My child just returned from studying abroad in Ecuador for a semester. Part of the internship portion included walking around and documenting where there was still oil laying about. Quite a few photos were taken, to show the abject carelessness by the ‘American’ corporations how take advantage of the po po Latin Americans, left to clean up the mess that big bad oil companies left behind.
I don’t know what the real truth is, the photos my child took looked pretty damning. And yet, your comment suggests the real accountability rests with those in Ecuador currently.
If you would be so kind, perhaps you can give me some valuable insight to what the reality is currently. Of course the program did all it could to convince the kids that America is to blame, as usual. Just seeking a better understanding here. Thanks in advance.
Texaco ceased operations over 20 years ago. Its former partner, PetroEcuador has been operating the fields since that time. Prior to ~1975 there was little general awareness of environmental impact of oil production (Ecuador or elsewhere.) For 100 years it was standard practice to dig a big pit, line it with clay, and dump the oil & water mix that came out of the ground into the pit to at least partially separate. When the need was over the pits would just be bulldozed over, with quite a bit of oil saturated dirt beneath and in the pit. Texaco, as part of their exit agreement with Ecuador in 1992, remediated (dug up and cleaned up) its share of the pits, and areas around processing equipment where spills - generally small - had occurred. The government accepted the results. I suspect PetroEcuador did NOT remediate its share of the old pits and spills, and Texaco/Chevron is being blamed/held responsible for them. I am also fairly confident (though no proof or first hand knowledge) that PetroEcuador has continued to operate with limited care for cleanliness. I DO know that when operators in US waters have spills - usually measured in ounces, and less than you spill when you change your car’s oil - they are immediately self-reported and if possible, remediated. Some years ago Greenpeace was protesting drilling operations off Destin, Florida and was taking pictures of the oil sheen on the water - which could be seen from the height of the rig floor to be emanating from the outboard motor of the Zodiac the protesters were using.