back to home

back to index for this section

See also other materials on "Environment & human rights"

See also section of this website entitled "Lawsuits against companies"

Examples of lawsuits related to environmental/human rights issues:

general:

2003:

EU assembly tells polluters to pay debts to nature - The European Parliament approved a bill on Wednesday that would force companies to pay to clean up the mess they create in nature. (Robin Pomeroy, Reuters, 14 May 2003)

Suit Says ChevronTexaco Dumped Poisons in Ecuador - A group of American lawyers representing more than 30,000 indigenous people in Ecuador filed a $1 billion lawsuit against the ChevronTexaco Corporation yesterday. The suit was filed in Ecuador on behalf of 88 plaintiffs in Lago Agrio, a small oil town in northern Ecuador, and asserts that during two decades of operation, from 1971 to 1992, ChevronTexaco dumped over four million gallons a day of toxic wastewater, contaminated with oil, heavy metals and carcinogens into open pits, estuaries and rivers. It also says the company left behind nearly 350 open waste pits that killed people and animals. (Abby Ellin, New York Times, 8 May 2003) 

• Ecuadorean Indians sue Texaco -...They are also alleging the company's activities have led to an increased risk of cancer among the local population. ChevronTexaco rejects the allegations and says the company met all its obligations under Ecuadorean law. (BBC News, 8 May 2003)

• U.S. lawyers take US$1 billion lawsuit against ChevronTexaco to Ecuador - A decade after unsuccessfully filing in U.S. courts, American lawyers representing poor Ecuadoreans who say their rainforest homeland was destroyed by a U.S oil company took their claim to Ecuador Tuesday. (Gonzalo Solano, Associated Press, 7 May 2003)

• Case in Ecuador Viewed As Key Pollution Fight - U.S. Legal Team Suing ChevronTexaco - Legal experts say it could be a groundbreaking case, establishing a new way for environmental activists to force multinational corporations to pay for what activists say is environmental devastation. (Brooke A. Masters, Washington Post, 6 May 2003)

2 Companies Said to Agree to Settle Suits on Emissions [USA] - Alcoa and Archer Daniels Midland have agreed to settle federal air pollution complaints by upgrading smelters and other factories at a cost the government estimates at $700 million (Jennifer Lee, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2003)

• EPA, Cos. Settle Clean Air Violations [USA] - The New York Times reported on its Web site Tuesday night that the agreement has been reached with Alcoa and Archer Daniels Midland. The EPA would not confirm the identities of the companies due to a confidentiality agreement. (Associated Press, 8 Apr. 2003)

Blacks join to dump harmful waste sites [USA] - They say a form of 'racism' puts facilities that process hazardous materials in their communities. -...Like Baker, citizens in many poor, black communities around Alabama and the South in recent years have fought companies that have located pollution-spewing industrial plants, hazardous landfills and waste incinerators near homes and schools. Known as "environmental racism," the practice of locating such toxic operations near politically powerless blacks has been stymied by emerging citizen groups. [refers to lawsuits against chemical plant in Anniston, Alabama - defendants were Monsanto, Solutia, Pharmacia; also refers to Waste Management Inc, Shintech Inc] (Dave Bryan, Associated Press, 6 Apr. 2003)

Jury rules Solutia owes $3.6M to Alabama plaintiffs [USA] - Solutia must pay more than $3.6 million to six people whose property was damaged by Solutia's production of PCBs, an Alabama jury ruled Friday...More than a year ago, the jury found Solutia, then Monsanto, liable for knowingly contaminating Alabama homes and bodies with PCBs, known carcinogens. More than 3,500 residents of Anniston had sued both companies. (St. Louis Business Journal, 4 Apr. 2003)

• Jury Awards $3.6 Million in Solutia Case [USA] -...The company's stock has been plummeting. (Associated Press, 4 Apr. 2003)

Suing over climate change - The debate over global warming is gaining a new dimension: litigation. The vast numbers affected by the effects of climate change, such as flooding, drought and forest fires, mean that potentially people, organisations and even countries could be seeking compensation for the damage caused. (BBC News, 3 Apr. 2003)

Colonial Pipeline to pay $34 mln for oil spills [USA] - Colonial Pipeline Co., the nation's largest petroleum products pipeline, agreed to pay a record $34 million to settle a government investigation into a series of oil spills that fouled water in seven states, the U.S. Justice Department said this week. (Reuters, 3 Apr. 2003)

Tanzania orders destruction of toxic transformers - The Tanzanian parliament has ordered the removal of electrical equipment containing highly toxic polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) from Dar es Salaam International Airport. The order reflects growing concern about the alleged 'dumping' of harmful or outdated products by industrialised countries in Tanzania. The equipment, consisting of 12 transformers, was installed in the airport in 1984 by the French company, Bouygues, that built the airport...some members of parliament have alleged that Bouygues knew that the transformers were prohibited at the time that they installed them, and are considering filing for compensation. (Deodatus Balile, SciDev.Net, 19 Mar. 2003)

• company website: Bouygues

BP faces record fine for spoiling Los Angeles air [USA] - BP is facing a record $320m (£200m) pollution fine and allegations that the oil company submitted false documentation to air quality control regulators (Terry Macalister, Guardian [UK], 14 Mar. 2003)

• California air agency sues BP for $319 mln over tanks (Reuters, 14 Mar. 2003)

• BP accused of violations in California - California environmental officials have, in a $319m lawsuit, accused BP, the world's second biggest energy company, of violating air pollution rules and lying in reports to regulators. The South Coast Air Quality Management District is also probing alleged violations by ExxonMobil and ChevronTexaco, but has yet to decide whether to file suit because it has not finished its investigations (Carola Hoyos & Sheila McNulty, Financial Times, 13 Mar. 2003)

Reps Order Shell to Pay Ijaw $1.5b Compensation [Nigeria] -...the House of Representatives has ordered Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Nigeria Limited to pay the sum of US$1.5 billion to Ijaw Aborigines of Bayelsa State as compensation for the untold hardship and environmental devastation it has brought the Ijaws since 1956. The House of Representatives issued this directive to Shell (SPDC) following the recommendation of a-four-man advisory legal panel which it set up to consider the petition filed by Ijaw Aborigines against Shell. (Lemmy Ughegbe, Vanguard [Nigeria], 12 Mar. 2003)

Pollution agency seeks $319 million from BP Arco [USA] - The South Coast Air Quality Management District filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking more than $319 million in damages from BP Arco for alleged violations of emissions standards. (Associated Press, 12 Mar. 2003)

Lion Oil Reaches Clear Air Settlement With Government [USA] - The U.S. Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday said they had reached a comprehensive Clean Air Act settlement with Lion Oil Co. to reduce harmful air emissions from the company’s El Dorado refinery by 1,380 tons per year. (Arkansas Business, 12 Mar. 2003)

Factory fined RM20,000 for discharging effluents [Malaysia] - An electronics factory here was today fined RM20,000 by the Sessions Court for discharging effluents above the permissable levels into Sungai Melaka. (A. Hafiz Yatim, New Straits Times, 10 Mar. 2003)

Toyota settles US Clean Air Act suit for $34 mln [USA] - Toyota Motor Corp has pledged to improve anti-pollution controls on old, publicly owned buses that were not made by Toyota as part of a $34 million package to settle a Clear Air Act lawsuit, the U.S. Justice Department said..."With this bus retrofit action, our nation's school children will be breathing less of the small particles that can cause lung and respiratory damage," said EPA Administrator Christine Whitman. (Deborah Charles, Reuters, 10 Mar. 2003)

Heavy fines loom for pollution cover-ups [state of Western Australia] - New laws aimed at people and businesses who do not report contaminated sites will be debated in the Legislative Assembly this week. (Steve Butler, West Australian, 10 Mar. 2003)

United States Settles Clean Air Act Case Against Toyota - The Department of Justice and the Environment Protection Agency finalized a settlement of the government's lawsuit against Toyota Motor Corporation for Clean Air Act violations involving 2.2 million vehicles manufactured between 1996 and 1998. Under the settlement, Toyota will spend $20 million on a supplemental environmental project to retrofit up to 3,000 public diesel fleet vehicles to make them run cleaner and extend the emission control system warranty on affected vehicles. In addition, Toyota will accelerate its compliance with certain new emission control requirements, and pay a $500,000 civil penalty. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 7 Mar. 2003)

EU proposes criminal penalties for sea polluters - Ships that pollute the ocean by flushing out their tanks at sea would be subject to criminal sanctions, including jail sentences those responsible, under a draft law proposed this week by the European Commission. (Reuters, 7 Mar. 2003)

• {···français} Bruxelles propose des sanctions pénales pour les "pollueurs des mers" (Le Monde, 5 mars 2003)

{···español} PCB en las calles Plantenses [Argentina] - La Defensoría Ecológica de La Plata denunció ayer a la empresa de energía eléctrica Edelap por la utilización de transformadores con la sustancia tóxica PCB luego de que el viernes pasado vecinos de Gonnet presentaran un reclamo ante el organismo en donde afirmaban que por lo menos 10 personas, en una cuadra del barrio donde viven 15 familias, contrajeron diversos tipos de cáncer por la contaminación ambiental. (Página/12 [Argentina], 6 marzo 2003)

report: Development Disasters: Japanese-Funded Dam Projects in Asia - This report features case studies of six exisiting or proposed dam projects funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). JBIC-funded dam projects in Asia have been fraught with problems, which have led to serious and unmitigated social, environmental and economic impacts, affecting hundreds of thousands of people. [refers to dam projects in Indonesia (Koto Panjang Dam: refers to lawsuit by local people in Indonesia against Tokyo Electric Power Services Co., JBIC & Japanese govt.), Philippines (San Roque Multipurpose Project: refers to San Roque Power Corp., consisting of Marubeni, Kansai Electric & Sithe Energies), Thailand, China, Malaysia] (Rivers Watch East and Southeast Asia, International Rivers Network and Friends of the Earth, Mar. 2003)

Environmental Groups Sue EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] for Weakening Clean Air Act - Charge Bush administration’s new source review changes illegal - The Bush administration’s changes to a key provision of the Clean Air Act is illegal and will dramatically increase air pollution, threatening the health of millions of Americans, according to a lawsuit filed today by Earthjustice on behalf of a coalition of environmental and public health groups. (Earthjustice, 28 Feb. 2003)

