Oil tycoon Chevron was condemned by a US jury to pay $745 million for contaminating wetlands close to New Orleans and then neglecting to restore the region.
A jury at Pointe a la Hache, in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, a swampy region southeast of New Orleans, imposed the sentence on Friday.
Leading trial lawyer Mike Phillips told AFP on Sunday that Chevron “will appeal this verdict to address the numerous legal errors that led to this unjust result.”
Plaquemines authorities sued Chevron following its takeover of another oil behemoth, Texaco, in 2001. They accused Texaco of violating an environmental protection law adopted in 1978 in Louisiana.
The text stated that “exploration and production sites shall be cleared, revegetated, detoxified, and otherwise restored as near as practicable to their original condition upon termination of operations to the maximum extent practicable.”
However, the lawsuit claimed that Texaco and Chevron failed to meet their responsibilities.
The company was also charged by local authorities for deteriorating the wetlands that may provide protection from rising sea levels, thus exacerbating the effects of the tides.
Plaquemines was given $575 million by the jury for the loss of a portion of its territory that is now permanently submerged, $161 million for pollution, and $9 million for equipment abandonment.
*
Email *
Website
