish, helped bring a judgment of $9.5-billion fine against the American oil giant Chevron for polluting the rain forest she calls home. She lives in Rumipamba, a town in remove Orellana province where pollution caused by 30 years of oil drilling and petroleum accidents had become a sad fact of life. Her home sits near marshes clogged for decades in sticky oil wastes of then Texaco, which operated in teh area from 1964 to 1990. When Chevron bought Texaco in 2001, it inherited Texaco's legal nightmare.

Mary Aguida et all filed a suit in 1993 on behalf of 30,000 residents of Orellana and Sucumbios provinces, in which they charged Texaco for dumping billions of gallons of toxic crude duirng its operations, fouling rivers, lakes and soil and causing cancer deaths in indigenous communities.

Aguida believes her husband and two of his 10 children died from effects of the pollution, which has affected the size of Rhode Island.

The court last week announced a penalty against Chevron of $8.6 billion plus an additional 10 percent for environment management costs. [Full Report]