Erin Brockovich firm to sue over Beverly Hills oil -...a lawsuit against the city of Beverly Hills and three oil companies for allegedly ignoring cancer-causing toxic gases leaking from oil wells on the Beverly Hills High School grounds. Masry told Reuters the lawsuit would be filed within a month in Los Angeles Superior Court against the city, the school district and Occidental Petroleum Corp., ChevronTexaco Corp. and privately held Venoco Inc. of Carpinteria, California, on behalf of more than 80 cancer patients who are former students, teachers or school employees. (Gina Keating, Reuters, 25 Feb. 2003)

Plastics industry loses out -...When chemicals companies Solvay and EVC decided to sue us in 1997, they were following in a long corporate tradition of using money and the courts to silence critics...Solvay and EVC were suing over our campaign to prevent poisonous PVC plastic being used in children's toys...In Italy the two companies sued us for damage to their image, reputation and for illegal claims. They also maintained "production of PVC and PVC products do not harm the environment". However the judge threw out all claims of the industry and ordered the companies to pay the legal costs. (Greenpeace, 20 Feb. 2003)

BP gas field 'ravaged the rainforest' - The oil giant's green credentials take yet another battering as its subsidiary is sued in the US courts - In a court action launched in the US state of Delaware earlier this month, BP has been accused of despoiling a 70,000- acre area of largely virgin Argentinian rainforest earmarked for a "sustainable" hardwood harvesting project. (Severin Carrell, Independent [UK], 16 Feb. 2003)

GE acts to prove PCB case [USA] - Company commissions studies to disprove harm to river that could be cited in damage claims - Anticipating a multimillion-dollar state and federal lawsuit for damages caused by the PCBs it discharged into the Hudson River, the General Electric Co. is continuing what some consider a series of pre-emptive studies to disprove scientific evidence that could be used against the company. (Erin Duggan, Times Union [USA], 6 Feb. 2003)

N.J. fighting Ohio polluters [USA] - The McGreevey administration announced Friday that it is dispatching a pair of deputy attorneys general to Ohio to help argue a federal case charging Ohio Edison Co. with polluting New Jersey's air and damaging the health of state residents. (Jack Kaskey, PressofAtlanticCity.com, 1 Feb. 2003)

NGO to sue Singapore over sand imports [Indonesia] -...Since sand dredging started in 1979 [in Indonesia], coral reefs have been destroyed and fishing has suffered. So far around 500 million cubic metres of sand have been exported for land reclamation projects in Singapore...In 2001, Bisnis Indonesia reported that Dutch, Japanese and German companies had been contracted by Singapore to procure sand for reclamation projects. (Down to Earth Newsletter, Feb. 2003)

Logging Pollution Damages North Coast Watersheds [USA] - Accelerated logging has polluted some 85 percent of the waters in California's North Coast region, uprooted protected redwoods and damaged private property, but state officials continue to permit logging companies to avoid complying with environmental regulations. California environmentalists are fighting back with lawsuits (Environment News Service, 29 Jan. 2003)

United States Reaches Settlement with Koppers Industries To Settle Scores of Environmental Violations - Koppers Industries, Inc. agreed to pay the United States $2.9 million to resolve allegations of numerous violations of several environmental regulations at many of the company’s U.S. facilities [Koppers makes coke and coal tar, and engages in wood-preserving] (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 16 Jan. 2003)

Enviros Temperature Rising - Amid growing anger among environmentalists over the record and intentions of President George Bush, three major U.S. environmental groups announced in December that they are suing his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for failing to curb global warming. The lawsuit by the Sierra Club, Greenpeace, and the International Center for Technology Assessment (CTA) charges the EPA with violating the 1977 Clean Air Act by failing to limit air pollution caused by automobiles that "may reasonably be anticipated to endanger public health or welfare." (Jim Lobe, Third World Network Features/Inter Press Service, in Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2003)

2002:

W.R. Grace to take $20 million charge for lawsuit [USA] - Bankrupt chemical maker W.R. Grace & Co. (GRA.N) on Monday said it would take a $20 million charge in the fourth quarter to account for potential liabilities relating to a government lawsuit seeking recovery costs for environmental cleanup at Montana mining sites. (Reuters, 27 Dec. 2002)

Court puts Exxon Valdez punitive damages at $4 bln [USA] (Reuters, 10 Dec. 2002)

Global Funds Tell Union Carbide To Settle Bhopal Gas Leak Claims - A group of international investor funds which includes Trillium Asset Management, Domini Social Investments and the Calvert Group (together managing a combined asset value of $13 billion) have advised Union Carbide to settle claims of economic, health and environmental liabilities of over $500 million (Rs 2,500 crore) stemming out of the Bhopal gas leak...A letter has been sent jointly by a group of funds to the Dow Chemical Company, which took over Union Carbide in 2001 along with all its assets and liabilities. (Ajay Jain, Financial Express [India], 5 Dec. 2002)

Negligence caused Bhopal disaster: Report - Negligence by Union Carbide and not sabotage was responsible for the Bhopal gas disaster, the British journal New Scientist said on Thursday basing its conclusion on documents just released in the United States. (Times of India, 5 Dec. 2002)

Argentine court orders Shell to clean up spill - mayor - An Argentine court ruled that Royal Dutch Shell Group must pay an estimated $10 million to clean up damage from a 1999 oil spill, the mayor of the city which filed the suit said. (Reuters, 25 Nov. 2002)

Companies Will Pay for Polluting New Jersey Water [USA] - Nineteen polluters will together pay a total of $3 million to compensate the state of New Jersey and East Hanover Township for contamination of the local drinking water supply...The settling parties are: Voltronics Corporation; G & F Management; Vincent and Irene Muccione; Viscot Industries, Inc.; MCE/KDI Corporation; Colgate-Palmolive Company; Deforest Investment Co. L.L.C.; Philomena Gasparine; Estate of Sylvio Gasparine; Prime Fabricators, Inc.; Township of East Hanover; Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation; Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation; Dorine Industrial Park Partnership; Precision Rolled Products, Inc.; Phelps Dodge Corporation (f/k/a Cyprus Amax Mineral Company); GTE Operations Support Incorporated; Ingersoll-Rand Company and Royal Lubricants Company, Inc. (Environment News Service, 25 Nov. 2002)

ExxonMobil deflects critics with $100m green donation - ExxonMobil, the biggest publicly quoted oil group in the world, yesterday wrongfooted green activists by announcing plans to invest $100m (£63m) into a project organised by Stanford University to tackle global warming...Exxon has joined up with General Electric and Schlumberger to provide $225m funding over 10 years to lead a search for solutions to global climate and energy needs. (Terry Macalister, Guardian [UK], 21 Nov. 2002)

US court refuses to dismiss Vectren pollution case - An Indiana judge refused to dismiss a federal lawsuit against Vectren Corp. that accuses the utility of failing to install costly anti-pollution equipment at its aging coal-fired plants. (Reuters, 4 Nov. 2002)

US, Solutia revise deal for faster PCBs clean up [USA] - The clean up of dangerous PCB chemicals from a former Monsanto Co. plant in Alabama will begin two years sooner than previously planned as part of a revised settlement...The revised terms of the settlement, which also involves Solutia Inc. and Pharmacia Corp., call for the Environmental Protection Agency instead of the companies to assess the risk to human health from the contaminated site (Reuters, 24 Oct. 2002)

Activists bring their complaints home to Taiwan - DISPUTE: US workers for plants owned by Taiwan's Koo's Group are angry and they have brought their grievances across the Pacific to Koo's doorstep - Hundreds of labor and environmental activists from 16 countries yesterday protested in front of the Taiwan Cement Corp building in Taipei to urge the Koo's Group to solve disputes involving one of its subsidiaries in the US. The protesters claim that Koo's Group's Continental Carbon Co violated environmental protection and labor rights laws [in USA] (Chiu Yu-Tzu, Taipei Times, 10 Oct. 2002)

US top court rejects appeal over cyanide poisoning - The U.S. Supreme Court let stand this week the conviction of an Idaho fertilizer company's owner and his 17-year prison sentence, the longest ever for an environmental crime, for improper disposal of hazardous cyanide waste that left an employee with permanent brain damage. (Reuters, 9 Oct. 2002) 

EPA, Justice announce Minnesota ethanol settlement - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Justice Department this week announced a settlement with 12 Minnesota ethanol plants for alleged Clean Air Act violations (Reuters, 4 Oct. 2002)

Iscor faces court action on pollution - A South African High Court has begun hearing an application by families seeking a court order to stop giant steel producer Iscor from allegedly polluting their underground water sources. (Reuters, 2 Oct. 2002)

Shell faces litigation - Fourteen individual plaintiffs filed a class action suit [in a U.S. court] against Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport, plc, on September 20 for alleged human rights abuses in Ogoniland, Nigeria...the complaint alleges that Shell knowingly instigated, planned and facilitated in unprovoked attacks by the former Nigerian military government against the unarmed residents of Ogoniland, resulting in murder and gross human rights abuses. (Tomorrow: Your sustainable business toolkit, 26 Sep. 2002)

• Berger & Montague, P.C. Files Class Action Complaint Against Royal Dutch Petroleum and Shell Transport, p.l.c. - Shell is charged with purchasing ammunition and using its helicopters and boats and providing logistical support for "Operation Restore Order in Ogoniland" a military foray into Ogoniland designed to terrorize the civilian population into ending peaceful protests against Shell's environmentally unsound oil exploration and extraction activities in Ogoniland. (Berger & Montague, 23 Sep. 2002)

Alaska villagers sue Teck Cominco over pollution [USA] - Residents of Kivilina, an Inupiat Eskimo village on Alaska's northwestern coast, sued Teck Cominco Ltd. , charging the company with 2,171 federal water-pollution violations at its Red Dog Mine, the world's largest zinc producer. (Yereth Rosen, Reuters, 23 Sep. 2002)

South Africa: Gagging order lifted - Pollution row goes to open court -...The residents of Vanderbijlpark's Steel Valley say the giant Iscor steel producer - Africa's largest - has polluted their water, degraded their environment and brought sickness to their families for forty years - and they want compensation for their plight. (Index on Censorship, 19 Sep. 2002)

Green groups sue US agencies over global warming - Environmental groups filed a lawsuit this week against two U.S. government agencies for financing the overseas projects of American energy firms while ignoring the effects those deals have on global warming and the environment. (Reuters, 29 Aug. 2002)  

• USA: Export Agencies Sued Over Global Warming - Two environmental groups and the city of Boulder, Colo., plan to file a lawsuit today charging two federal agencies with contributing to climate change through their financing policies. Friends of the Earth, Greenpeace and the city said they are filing the suit in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on behalf of "members and citizens who are victims of global warming." The action is against the Export-Import Bank, an independent federal agency that helps finance the sale of U.S. exports, and the Overseas Private Investment Corp., which provides government- backed insurance and loans to help U.S. businesses compete in emerging markets. (Washington Post, 27 Aug. 2002)

