ECUADOR / USA
Environmental Group Advertises Texaco Case
NEW YORK - An Ecuadorean environmental group, which has accused Texaco Inc of dumping toxic waste in the country, launched a media campaign to keep alive its long-running campaign against U.S. oil company.
The Committee for the Defence of the Amazon began its campaign with an ad in the New York Times and it launched a website, www.texacorainforest.org, to publicise its case against the fourth largest U.S. oil company.
Tuesday's ad warns Chevron Corp. shareholders that the allegations, which Texaco is fighting in a New York District Court, could cost billions of dollars.
Recently, Texaco held exploratory talks about a possible merger with Chevron, the third biggest U.S. oil company.
Plaintiffs in the case claim that Texaco dumped toxin-laden water onto the ground between 1971 and 1992, causing a wave of cancers, birth defects and crop damage in the parts of Ecuador in which Texaco operated.
Texaco has denied the allegations.
"The allegation that Texaco dumped millions of gallons of toxins into the environment is just not true," said Faye Cox, a spokeswoman for Texaco. "We operated using accepted standards in the industry related to water management," Cox said.
"Related to the health claims they are making there has been no credible scientific evidence to support their claims," she added.
Source: Reuters 1999.
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