ChevronTexaco Seeks Dismissal of Claim
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ChevronTexaco Corp. sought the dismissal of a claim to pay as much as $1 billion to clean up environmental damage to the Amazon as a court in Ecuador took up the case.
The company is accused by 46 Ecuadoreans of dumping about 18 billion gallons of toxic petroleum byproducts during drilling and exploration in the rain forest from 1971 to the early 1990s.
Legal representatives for the San Ramon, Calif.-based company appeared before a judge in Lago Agrio to ask that the case be dismissed. The U.S. Court of Appeals threw out a similar case last year, saying it should be tried in Ecuador.
ChevronTexaco said it would argue that the plaintiffs hadn’t presented enough evidence to merit the judge’s consideration and that Ecuador’s government signed off on the company’s $40-million cleanup of the pollution.
ChevronTexaco shares fell 4 cents to $74.27 on the New York Stock Exchange.
From Bloomberg News
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