US blocks move to give powers to those threatened by multinationals: Poor countries seek redress over firms' damage - The United States is blocking human, environmental and freedom of information rights from being enshrined in the earth summit's plan of action in order to protect multinational companies from litigation and protests by the poor. The EU and developing countries such as Thailand, Uganda and Indonesia believe that giving communities the right to take on companies that pollute their environment and damage their health is fundamental to the aims of the summit. (Paul Brown, Guardian [UK], 29 Aug. 2002)

Chinese activists take to the courts: Nascent 'green culture' is challenging authorities - and being heard - In the three years since he set up an environmental hotline, Wang Canfa [Director of the Beijing-based Center for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims] has heard thousands of heartbreaking horror stories from people who have seen their health or livelihoods imperiled by industrial pollution. (Ted Plafker, International Herald Tribune, 28 Aug. 2002

Senior Judges Adopt Ground-Breaking Action Plan to Strengthen World's Environment-Related Laws: World Summit on Sustainable Development Given Pioneering Principles for Fighting Poverty and Delivering Environmental Justice - An action plan to strengthen the development, use and enforcement of environment-related laws has been drawn up by over 100 of the world's most senior judges...Experts are convinced that the worldwide effort to crack down on pollution, challenge environmentally damaging developments and comply with agreements covering issues such as hazardous wastes and the trade in endangered species have been undermined partly as a result of weaknesses in many countries legal systems [includes text of The Johannesburg Principles on the Role of Law and Sustainable Development adopted at the Global Judges Symposium held in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 18-20 August 2002] (U.N. Environment Programme, 27 Aug. 2002)

• Judges pledge to champion environment - Lawyers from around the world promise a crackdown on developers who pollute - A panel of 127 senior judges from 62 countries admitted yesterday that many of the international laws designed to protect the environment and save species from destruction were "paper tigers" which had not been properly enforced. The panel which convened at the Johannesburg earth summit pledged to improve environmental law across the world and champion the poor in a battle for a better environment as part of their duty to defend human rights. (Paul Brown, Guardian [UK], 28 Aug. 2002)

Korean shippers admit to years of oil dumping - A consortium of Korean shipping companies has admitted that its freighters sailing between Alaska and Asia illegally dumped oily waste at sea for years and will pay a $5 million fine, U.S. federal officials said. (Yereth Rosen, Reuters, 26 Aug. 2002)

Amazon Indians lose appeal of Texaco case ruling - Rainforest Indians of Ecuador and Peru have lost an appeal aimed at reinstating nine-year-old litigation against Texaco, alleging that toxic dumping devastated their environment and exposed residents to cancer-causing pollutants. The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday affirmed a trial court's ruling dismissing two class-action lawsuits on grounds that the United States was not the proper place for the litigation, and that Ecuador would be a more convenient location. (Gail Appleson, Reuters, 21 Aug. 2002)

CLIMATE CHANGE: Firms, Investors Fret Over Costs, Liability -...the Times [New York Times] reported that companies are likely to face huge costs from climate change and could be sued by governments, investors and others if they fail to protect themselves against warming-related risks...Companies such as DuPont, BP and Ford have begun addressing climate change risk in annual reports and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filings, and Dow says it is set to release a social responsibility report in which it charts its greenhouse gas emissions reductions for the first time. The Times reports that Swiss Re is considering denying coverage to firms that do not address the problem (UN Wire, 19 Aug. 2002)

{···français} Un pipe-line sème maladies et pollutions en Amazonie - En Équateur, l’oléoduc «El sote» est une catastrophe de 500 kilomètres de long. Gigantesque serpent de métal, le Système d’oléoduc transéquatorien (SOTE) a été construit dans les années septante sous l’impulsion de la Texaco. Depuis 1993, la compagnie américaine est poursuivie en justice par les communautés amérindiennes de l’Équateur, mais aussi du Pérou, pour pollution grave de la forêt amazonienne. Le verdict sera rendu cet automne. (Le Courrier [Genève], 9 août 2002)

PACE Intl Union Files Federal Lawsuit Against Continental Carbon over Violations of Environmental Laws in Oklahoma [USA] - The Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union (PACE) today filed a lawsuit against Houston-based Continental Carbon Company. The company is majority owned by Taiwan-based China Synthetic Rubber Company and Taiwan Cement Corp. The federal lawsuit...charges Continental Carbon with past and continuing violations of federal hazardous waste laws through the unsafe, improper and unauthorized operation of its Ponca City carbon black plant in Kay County, Okla. (Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union, 23 July 2002)

Jury clears Exxon Mobil of additional Valdez costs [USA] (Yereth Rosen, Reuters, 19 July 2002)  

Shadows of 'that night': the struggle for justice for Bhopal - A letter from Indra Sinha, pleading for justice for the victims of the Union Carbide gas disaster in India. (New Internationalist, 12 July 2002)

Cooper Cameron says sued over water contamination [USA] - Cooper Cameron Corp. said this week that it had been sued by a resident of Houston over contamination of underground water. The Houston-based maker of valves and other equipment for the oil and gas industry (Reuters, 11 July 2002)

The Enforcement of Environmental Law from a Human Rights Perspective (Romina Picolotti & Sofia Bordenave, CEDHA - Center for Human Rights and Environment, July 2002)

• {···español} La Justiciabilidad del Derecho Ambiental desde una Perspectiva de Derechos Humanos (Romina Picolotti y Sofía Bordenave, CEDHA - Centro de Derechos Humanos y Medio Ambiente, julio 2002) 

Corporate Human Rights -...For several years, a small group of lawyers and labor advocates has been trying to hold transnational companies responsible for their actions by suing them in the United States for abetting and/or benefiting from human rights abuses overseas. [refers to lawsuits against Unocal, Shell, Texaco, Rio Tinto, Coca-Cola, Del Monte, DynCorp, Drummond Company, ExxonMobil] (David Corn, The Nation, 27 June 2002)

Thompsons set to help SA's asbestosis victims [South Africa] - Thompsons Solicitors, the UK's largest personal injury practice specialising in representing claimants who have contracted work-related illnesses, has thrown its weight behind SA workers suffering from asbestos-linked diseases...Ntulinoble & Spoor has already registered a large number of claimants and issued 36 summonses...on behalf of workers who had previously worked at African Crysotile Asbestos and what the attorneys described as controlling companies, including Gencor, Msauli Asbestos (Msauli) and Hanova Mining. (Business Day [South Africa], 10 June 2002)

California jury finds companies liable for MTBE pollution: A San Francisco jury has found three energy companies [Shell Oil Co., Lyondell Chemical Co., Tosco Corp.] liable for polluting Lake Tahoe's drinking water with MTBE...The San Francisco Superior Court jury also found that Shell Oil Co. and Lyondell Chemical Co. hid information about the potential dangers (Reuters, 19 Apr. 2002)

Three oil firms lose MTBE suit [USA]: A jury holds them responsible for Lake Tahoe well pollution -...Jurors also found that Shell and Lyondell Chemical Co. of Houston, the largest domestic manufacturer of MTBE, acted with "malice" in failing to warn consumers that the chemical posed an extraordinary environmental hazard. (Chris Bowman, Sacramento Bee, 17 Apr. 2002)

Dow Shall Be Liable [India] - More than 500 survivors of the Union Carbide 1984 gas leak from Bhopal protested outside the Dow headquarters in Mumbai, accusing the Michigan-based company of double standards and racism (Darryl D'Monte and Nityanand Jayaraman, CorpWatch India, 8 Apr. 2002)

Inco ordered to clean up polluted properties [Canada]: Inco Ltd. was ordered last week to clean up 25 homes polluted by its nickel refinery in Port Colborne, Ontario, in an ongoing dispute that has pitted the mining giant against angry residents of the small town on the shores of Lake Erie. (Jeffrey Hodgson, Reuters, 2 Apr. 2002)

Shell on Trial in the Niger Delta: This week multinational Shell Petroleum Development Corporation settled one of two major cases brought against them by local peoples suffering the consequences of their operations in the Niger Delta. [settlement of lawsuit for alleged damage to Ogbodo community caused by oil pipeline explosion; also refers to ongoing lawsuit on behalf of the relatives of Ogoni environmental activist Ken Saro Wiwa and eight others who were publicly executed in Nigeria after speaking out against environmental degradation caused by Shell operations in 1995] (Cultural Survival, 1 Apr. 2002)

{···español} Mapuches demandan a Repsol [la empresa Repsol-YPF] por 445 millones [Argentina]: Presentan hoy ante el juzgado federal un reclamo civil por esa suma (en dólares) a raíz los daños producidos por la explotación de hidrocarburos. (Diario Río Negro [Argentina], 27 marzo 2002)

US reaches cleanup deal at Alabama PCBs site:...Under the settlement, Solutia and Pharmacia have agreed to continue the emergency cleanups of area residences that are the worst contaminated. (Reuters, 26 Mar. 2002) 

Ship officers indicted in Alaska dumping case [USA]: A captain and two chief engineers of cargo vessels that shipped frozen seafood from Alaska have been indicted for alledgely scheming to dump oil and sludge from their ships, Department of Justice officials said last week. (Reuters, 25 Mar. 2002)

Toxic Trade? A Canadian chemical firm says California's pollution controls violate NAFTA rules...In Santa Monica...the groundwater is poisoned... a pollutant has leaked from the underground tanks of gasoline stations. The culprit: methyl tertiary butyl ether...As lawsuits against 18 oil companies drag on, California has ordered a phaseout of the chemical, and a dozen other states have followed suit...METHANEX, the Canadian company that makes a key ingredient of MTBE, is challenging California's ban under the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement. (Margot Roosevelt, Time Magazine, 25 Mar. 2002)

United States announces intent to lodge settlement for comprehensive study of PCB contamination in Anniston, Alabama: Agreement ensures continued, immediate cleanup of worst-contaminated residential areas - The Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced its intent to lodge on Monday, March 25, 2002, a comprehensive environmental settlement with Solutia Inc., and Pharmacia Corporation, to investigate and address the serious polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) contamination in Anniston, Ala. (U.S. Justice Department, 22 Mar. 2002)

Government and Ferro Corporation settle Clean Air Act claims [USA]: Company violated new source review at its former flame retardant manufacturing operations - The Justice Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the state of Indiana, and the city of Hammond, Ind. today jointly entered into a $3 million settlement of claims against Ferro Corporation for the company's violations of the federal and state "new source review" provisions of the Clean Air Act (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 18 Mar. 2002)

