Ecuador: Plaintiffs “faked” reports says Chevron

Was the evidence collected against Chevron in a multibillion dollar Ecuadorian environmental damages case fraudulent? The oil giant believes so and this week its lawyers launched its latest salvo against the South American country’s investigators.

According to Chevron one of the “technical experts” whose testimony was used against the firm suddenly retracted his claims. In 2004 U.S. biologist Charles W. Calmbacher made inspections of oil sites and reports were written in his name backing the plaintiff’s claims that Texaco illegally dumped contaminated oil in the Amazon. Yet in a deposition submitted last week he claimed that those “studies” were falsely submitted under his name. "The trial in Ecuador has been tainted from the outset," partly due to the "faked" reports said one Chevron lawyer in a press release by the company.

A statement by the Amazon Defense Coalition, which represents the plaintiffs, expressed “bewilderment” at Calmbacher’s this development:

"Dr. Calmbacher clearly agreed to have his signature placed on materials, including reports, that were to be submitted to the court, and he acknowledged he was actively reviewing the reports with our local, technical team," the statement said. "We are bewildered, frankly, at his testimony."

In the meantime, the Ecuadorian government said that it would appeal against a recent arbitration decision in favor of Chevron. "We are going to look to nullify this monstrosity," President Rafael Correa said days after a tribunal ruled that Ecuador violated international law.

Image- Huffington Post
Online Sources- The Latin Americanist, San Francisco Gate, MarketWatch, Reuters, NASDAQ