The US District Court for the Northern District of California has dismissed the remaining two claims against Chevron alleging health impacts to Ecuadorian citizens resulting from Texaco's Ecuadorian oil operations that ended in 1992.
The ruling, based on California’s two-year statute of limitations, effectively brings the matter to an end. The lawsuit is the third in a series of suits that has been launched by Cristobal Bonifaz, a Massachusetts-based trial attorney representing Ecuadorian plaintiffs.
From 1964 to 1990, Texaco served as the operator of a consortium with Petroecuador, the state oil company of Ecuador.
In 1998, Texaco completed a $40 million environmental remediation and public works program reflective of its 37.5% share of the consortium. The government of Ecuador declared that the remediation was completed according to the terms and parameters agreed upon, and released Texaco and its affiliated companies from any future environmental liabilities, Chevron said.
According to Chevron, in each of the lawsuits filed, plaintiffs’ counsel had alleged widespread health impacts resulting from oil operations.