{···español} Instancia decisiva en litigio con la Texaco [Ecuador]: La justicia de Estados Unidos deberá fallar esta semana sobre la procedencia de una demanda iniciada en 1993 por indígenas de Ecuador contra la compañía petrolera ChevronTexaco, a la que acusan de contaminar la selva amazónica. (Danielle Knight, Inter Press Service, in La Hora [Ecuador], 17 marzo 2002)  

Settlement talks in Alabama pollution case fail - WSJ [USA]: The Alabama Supreme Court ordered a halt to settlement talks in a lawsuit against Solutia Inc. , Monsanto Co. and Pharmacia Corp. after a judge threatened to jail company executives, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. (Reuters, 15 Mar. 2002)

U.S. and Boise Cascade reach Clean Air Act settlement...Air pollution to be reduced by 95 percent [USA]: The U.S. Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced a comprehensive Clean Air Act (CAA) agreement with wood products industry giant Boise Cascade Corporation that will require reductions of up to 95 percent of the harmful emissions from the company's eight plywood and particle board plants. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 13 Mar. 2002)

Ecuador Amazon Indians appeal Texaco-case ruling: Rainforest Indians of Ecuador and Peru urged a U.S. appeals court to reinstate nine-year-old litigation against Texaco, alleging that toxic dumping devastated their environment and exposed residents to cancer-causing pollutants (Gail Appleson, Reuters, 13 Mar. 2002)

Rainforest Indians [from Ecuador] in New York for major showdown with Chevron-Texaco: Billions at stake as tribal leaders press groundbreaking lawsuit before Appeals Court - Assert Texaco ruined their rivers and land, destroying their centuries-old way of life...and dramatically increased the risk of cancer for tens of thousands of people. (Frente para la Defensa de la Amazonia, 11 Mar. 2002)

Shell to Stand Trial for 1990s Human Rights Abuses in Nigeria: A U.S. Federal Court rejected Shell's plea to dismiss a case charging the company with human rights abuses in Nigeria dating back to 1995. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 8 Mar. 2002)

{···español} TC define caso Texaco [Ecuador]: La suerte del juicio que los colonos e indígenas amazónicos plantearon en contra de la petrolera Texaco desde 1993 por perjuicios al medio ambiente en una corte de la ciudad de Nueva York, se definirá en los próximos días en el Tribunal Constitucional. (La Hora [Ecuador], 7 marzo 2002)

Lawsuits may be next weapon in climate change fight: Lawsuits may become the next weapon against climate change as impotent, tiny islands, sinking beneath the waves, seek revenge on the rich polluting nations and multinational concerns they accuse of wiping them out...Australia and the United States could possibly be challenged in the International Court of Justice for not ratifying Kyoto...An alternative avenue might be the U.S. alien tort claims act, which could allow Pacific islands to sue car makers, power station operators or oil firms for pollution. (Michael Christie, Reuters, 6 Mar. 2002)

• US says Kyoto no help to sinking isles (Paul Tait, Reuters, 6 Mar. 2002) 

Lawsuit Against Shell for Human Rights Violations in Nigeria to Proceed: A U.S. Federal Court has ruled that a civil lawsuit [Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.] charging multinational oil giant Shell with complicity in human rights violations will go forward. (EarthRights International, 5 Mar. 2002)

Carbon plant union files lawsuit [USA]: The union that represents workers at the Continental Carbon plant filed a notice of intent to sue this week against the company, alleging violations of environmental regulations that jeopardize worker safety...The union alleges that Continental Carbon [which converts carbon black oil, a byproduct of oil refining, into carbon black, which is used in tires and plastic products] handles and disposes of hazardous waste without proper permits or procedures to protect workers or the local environment. (Greg Cunningham, Amarillo Globe-News [USA], 1 Mar. 2002)

Ecuador hopes for settlement in ChevronTexaco case: Ecuador's attorney general said this week he is fighting to help indigenous groups settle a nine-year-old lawsuit charging that water contamination by oil giant Texaco Inc. caused more than $120 million in damages and injuries. (Manuela Badawy, Reuters, 28 Feb. 2002)

Judge urges settlement in Alabama PCB cases [USA]: Fresh off a jury's verdict that a chemical company poisoned an Alabama town with PCBs for decades, a judge pushed hard for an agreement Monday to resolve thousands of remaining claims. Circuit Judge Joel Laird ordered nine top executives of Monsanto Co., its spinoff Solutia Inc., and Pharmacia Corp. to attend a meeting with lawyers Saturday to discuss settling the cases and avoid more lengthy trials. (Jay Reeves, Associated Press, 26 Feb. 2002)

Petrobras to appeal $180 mln oil spill ruling: Brazil's state oil giant Petrobras said last week it would appeal a $180 million court award to fishermen following a major oil spill in Rio de Janeiro's scenic bay in January 2000. (Reuters, 25 Feb. 2002)

Jury decides against Monsanto, Solutia in PCB case [USA]: An Alabama jury last week ruled against Monsanto Co. and Solutia Inc. in a case seeking to repay property damages resulting from production of dangerous chemicals several decades ago (Philip Klein, Reuters, 25 Feb. 2002)

Jury finds Monsanto liable for releasing tons of PCB [USA] - Firm covered up pollution for more than 40 years: An Alabama jury has found that Monsanto Co. engaged in "outrageous" behavior by releasing tons of polychlorinated biphenyl into the city of Anniston and covering up its actions for decades, handing 3,500 local residents a huge victory in a landmark environmental lawsuit. (Michael Grunwald, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2002)

Chinese turn to law to right pollution wrongs:...Nearly 100 peasant families had their livelihoods stripped from them after toxic chemicals dumped in the Shiliang river in 1999 and 2000 by a private paper factory reached the reservoir...They won - albeit on paper so far - compensation of 5.6 million yuan thanks to a non-governmental organisation (NGO), the Centre for Legal Assistance to Pollution Victims, which gathered evidence and represented them in court. (Tamora Vidaillet, Reuters, 5 Feb. 2002) 

Ecuador, Defending the Amazon (Peter Lippman, The Advocacy Project, Feb. 2002)

chapters include:

• Legal Issues: The Right to Consultation and the Texaco Lawsuit

PCB Pollution Suits Have Day in Court in Alabama [USA: lawsuits against Monsanto and Solutia filed by a total of 25,000 plaintiffs] - In the first two weeks of testimony, the plaintiffs' lawyers have established through Monsanto memorandums that the company was aware of the level of its discharges and that it at least partly understood the risks as early as the mid-1960's, if not earlier. But it did not begin improving pollution controls until 1970 (Kevin Sack, New York Times, 27 Jan. 2002)

Waste Company Fined £17,000 for Offences at Arpley [UK]: Warrington Magistrates’ Court today fined 3C Waste Limited £17,000 after the company admitted three offences at its Arpley landfill site in Warrington. (Environment Agency [UK Government], 21 Jan. 2002)

Cambridgeshire welding company prosecuted [UK]: The company pleaded guilty to treating, keeping or disposing of controlled waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health. (Environment Agency [UK Government], 21 Jan. 2002)

Companies [home building company and drainage cleaning company] fined for polluting Leeds beck [UK] (Environment Agency [UK Government], 18 Jan. 2002)

'Appalled' Magistrates fine company [a waste management company] £20,000 and praise Environment Agency [UK] (Environment Agency [UK Government], 18 Jan. 2002)

US utility pollution lawsuits detailed: The U.S. Justice Department said this week it would continue to prosecute seven lawsuits filed by the Clinton administration against coal-fired utilities which allegedly expanded old plants without installing new air pollution controls [companies sued were FirstEnergy Corp, Duke Energy Corp, Vectren Corp's Southern Indiana Gas & Electric Co, Dynegy Inc's Illinois Power, Cinergy Corp, American Electric Power Co and Southern Co] (Reuters, 17 Jan. 2002)

• Bush admin won't drop utility pollution lawsuits:...green groups said it was a hollow victory because the emissions law is likely to be relaxed in the future (Chris Baltimore, Reuters, 17 Jan. 2002) 

Suffolk Business [Suffolk Proteins Limited] prosecuted for watercourse pollution [UK] (Environment Agency [UK Government], 16 Jan. 2002)

Settlement Reached on Air Pollution Lawsuit in California's San Joaquin Valley: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency agrees to end its years of neglect -...EPA’s lengthy period of neglect of air quality planning has particularly grave consequences in San Joaquin Valley, whose residents suffer from high rates of respiratory diseases, while big agricultural interests and the oil industry have repeatedly stymied the local Air District from making progress. (Earthjustice, 15 Jan. 2002)

Asbestosis victims take Gefco to court in quest for justice [South Africa] (Ronnie Morris, Business Report [South Africa], 15 Jan. 2002)

• Gefco faces potential lawsuit landslide: The first of possibly several hundred summonses for damages against Griqualand Exploration and Finance Company (Gefco), a Gencor subsidiary, for asbestos-related illnesses was issued by the high court in Johannesburg last week. (Ronnie Morris, Business Report [South Africa], 14 Jan. 2002)

UK payout for asbestosis victims: British-based multinational Cape plc is expected to pay a first tranche of £21-million (about R336-million) in June to a trust set up to aid sufferers from asbestos-related diseases in South Africa. (Brendan Seery, Independent [South Africa], 12 Jan. 2002)

Air's bad, neighbors say; company denies polluting:..Residents [in 3 communities of southwest Detroit, USA]  have filed a joint lawsuit against the company [National Steel Corp.], alleging it is polluting their neighborhoods. (Dan Shine & Shawn Windsor, Detroit Free Press, 11 Jan. 2002)

NY sues 2 power firms over air pollution rules: New York state officials said on Thursday they have filed a federal lawsuit against Niagara Mohawk Holdings, Inc. and NRG Energy, Inc. alleging violations of the Clean Air Act at two coal-burning power plants in western New York (Reuters, 11 Jan. 2002)

Californian court to hear chromium lawsuits [claims of chromium poisoning] against PG&E (Reuters, 10 Jan. 2002)

Attorneys Allege Bush Fails as an Environmental Defender [USA]: In the first year of George W. Bush's presidency, environmental protections have taken a back seat to industry concerns, according to attorneys who represent environmental groups in court. (Environment News Service, 8 Jan. 2002)

South African Asbestos Victims Settle With Cape: British-based multinational to pay €33.8m/$30.2m (ICEM - International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, 8 Jan. 2002)

• Asbestosis victims to get first of £21m compensation cash by June (Jacquie Motsoatsoe, Business Report [South Africa], 8 Jan. 2002)

The Big Ugly at Ok Tedi:  In an extraordinary move, the Papua New Guinea (PNG) government has passed legislation that prevents any government agency from taking or supporting “in any way” proceedings against the mining multinational BHP-Billiton “in respect of an environmental claim” over damage caused by the Ok Tedi mine. (Bob Burton, editor of Mining Monitor, in Multinational Monitor, Jan./Feb. 2002)

• company website: Ok Tedi Mining (OK Tedi Mining Limited)

Groups file pollution suit against Alcoa in Texas: Environmental and public interest groups filed suit yesterday against Alcoa Inc. , the world's biggest aluminum producer, alleging violations of the Clean Air Act by the company's smelter in Rockdale, Texas (Reuters, 27 Dec. 2001)

• Groups sue Alcoa over decades of Texas air pollution: Smelter charged with releasing thousands of tons of illegal air pollutants known to be harmful to public health (Neighbors for Neighbors, Environmental Defense & Public Citizen, 26 Dec. 2001)

• Suit seeks halt to Alcoa emissions: Company has said Central Texas smelter complies with law (Randy Lee Loftis, Dallas Morning News, 27 Dec. 2001)

• full text of complaint: Environmental Defense, Neighbors for Neighbors, Inc. and Public Citizen, Inc. vs. Alcoa, Inc. (26 Dec. 2001)

Cape to compensate South Africa asbestos miners: Building materials firm Cape Plc reached a conditional deal last week to pay 21 million pounds ($30 million) to South African miners who blame it for asbestos-related diseases they contracted in the 1970s. (Rex Merrifield, Reuters, 24 Dec. 2001)

• Victory for South African asbestos claimants: Cape plc, who mined asbestos in South Africa for several decades, has today finally agreed to a compensation settlement of £21 million for the thousands of South African asbestos victims. (ACTSA [Action for Southern Africa], 21 Dec. 2001)

Manchester Man Admits Guilty in Lead Poisoning Case [USA]; Plea to Forging Lead Hazard Disclosure Documents is Precedent Setting: A Manchester, N.H. [New Hampshire] man and his company [JTA Real Estate Brokerage and Property Management] pleaded guilty in federal court today in connection with a lead poisoning case involving the death of a two-year-old girl...The case...is the first case in the nation in which a corporation has been criminally prosecuted for failing to provide federal LBP [lead-based paint] disclosure information to residential tenants. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 19 Dec. 2001)

Workers Sue Philips Lighting [USA]: Hundreds of former light bulb factory workers who say they were exposed to mercury, arsenic and other toxic chemicals sued Philips Lighting Co. and several other companies Tuesday...The previous owners - Westinghouse Electric Corp., which opened the factory in 1941, and its successor, Viacom Inc. - are named as co-defendants, along with West Virginia chemical suppliers Chem Quick, Par Chem, Blue Ribbon Paint Co. and Charleston Valve and Fitting Co. (Vicki Smith, Associated Press, 18 Dec. 2001)

United States Announces $11.2 Million Settlement of Hazardous Waste Case Against Exxon Mobil (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 13 Dec. 2001)

North Carolina oil refinery, three individuals indicted [for alleged conspiracy to discharge oil into the Cape Fear River in violation of the Clean Water Act] (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 13 Dec. 2001)

California cattle ranch, owner, foreman plead guilty [to violating Clean Water Act; defendants admitted to discharging cattle waste without proper permits and dumping dead cattle carcasses into Elder and Willow Creeks] (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 13 Dec. 2001)

Blow to asbestos claimants: Britain's Court of Appeal ruled on Tuesday that people suffering from asbestos-related diseases will not receive compensation if they were exposed to the mineral fibres by more than one employer. But the ruling does not affect the claims by South Africans against Cape PLC. (News24.com [South Africa], 13 Dec. 2001)

Outrage At Png Attempt To Give BHP A Royal Farewell [Papua New Guinea]:...After permitting the company to dump 80,000 tonnes of waste a day into the Fly and Ok Tedi river system since 1984 BHP has now been given a final gift from the PNG National Government - an unrestricted legal indemnity for all the pollution and destruction it has already caused and will occur in the future as result of the continuing operation of its Ok Tedi mine. It has precipitated an unprecedented constitutional challenge by former PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare. (Mineral Policy Institute and PNG NGO Environmental Watch Group, 12 Dec. 2001)

• company website: Ok Tedi Mining (OK Tedi Mining Limited)

Connecticut company to pay $3 million for water violations [USA]: MacDermid Inc., a chemical manufacturer in Waterbury, Conn., pleaded guilty to four felony violations of the Clean Water Act (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 6 Dec. 2001)

Hungary claims $100 mln over cyanide river spill [lawsuit against Aurul, a gold smelter half-owned by Australia's Esmeralda Exploration Ltd] (Krisztina Than, Reuters, 4 Dec. 2001)

Litigation Update: A Summary of Recent Developments in U.S. Cases Brought Under the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Protection Act [includes updates on human rights-related lawsuits against Unocal, Chevron, Royal Dutch/Shell, Southern Peru Copper Corporation, Rio Tinto, Union Carbide, Pfizer, various U.S. apparel retailers & manufacturers of clothing produced in Saipan factories, Gap, Talisman Energy, Coca-Cola, Texaco, DynCorp, ExxonMobil] (Jennifer Green [staff attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights] and Paul Hoffman [civil rights attorney and editor of ACLU International Civil Liberties Report], in ACLU International Civil Liberties Report 2001 [American Civil Liberties Union], Dec. 2001)

House aims to put cap on asbestos liability [USA]: Pennsylvania's House of Representatives approved legislation Tuesday that limits the asbestos liability of the Philadelphia-based Crown Cork & Seal Co., which employs 1,000 Pennsylvanians, including about 267 in Fayette County. State House Republican leader John Perzel of Philadelphia claimed the company could go bankrupt because of asbestos lawsuits. (Dennis Barbagello, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, 21 Nov. 2001)

Vaal residents claim Iscor poisoned them [South Africa]: Residents of two tiny agricultural plots in Vanderbijlpark, an industrial town in the Vaal Triangle, will square up to iron and steel giant Iscor in the Johannesburg High Court early next week. (Khadija Magardie, Mail & Guardian [South Africa], 16 Nov. 2001)

Exxon Valdez ruling frustrates Alaska plaintiffs: Plaintiffs in the 12-year court battle over the nation's worst oil spill say they are frustrated that the case will continue to drag on now that an appeals court has struck down the landmark $5 billion punitive fine assessed for the Exxon Valdez oil disaster. (Yereth Rosen, Reuters, 12 Nov. 2001)

Exxon Valdez appeals ruling stuns Alaskans: Exxon Mobil Corp.'s reprieve this week from a $5 billion punitive fine stunned and angered Alaskans who had sued the energy giant for punitive damages from the 1989 Valdez oil spill disaster (Yereth Rosen, Reuters, 9 Nov. 2001)

US court rules $5 bln Exxon Valdez award excessive: A federal appeals court yesterday overturned a $5 billion punitive damages award against Exxon Mobil Corp. in the worst oil spill in U.S. history - the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster - and ordered a district court to set a new, lower amount (Andrew Quinn, Reuters, 8 Nov. 2001)

Statement of Carl Pope [Sierra Club Executive Director] Regarding Court Ruling $5 Billion Exxon Valdez Award Excessive [USA]:..."A high punitive fine is necessary for one of the world's largest corporations that acted in an irresponsible fashion. Exxon harmed the environment and threatened the livelihood of Alaskans" (Sierra Club, 7 Nov. 2001)

Montedison to pay 525 bln lire pollution settlement [Italy]: Agro-energy conglomerate Montedison has agreed to pay 525 billion lire ($245.5 million) to clean up environmental contamination at a chemical plant near Venice...The settlement was disclosed a day after 28 former executives of Montedison, and its two units Enimont and Enichem were acquitted of manslaughter charges in the cancer deaths of 157 workers at the Petrochimico factory in Marghera, in northern Italy. (Reuters, 5 Nov. 2001)

• Italy court clears chemical firms in cancer trial: An Italian court cleared 28 company managers last week of charges ranging from manslaughter to environmental damage brought after more than 250 workers died or fell ill at plants producing a toxic chemical...Environmental groups reacted to the ruling with fury and some of the dead workers' relatives yelled "assassins" after the verdict was read out in a packed north Italian court room...the court ruled that the dead workers had contracted the illness before 1973, when the dangers of VCM [vinyl chloride monomer] were first known. It said fewer than 10 of them had died of liver cancer, which doctors link to exposure to VCM. (Reuters, 5 Nov. 2001) 

Illinois scrap smelter to shut doors-trade sources [USA]: Chemetco Inc., a privately held secondary copper refiner, is planning to close its smelter in East Hartford, Illinois and file for Chapter 11, according to market sources...Another source familiar with the situation said she understood that Chemetco's problems with toxic-waste dumping was it's ultimate undoing. In October last year, a federal judge fined Chemetco $3.8 million for installing a secret pipe and illegally dumping hazardous metal-filled water into a local creek for a decade. (Carole Vaporean, Reuters, 5 Nov. 2001)

Court orders Freeport to clean up its act [West Papua]: WALHI, Indonesia's leading environmental organisation, has scored a landmark victory in its court case against copper and gold miners PT Freeport Indonesia [Freeport, which denies the charges, will appeal.]  Meanwhile, militarisation is being intensified at the mine, as the Indonesian security forces pledge to protect it from alleged threats from "separatist groups". (Down to Earth Newsletter, Nov. 2001)

• comments by Freeport-McMoRan:

  • Freeport in Irian Jaya (Papua): A Summary of Recent Issues - August 17, 2001 (Freeport-McMoRan)

  • Issues & Answers: Legal Issues (Freeport-McMoRan)

Gasoline blenders face prison for dirty fuel: Executives at a Texas-based gasoline blending company face up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines after pleading guilty to falsifying test results on anti-smog fuel, the [U.S.] Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said last week (Reuters, 22 Oct. 2001)

French judge probes TotalFinaElf on Erika oil spill: French oil company TotalFinaElf is to be placed under judicial investigation over the sinking of its oil tanker Erika, which caused huge marine and coastal pollution in 1999, the company said this week. TotalFinaElf said French judge Dominique de Talance had told the company she intended to investigate accusations that it failed to take the necessary action to avoid the accident and for complicity in deliberate violation of safety rules...TotalFinaElf rejected the accusations, saying it was not warned the ship was unsafe and therefore the security lapse was not its fault. It also said maritime authorities, not the company, should have worked to limit pollution. (Reuters, 18 Oct. 2001)

Outrage as Premier wins court case in Pakistan: Premier Oil have survived round one in their contest with environmentalists to explore for gas in Kirthar National Park, Pakistan. The Sindh High Court has dismissed the legal challenge brought by local campaigners and Friends of the Earth International because the relevant wildlife laws were dramatically weakened while the case was being considered. But Pakistani environmentalists have questioned whether Premier Oil were behind the sudden legal amendment made by the Pakistani authorities, and they are now planning to take the case to the Supreme Court in Islamabad - the highest court in the land. (Friends of the Earth, 5 Oct. 2001)

• company website: Premier Oil - Values

Pakistan court rejects petition vs Premier Oil: A Pakistani court yesterday rejected a petition against a decision to award Britain's Premier Oil Plc a gas exploration licence in the country's largest national park, a court official said...It [the national park] has protected areas of great scenic beauty and ecological importance, as well as being home to the rare urial sheep, ibex and chinkara gazelle and around 20,000 tribal people...Premier has vowed to work within strict environmental guidelines, including using camels for transport where there are no existing tracks, and says its project will generate income and employment in an arid, poverty-stricken area. (Reuters, 5 Oct. 2001)

Text of class action complaint against DynCorp in U.S. court [download]: "The claims in this action arise from the DynCorp Defendants' conduct in connection with the implementation of their contract with agencies of the U.S. government to exterminate, by use of fumigants sprayed from airplanes, plantations of cocaine and/or heroin poppies in large tracks of the Colombian rainforest owned by private citizens of Colombia. During the course of implementing this contract, Defendants also sprayed large sections of Ecuador that border with Colombia, and caused severe physical and mental damage to Plaintiffs, their children, and other similarly situated lawful residents of Ecuador who have nothing whatever to do with the production of illegal drugs in Colombia." (International Labor Rights Fund, 25 Sep. 2001)

Environment: Ecuadorians file U.S. suit over Plan Colombia - Ecuadorian Indians are taking legal action in federal court here, charging that a U.S. company that was contracted to carry out fumigation of illicit crops in neighboring Colombia recklessly sprayed their homes and farms, causing illnesses and deaths, and destroying crops. U.S.-based attorneys representing 10,000 individuals living in the Amazon rainforest near the border with Colombia filed a class action complaint against Virginia-based DynCorp Corporation in federal court here Sep. 11. A DynCorp spokesperson said the company has not been notified about the complaint and declined to comment further. (Inter Press Service, 21 Sep. 2001)

China children sue factory over chemical leak: More than 400 elementary school children rushed to hospital after a chemical leak in April are suing a plastics factory in southeastern China, state media reported yesterday (Reuters, 21 Sep. 2001)

Dofasco shares fall 8 pct on environmental charges [Canada]: Shares in Dofasco Inc. closed down 8 percent yesterday after the Ontario Environment Ministry said the steel producer faced three charges related to a wash oil spill last year that may harm the quality of water in Hamilton Harbour near Toronto. (Reuters, 20 Sep. 2001)

Energy-Industry's Links to Regulators, Administration Worry Environmentalists [USA]: Is the Bush administration plotting to drop lawsuits against electricity generators accused of polluting the air in violation of the Clean Air Act? (James V. Grimaldi, Washington Post, 10 Sep. 2001) 

4 major oil firms settle MTBE cleanup suit: S.F. judge presses 4 others to reach similar agreements - Four of the nation's largest oil companies agreed in court yesterday to clean up MTBE contamination in California caused by leaking gasoline storage tanks or face contempt of court penalties. The settlement, which will cover approximately 700 contaminated sites owned by Chevron, Shell, Texaco and Unocal since 1994, was signed in San Francisco Superior Court and could result in an outlay of millions of dollars in company cleanup costs...Superior Court Judge Stuart Pollak, who approved the settlement yesterday, praised it as a "sensible, very imaginative solution to the problem." But four oil companies -- ARCO, Exxon, Mobil and Tosco -- declined to settle the suit, and Pollak strongly urged them to meet with the court mediator to reach a similar agreement. (William Carlsen, San Francisco Chronicle, 21 Aug. 2001)

Limits on British Columbia log exports challenged: A lawsuit has been filed against restrictions on whole log exports from private forests in Canada's largest timber-producing province, setting the stage for a new battle between the industry, its unions and environmentalists. (Allan Dowd, Reuters, 2 Aug. 2001)

Sweden's "green crime" triples: Crimes against the environment in Sweden have tripled in the last three years, with scant response from police, public prosecutors said yesterday. (Reuters, 1 Aug. 2001) 

Fires spread haze over borders [Indonesia]:...Satellite imagery helped show that the 1997/8 fires were mostly located in the concessions of plantation and timber companies. But almost no action has been taken against them. Of five companies reported to the Attorney General for starting fires last year, only one company has been successfully processed, according to Environment Minister Sonny Keraf. (Down to Earth Newsletter, Aug. 2001)

Environmentalists sue to halt federal clean water violations by Pacific Lumber Co. in Northern California: Charging that Pacific Lumber Company is illegally dumping pollution and violating the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Information Center ("EPIC") filed a federal lawsuit today in the United States District Court to challenge logging operations in one of the most imperiled watersheds on California's North Coast. (Earthjustice and Environmental Protection Information Center, 25 July 2001)

• company website: Pacific Lumber Company - Protecting the Environment (Pacific Lumber Company)

Landmark victory for public health & the environment [USA]: Court Rules EPA [Environmental Protection Agency] Regulations For Hazardous Waste Burners Inadequate - Earthjustice today secured a landmark victory for public health and the environment pertaining to critical clean air standards. In its ruling today, the United States Court of Appeals struck down as inadequate and unlawful EPA regulations for incinerators and cement kilns that burn hazardous waste. Earthjustice filed suit on behalf of the Sierra Club in 1999 to challenge the EPA regulations. (Earthjustice, 24 July 2001)

Earthjustice Lawsuit Demands EPA Compliance with Congressional Mandate [USA]: Challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s own failure to comply with the Clean Air Act, Earthjustice today filed the sixth of seven lawsuits against EPA on behalf of Sierra Club. Today’s lawsuit addresses EPA’s failure to report to Congress on its own progress -- and that of the States -- in implementing the Clean Air Act’s air toxics provisions. (Earthjustice, 23 July 2001)

Unchecked incinerator pollution underscores pervasive problem: Toxic Emissions from Many Categories Remain Uncontrolled - While the Environmental Protection Agency flounders with a dysfunctional regulation program for air toxics, unchecked pollution threatens Americans’ health. To address EPA’s regulatory lapse, Earthjustice filed today the fifth of seven lawsuits against EPA on behalf of Sierra Club. (Earthjustice, 20 July 2001)

Earthjustice lawsuit challenges EPA's failure to crack down on supertoxins: EPA [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] Fails to Protect Americans from Worst of Toxic Air Pollutants - Continuing to stress the need for stronger and timelier implementation of clean air safeguards, Earthjustice today filed the third of seven lawsuits challenging the federal government’s chronic failure to protect Americans from the health hazards of toxic air pollution. Representing Sierra Club, Earthjustice is filing one lawsuit each day for a week, to compel EPA to do its job. Today’s lawsuit focuses specifically on supertoxins – dioxins, PCBs, and mercury as well as four other pollutants that Congress singled out for especially careful regulation. (Earthjustice, 18 July 2001)

Earthjustice lawsuit challenges EPA's failure to control hazardous air pollution in cities [USA]: Missed Deadlines Leave Urban Areas Waiting for Public Health Protections - Responding to a rash of missed clean air deadlines, Earthjustice today filed the second of seven lawsuits challenging the federal government’s chronic failure to protect Americans from the health hazards of toxic air pollution. Earthjustice represents Sierra Club in its second suit this week against the Environmental Protection Agency.  Today’s lawsuit challenges EPA’s failure to implement a key requirement in the Clean Air Act: the Act’s mandate to reduce emissions of the hazardous air pollutants that are the greatest threat to public health in urban areas. These pollution sources include chemical plants and various types of waste incinerators, among others, but the list is incomplete and most of the sources remain unregulated. (Earthjustice, 17 July 2001)

San Joaquin Valley [California] Medical, Community and Environmental Groups Announce Upcoming Lawsuit To Enforce Clean Air Act: At Fresno City Hall, medical, community, and environmental groups announced their intention to sue both the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District in 60 days for failure to stop the air pollution that threatens the health of all San Joaquin Valley residents....Agriculture: Polluter and Victim  (Earthjustice, 17 July 2001)

Earthjustice lawsuits challenge widespread defects in federal toxics program [USA]: First of Seven Suits Seeking Timely Clean Air Regulations Filed Today - Earthjustice today filed the first of seven lawsuits challenging the federal government’s chronic failure to protect Americans from the health hazards of toxic air pollution. The defendant is the very agency tasked with providing such protection: the Environmental Protection Agency. The plaintiff is Sierra Club. To compel EPA to do its job, Earthjustice will file one lawsuit each day for the next week.  All seven lawsuits address EPA’s failure to establish controls for such highly toxic air pollutants as dioxins, PCBs, and mercury ¾ pollutants that even in tiny doses can cause devastating health effects.  (Earthjustice, 16 July 2001)

Virginia company, former official sentenced: On June 20, Rehrig International Inc. [metals company] pleaded guilty to negligently violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) and was ordered to pay a $200,000 fine and provide $300,000 for pollution prevention and control activities. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 28 June 2001)

EPA [Environmental Protection Agency of Ghana] Prosecutes Pollutionist: The Kumasi Circuit Tribunal chaired by Mr. Ernesty Obimpeh has dismissed a plea of no case presented to it by the Nnuro Kente, a private manufacturing firm which produces kente yarns.  Nnuro Kente is allegedly discharging its effluents into the river, thus destroying all life forms in and around it. (Accra Mail [Ghana], 27 June 2001)

BHP mine in Papua New Guinea:

• BHP washes its hands of Dead River [Papua New Guinea]: BHP Billiton today washed its hands of responsibility for the damage its Ok Tedi mine is creating (Mineral Policy Institute, 8 Feb. 2002)

  • company website: Ok Tedi Mining (OK Tedi Mining Limited)

• Outrage At Png Attempt To Give BHP A Royal Farewell [Papua New Guinea]:...After permitting the company to dump 80,000 tonnes of waste a day into the Fly and Ok Tedi river system since 1984 BHP has now been given a final gift from the PNG National Government - an unrestricted legal indemnity for all the pollution and destruction it has already caused and will occur in the future as result of the continuing operation of its Ok Tedi mine. It has precipitated an unprecedented constitutional challenge by former PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare. (Mineral Policy Institute and PNG NGO Environmental Watch Group, 12 Dec. 2001)

• BHP Billiton eyes Ok Tedi environment funds [Papua New Guinea]: BHP Billiton said yesterday it would make sure money was available for mine closure and environmental remediation before it moved its 52 percent stake in Papua New Guinea's Ok Tedi copper mine into a trust. (Reuters, 17 Oct. 2001)

• PNG landowners demand Australia fund mine clean-up: Landowners in Papua New Guinea called on Australia yesterday to pay the bill for what they called environmental destruction caused by BHP's Ok Tedi copper mine if the company walked away without cleaning up (Gary Cox, Reuters, 27 June 2001) 

• OK Tedi (Slater & Gordon, solicitors for plaintiffs)

• 500 PNG clans join Ok Tedi suit against BHP (Barry Fitzgerald, Sydney Morning Herald, 12 June 2000)

• comments by advocates for plaintiffs: Ok Tedi 2 (Slater and Gordon, solicitors for plaintiffs, 11 Apr. 2000) 

• comments by Broken Hill Proprietary: Legal Action on Ok Tedi Misconceived: BHP (BHP, 11 Apr. 2000)

• Writ lodged over BHP Ok Tedi mine (Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 11 Apr. 2000)

• BHP's Big Mining Mess (Danny Kennedy, Multinational Monitor, Apr. 2000)

• World Bank echoes calls for Ok Tedi closure (Mineral Policy Institute, 7 Mar. 2000) 

  • World Bank - Full Ok Tedi Report

• Statement by Papua New Guinea groups on Ok Tedi (August 1999)

• One of World's Worst Mine Disasters Gets Worse (Mineral Policy Center, Mining Watch Canada, Mine Watch UK, 11 Aug. 1999)

• Abstract: The Ok Tedi Settlement: Issues, Outcomes and Implications (Glenn Banks and Chris Ballard, 1997)

• OK Tedi Truce (Mining Monitor, vol. 1, no. 3, 1996)

• Cleaning up Ok Tedi: Settlement Favors Yonggom People (Stuart Kirsch, Journal of the International Institute, vol. 4, no. 1, fall 1996) 

BP: case in U.S. court regarding the company's conduct in U.S. state of Alaska: 

• comments by advocates for plaintiffs: Greenpeace, Inupiat Eskimos Launch Court Challenge Against BP Amoco's Arctic Oil Drilling [update] (Greenpeace USA, 30 Mar. 2000)

• comments by advocates for plaintiffs: Inupiat Eskimos and Greenpeace go to court to challenge BP Amoco oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean (Greenpeace, Oct. 1999)

• comments by BP: Northstar and the Native community (BP)

Cambior: case in Canada court regarding the company's conduct in Guyana: 

• comments by advocates for plaintiffs: 

  • A background report: The Omai Gold Mine Disaster (Public Interest Research Associates/Recherches Internationales Québec, 30 Mar. 1997)

  • Guyana Legal Defense Fund (26 Mar. 1997)

• comments by Cambior: Cambior secures dismissal of Omai-related class action (Cambior, 17 Aug. 1998)

• Recent news articles and letters to editor regarding Omai gold mine case (S.D. Smith, Guiana Shield, Aug. 1999)

• Cambior case a battle of witnesses (Philip Preville, Montreal Mirror, 3 Sep. 1998)

• Canadian Mining Company Taken to Court (Inter Press Service, 23 June 1998)

• Mining spill? What mining spill? (Francois Shalom, The Gazette [Montreal], 3 June 1998)

Cape plc: case in U.K. court regarding the company's conduct in South Africa: 

• South African Asbestos Victims Settle With Cape: British-based multinational to pay €33.8m/$30.2m (ICEM - International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, 8 Jan. 2002)

  • Asbestosis victims to get first of £21m compensation cash by June (Jacquie Motsoatsoe, Business Report [South Africa], 8 Jan. 2002)

• Cape plc Opens Talks With South African Asbestos Victims: First breakthrough in compensation campaign? - Cape mined asbestos in South Africa for almost a century. "Children were employed, unprotected, in the most hazardous tasks of sorting asbestos with their bare hands and trampling it with their bare feet," recalled ICEM General Secretary Fred Higgs in letters last month to Montpellier and other major shareholders. "Due to the atrocious conditions at the mines and mills, thousands of South Africans developed the fatal asbestos cancer, mesothelioma, and the debilitating disease of asbestosis." (International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions [ICEM],  6 Nov. 2001)

• Compensate South African Victims, Cape plc Told: Multinational should settle now with asbestos claimants, world union says -...Cape closed its British asbestos factory in 1968, due to the high incidence of asbestos-related diseases. But it kept its South African operation running for another decade after that, and lobbied the apartheid regime to suppress information about the health risks. (ICEM, the International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions, 24 Oct. 2001)

• Justice delayed for a childhood in asbestos: South Africans seek belated compensation [from British company Cape PLC] for their apartheid-era exploitation (Chris McGreal, Guardian [UK], 4 June 2001) 

• Trial date set, as Cape [British asbestos company Cape PLC] hints at settlement (ACTSA [Action for South Africa], 22 May 2001)

• Cape [British asbestos company Cape PLC] shamed at AGM [annual general meeting] (ACTSA [Action for South Africa], 10 May 2001)

• Apartheid's Killer Legacy [regarding the conduct of British asbestos company Cape PLC in South Africa] (ACTSA [Action for South Africa], Apr. 2001)

• "Landmark Law Lords ruling on jurisdiction over companies" (Human Rights & Business Matters, newsletter of Amnesty International UK Business Group, autumn 2000/winter 2001)

• Global Asbestos Justice: South African Asbestos Victims Win Right to Sue Cape plc in UK Courts (Laurie Kazen-Allen, Multinational Monitor, Sep. 2000)

• "Companies with nowhere to hide" (Richard Meeran [solicitor for claimants], The Times [London], 1 Aug. 2000)

• "Landmark victory for asbestos litigants" (Daily Mail and Guardian [Johannesburg], 21 July 2000) 

• Full text of the House of Lords judgment in the Cape plc case (House of Lords, 20 July 2000)

• "Bringing the Multinationals to Book" (The Observer [U.K.] Comment, 18 June 2000) 

Dow Chemical-Bhopal [see Union Carbide, below]

DynCorp: Case in U.S. court regarding the company's conduct in Ecuador & Colombia:

• Litigation Update: A Summary of Recent Developments in U.S. Cases Brought Under the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Protection Act [includes update on lawsuit against DynCorp] (Jennifer Green [staff attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights] and Paul Hoffman [civil rights attorney and editor of ACLU International Civil Liberties Report], in ACLU International Civil Liberties Report 2001 [American Civil Liberties Union], Dec. 2001)

• Text of class action complaint against DynCorp in U.S. court [download]: "The claims in this action arise from the DynCorp Defendants' conduct in connection with the implementation of their contract with agencies of the U.S. government to exterminate, by use of fumigants sprayed from airplanes, plantations of cocaine and/or heroin poppies in large tracks of the Colombian rainforest owned by private citizens of Colombia. During the course of implementing this contract, Defendants also sprayed large sections of Ecuador that border with Colombia, and caused severe physical and mental damage to Plaintiffs, their children, and other similarly situated lawful residents of Ecuador who have nothing whatever to do with the production of illegal drugs in Colombia." (International Labor Rights Fund, 25 Sep. 2001)

• Environment: Ecuadorians file U.S. suit over Plan Colombia - Ecuadorian Indians are taking legal action in federal court here, charging that a U.S. company that was contracted to carry out fumigation of illicit crops in neighboring Colombia recklessly sprayed their homes and farms, causing illnesses and deaths, and destroying crops. U.S.-based attorneys representing 10,000 individuals living in the Amazon rainforest near the border with Colombia filed a class action complaint against Virginia-based DynCorp Corporation in federal court here Sep. 11. A DynCorp spokesperson said the company has not been notified about the complaint and declined to comment further. (Inter Press Service, 21 Sep. 2001)

Freeport-McMoRan: case in U.S. court regarding the company's conduct in West Papua (Indonesia):

• full text of class action complaint in case of Beanal v. Freeport-McMoRan (29 April 1996)

• full text of Appellate Court's decision affirming lower court's dismissal of Beanal's claims (29 Nov. 1999)

• Speech by plaintiff Tom Beanal (at Loyola University, 28 Apr. 1997, in Austin Chronicle)

• comments by Freeport-McMoRan:

  • Freeport in Irian Jaya (Papua): A Summary of Recent Issues - August 17, 2001 (Freeport-McMoRan)

  • Issues & Answers: Legal Issues (Freeport-McMoRan)

• West Papua Information Kit: "Mining" (Australia West Papua Association, Sydney)

• Indonesia uses British jets to attack tribesmen (Richard Lloyd Parry, Independent [UK], 7 Oct. 2000)

• What's Yours Is Mine [reporting on memorandum of understanding between Tom Benal and Freeport's CEO] (Robert Bryce, Austin Chronicle, 1 Sep. 2000)

• Freeport-McMoRan: A Pit of Trouble - Can the miners make peace with critics of its West Papua operation? (Business Week, 31 July 2000)

• Beanal v. Freeport-McMoran, Inc.: ANATOMY OF AN INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL TORT CASE (Ethan Jessup, New England International & Comparative Law Annual, Vol. 5, 1999)

• Mining for Disaster (Robert Bryce, Austin Chronicle, 10 Dec. 1999)

• Scraping Bottom: Freeport McMoRan in Irian Jaya (NGO Taskforce on Business and Industry, 1997)

• Spinning Gold (Robert Bryce, Mother Jones, Sep./Oct. 1996)

  • Freeport-McMoRan's response: Who's Spinning Whom? (in "Backtalk", Mother Jones, Nov./Dec. 1996)

• From Austin to Indonesia: Independent Reports on Human Rights Abuses by the Suharto Regime Come Home to Texas (Robert Bryce, Texas Observer, 17 Nov. 1995)

  • Freeport-McMoRan's response: Letter to the Observer Editors (from Thomas Egan, Senior Vice President, Freeport-McMoRan, in Texas Observer, 12 Jan. 1996)

  • The Observer Editors Respond to Freeport (Texas Observer, 12 Jan. 1996)

  • Freeport writes a letter (letter to the Editors, from Thomas Egan, Senior Vice President, Freeport-McMoRan, in Texas Observer, 14 June 1996)

  • Primitive People: The Editors respond to Freeport. (Again.) (Texas Observer, 14 June 1996)

Rio Tinto: case in U.S. court regarding the company's conduct in Bougainville - Papua New Guinea:

• Litigation Update: A Summary of Recent Developments in U.S. Cases Brought Under the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Protection Act [includes update on lawsuit against Rio Tinto] (Jennifer Green [staff attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights] and Paul Hoffman [civil rights attorney and editor of ACLU International Civil Liberties Report], in ACLU International Civil Liberties Report 2001 [American Civil Liberties Union], Dec. 2001)

• "Oceanic Islanders Use Federal Law to Sue British Mining Giant Rio Tinto for Alleged Ecocide and Human Rights Crimes" (Business Wire, 6 Sep. 2000)

Shell: case in U.S. court regarding the company's conduct in Nigeria [alleged complicity in human rights abuses]:

• Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum (Shell) [webpage summarising the case] (EarthRights International)

• Shell on Trial in the Niger Delta: This week multinational Shell Petroleum Development Corporation settled one of two major cases brought against them by local peoples suffering the consequences of their operations in the Niger Delta. [settlement of lawsuit for alleged damage to Ogbodo community caused by oil pipeline explosion; also refers to ongoing lawsuit on behalf of the relatives of Ogoni environmental activist Ken Saro Wiwa and eight others who were publicly executed in Nigeria after speaking out against environmental degradation caused by Shell operations in 1995] (Cultural Survival, 1 Apr. 2002)

• Shell to Stand Trial for 1990s Human Rights Abuses in Nigeria: A U.S. Federal Court rejected Shell's plea to dismiss a case charging the company with human rights abuses in Nigeria dating back to 1995. (William Baue, SocialFunds.com, 8 Mar. 2002)

• Lawsuit Against Shell for Human Rights Violations in Nigeria to Proceed: A U.S. Federal Court has ruled that a civil lawsuit [Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co.] charging multinational oil giant Shell with complicity in human rights violations will go forward. The ruling in Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (EarthRights International, 5 Mar. 2002)

• Litigation Update: A Summary of Recent Developments in U.S. Cases Brought Under the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Protection Act [includes update on lawsuit against Royal Dutch/Shell] (Jennifer Green [staff attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights] and Paul Hoffman [civil rights attorney and editor of ACLU International Civil Liberties Report], in ACLU International Civil Liberties Report 2001 [American Civil Liberties Union], Dec. 2001)

• Court clears way for relatives to sue Shell over Saro-Wiwa's death (Andrew Buncombe, Independent [UK], 27 Mar. 2001)

• Shell appeal over Nigerian executions rejected (Patti Waldmeir and David Buchan, Financial Times, 26 Mar. 2001)

• "Shell to face US lawsuit for Saro-Wiwa execution: Anglo-Dutch oil company fails to have a multi-million pound civil claim by Nigerian emigres thrown out by New York appeal court" (Karen McGregor, Independent [UK], 19 Sep. 2000)

• "US court to hear Ogoni rights case against Shell" (Reuters, 14 Sep. 2000) 

• full text of September 2000 decision by U.S. appellate court in case of Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, ruling that the lower court erred when it dismissed the complaint on jurisdictional grounds (U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, 14 Sep. 2000)

• Amended complaint in case of Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Petroleum (29 Apr. 1997)

Shell: Case in Nigerian court regarding the company's environmental conduct in Nigeria:

• Nigerian Court Fines Shell $40 Million for 1970 Spill (Environment News Service, 26 June 2000)

Texaco (now ChevronTexaco): case in U.S. court regarding the company's conduct in Ecuador:

• Amazon Indians lose appeal of Texaco case ruling - Rainforest Indians of Ecuador and Peru have lost an appeal aimed at reinstating nine-year-old litigation against Texaco, alleging that toxic dumping devastated their environment and exposed residents to cancer-causing pollutants. The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday affirmed a trial court's ruling dismissing two class-action lawsuits on grounds that the United States was not the proper place for the litigation, and that Ecuador would be a more convenient location. (Gail Appleson, Reuters, 21 Aug. 2002)

• {···français} Un pipe-line sème maladies et pollutions en Amazonie - En Équateur, l’oléoduc «El sote» est une catastrophe de 500 kilomètres de long. Gigantesque serpent de métal, le Système d’oléoduc transéquatorien (SOTE) a été construit dans les années septante sous l’impulsion de la Texaco. Depuis 1993, la compagnie américaine est poursuivie en justice par les communautés amérindiennes de l’Équateur, mais aussi du Pérou, pour pollution grave de la forêt amazonienne. Le verdict sera rendu cet automne. (Le Courrier [Genève], 9 août 2002)

• {···español} Instancia decisiva en litigio con la Texaco [Ecuador]: La justicia de Estados Unidos deberá fallar esta semana sobre la procedencia de una demanda iniciada en 1993 por indígenas de Ecuador contra la compañía petrolera ChevronTexaco, a la que acusan de contaminar la selva amazónica. (Danielle Knight, Inter Press Service, in La Hora [Ecuador], 17 marzo 2002)  

• Ecuador Amazon Indians appeal Texaco-case ruling: Rainforest Indians of Ecuador and Peru urged a U.S. appeals court to reinstate nine-year-old litigation against Texaco, alleging that toxic dumping devastated their environment and exposed residents to cancer-causing pollutants (Gail Appleson, Reuters, 13 Mar. 2002)

• Rainforest Indians [from Ecuador] in New York for major showdown with Chevron-Texaco: Billions at stake as tribal leaders press groundbreaking lawsuit before Appeals Court - Assert Texaco ruined their rivers and land, destroying their centuries-old way of life...and dramatically increased the risk of cancer for tens of thousands of people. (Frente para la Defensa de la Amazonia, 11 Mar. 2002)

• {···español} TC define caso Texaco [Ecuador]: La suerte del juicio que los colonos e indígenas amazónicos plantearon en contra de la petrolera Texaco desde 1993 por perjuicios al medio ambiente en una corte de la ciudad de Nueva York, se definirá en los próximos días en el Tribunal Constitucional. (La Hora [Ecuador], 7 marzo 2002)

• Ecuador hopes for settlement in ChevronTexaco case: Ecuador's attorney general said this week he is fighting to help indigenous groups settle a nine-year-old lawsuit charging that water contamination by oil giant Texaco Inc. caused more than $120 million in damages and injuries. (Manuela Badawy, Reuters, 28 Feb. 2002)

• Litigation Update: A Summary of Recent Developments in U.S. Cases Brought Under the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Protection Act [includes update on lawsuit against Texaco] (Jennifer Green [staff attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights] and Paul Hoffman [civil rights attorney and editor of ACLU International Civil Liberties Report], in ACLU International Civil Liberties Report 2001 [American Civil Liberties Union], Dec. 2001)

• Judge dismisses Indians suits against Texaco - A federal judge [U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff] this week dismissed lawsuits against Texaco brought by rainforest Indians of Ecuador and Peru who alleged the oil company contaminated their water and land (Reuters, 1 June 2001) 

• Chevron's Board Urged to Disclose Texaco's Liabilities in the Ecuadorian Amazon in the Merger Proceedings: Evidence Detailing More than Three Hundred and Fifty Contaminated Sites Handed to Chevron's Chairman (Amazon Watch, 26 Apr. 2001)

• Texaco on Trial (Eyal Press, The Nation, 31 May 1999)

• Colonos' complaint (Emily Walmsley, Index on Censorship, 8 Aug. 1997)

• comments by advocates for plaintiffs: "Aguinda v. Texaco, Jota v. Texaco: Questions & Answers"

• comments by Texaco: "Ecuador: Legal Archives"  

Union Carbide: cases in courts of India and U.S. regarding the company's conduct in India:

• Global Funds Tell Union Carbide To Settle Bhopal Gas Leak Claims - A group of international investor funds which includes Trillium Asset Management, Domini Social Investments and the Calvert Group (together managing a combined asset value of $13 billion) have advised Union Carbide to settle claims of economic, health and environmental liabilities of over $500 million (Rs 2,500 crore) stemming out of the Bhopal gas leak...A letter has been sent jointly by a group of funds to the Dow Chemical Company, which took over Union Carbide in 2001 along with all its assets and liabilities. (Ajay Jain, Financial Express [India], 5 Dec. 2002)

• Negligence caused Bhopal disaster: Report - Negligence by Union Carbide and not sabotage was responsible for the Bhopal gas disaster, the British journal New Scientist said on Thursday basing its conclusion on documents just released in the United States. (Times of India, 5 Dec. 2002)

• Dow Shall Be Liable [India] - More than 500 survivors of the Union Carbide 1984 gas leak from Bhopal protested outside the Dow headquarters in Mumbai, accusing the Michigan-based company of double standards and racism (Darryl D'Monte and Nityanand Jayaraman, CorpWatch India, 8 Apr. 2002)

• The Winds Of Liability in Bhopal [India] [refers to Union Carbide and Dow Chemical] (Dilip D'Souza, special to CorpWatch India, 25 Mar. 2002)

• Litigation Update: A Summary of Recent Developments in U.S. Cases Brought Under the Alien Tort Claims Act and Torture Protection Act [includes update on lawsuit against Union Carbide] (Jennifer Green [staff attorney at Center for Constitutional Rights] and Paul Hoffman [civil rights attorney and editor of ACLU International Civil Liberties Report], in ACLU International Civil Liberties Report 2001 [American Civil Liberties Union], Dec. 2001)

• Bhopal's Legacy:...Survivors' organisations believe that a November 15, 2001, decision of the US Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirms their claims of environmental damages due to Union Carbide's routine pollution in Bhopal. This, they say, is likely to have far-reaching consequences for Dow Chemical, which took over Union Carbide earlier this year. (Sandhya Srinivasan, CorpWatch, 6 Dec. 2001)

• Bhopal: "Legal update" (WWW.BHOPAL.NET)

• Bhopal Survivors Target Dow Chemical: Launch New Campaign (National Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, 28 Feb. 2001)

• "USA: Carbide CEO Fugitive in Bhopal Suit" (C. Hedges, New York Times, 7 Mar. 2000)

• Full text of Dec. 1999 class action complaint in U.S. court against Union Carbide and former CEO Warren Anderson  

• "Union Carbide Sued in U.S. for 1984 Bhopal Gas Release" (F. Noronha, Environment News Service, 16 Nov. 1999)

• Bhopal and the Age of Globalization (Gary Cohen, Nov. 1999) 

• Bhopal disaster lingers after nearly 15 years (Danielle Knight, Inter Press Service, 22 June 1999)

• An Unending Nightmare: Union Carbide in Bhopal (NGO Taskforce on Business and Industry, 1997)

• Book review/summary of The Uncertain Promise of Law: Lessons from Bhopal (Jamie Cassels, University of Toronto Press, 1993)