April 8, 2010  Ecuador does indeed owe Chevron Texaco much gratitude for stating the reality that Correa’s government is profoundly and irrevocably corrupt. Nothing says it better than this company- itself a victim of Correa’s enjoying Donziger’s whopping $30 billion ++ extortion demand from Chevron. That the United States of America has provided money and materiel support for this scam against America’s 3rd largest company is past belief and strongly in the realm of Need-To-Prosecute all who aid and abet this racket as well as fraudulently assist this fraud against Chevron.

The following article informs, “…the Obama administration should use its muscle to get the whole lawsuit against Chevron dismissed. There comes a time when American companies should be able to expect the American government to insist that they not be subject to injustices perpetrated by corrupt foreign actors out to make a buck, or billions of bucks, in cahoots with avaricious American lawyers.” Please study this quote. What do you think this means?

THE WASHINGTON TIMES
Thursday, April 8, 2010
EDITORIAL: More fraud in Ecuador?

The plaintiffs in a $27 billion shakedown of Chevron Corp. have been embarrassed by a disclosure that further undermines their case over environmental claims in Ecuador. The Obama administration ought to use diplomatic weight to support this American company fighting foreign shenanigans.

American trial lawyers have been carrying the case against Chevron for years, claiming grave ecological and human harm from energy drilling performed by Texaco before Texaco became part of Chevron. Never mind that the Ecuadorean government (before being radicalized) certified in 1998 that Texaco had satisfactorily cleaned up all its old sites.

The latest scandal with regard to the lawsuit came to light on March 29, when the scientist originally hired by the plaintiffs to assess the purported ecological damage testified under oath that he did not write reports attributed to him.

The report submitted to the court by plaintiffs' lawyers, attached to the signature of U.S. biologist and industrial hygienist Charles W. Calmbacher, said two sites he analyzed in 2004 contained high levels of contamination that would cost $40 million to remediate. But reality is not so straightforward. "I did not reach these conclusions, and I did not write this report," Mr. Calmbacher said in a March 29 deposition. "I did not see significant contamination that posed immediate threat to the environment or to humans or wildlife around it." He also said he never recommended remediation, never put a dollar value on purportedly required remediation and never said Texaco had failed to adequately remediate the sites.

About lead plaintiffs' attorney Steven Donziger, Mr. Calmbacher said, "He wanted the answer to be that there was contamination and people were being injured." Question: "And why would he want people to be at risk?" Mr. Calmbacher: "Because it makes money." And: "He felt, you know, if we showed any contamination, he could basically ... get public opinion on his side. And, you know, you know that Texaco and Chevron Texaco is seen as big pockets, and he figured that any decision would go in his favor against you, since you had the money to pay."

Mr. Calmbacher also testified that he had heard not a word from the plaintiffs' attorneys since the winter of 2004-05 - until the week before his deposition, when Mr. Donziger told him (in Mr. Calmbacher's words) that "it would pay or be in my best interest to go in with him on quashing the subpoena. ... His tone was, you're in trouble unless you go in with me, you know, it's going to probably evolve into a problem for you."

This testimony comes on top of a raft of other developments that cast doubt on the plaintiffs' case or on the reliability of Ecuadorean courts and Ecuador's business system. On March 30, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague awarded Chevron some $700 million for commercial violations not directly related to the environmental case. The International Financial Action Task Force, meeting Feb. 17 through 19, listed Ecuador among just four rogue nations with key "strategic deficiencies" in combating money laundering and financing of terrorism. On March 2, Dow Jones reported that a court-appointed expert confirmed the accuracy of a video recording that seems to show the Ecuadorean judge on the $27 billion Chevron case participating in a bribery scheme in the plaintiffs' favor.

On Feb. 9, Chevron asked the new judge on the case to remove the court-appointed "expert" who put the ludicrous $27 billion price on the damages purportedly caused by the oil fields because it turns out he is the co-founder and majority stockholder of an oil-field-remediation company that is registered to do work for Petroecuador, Ecuador's state-owned petroleum company. In short, his company could benefit if Chevron is forced to pay.

Before that, on Feb. 2, a German newspaper featured a lengthy report headlined "Ecuador emerges as hub for international crime." This follows actions in recent years in which the U.S. State Department, the United Nations, the International Bar Association and six major American business organizations all have denounced Ecuador's court system as unreliable or corrupt.

All of this explains why the Obama administration should use its muscle to get the whole lawsuit against Chevron dismissed. There comes a time when American companies should be able to expect the American government to insist that they not be subject to injustices perpetrated by corrupt foreign actors out to make a buck, or billions of bucks, in cahoots with avaricious American lawyers.
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Chevron’s own post provides links to the former US EPA who himself should have gone directly to the US FBI years ago- and still should. Even so, the Amazon Defense Fund’s case in Lago Agrio states that this Donziger affrontery will be the sole beneficiary- distributor of the $30 billion should their fake claims thrive in Ecuador. Of course Correa and a few actors will get a hefty cut for their own wallets.
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The Amazon Post
Plaintiffs’ Expert Reveals Fraud by Lawyers in Ecuador Lawsuit
Monday, Apr. 5th 2010

In Sworn Deposition, Expert Denies Authoring Reports Submitted in His Name

SAN RAMON, Calif., Apr. 5, 2010 – Lawyers for the plaintiffs suing Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) submitted fraudulent reports to an Ecuadorian court claiming dangerous contamination was found at Amazon oil well sites, the original technical expert for the plaintiffs revealed in sworn testimony last week.

Charles W. Calmbacher, Ph.D, a U.S. biologist and industrial hygienist who was the first expert appointed on behalf of the plaintiffs in the litigation pending against Chevron in Lago Agrio, Ecuador, testified in a court-ordered deposition last week that reports associated with inspections of the Sacha 94 and Shushufindi 48 well sites were submitted in his name without his knowledge or consent. Dr. Calmbacher said he had never concluded the sites posed a risk to human health or the environment and that his opinions were known to the plaintiffs’ legal and technical teams in Ecuador. Nevertheless, the plaintiffs’ lawyers submitted reports contradictory to Dr. Calmbacher’s conclusions, fraudulently using his signature months after he ceased his participation in the case.

“Their own expert has testified that two of the plaintiffs’ earliest reports are fraudulent, confirming that the trial in Ecuador has been tainted from the outset,” said Hewitt Pate, Chevron vice president and general counsel. “Chevron will petition the Lago Agrio court to strike the plaintiffs’ false Sacha 94 and Shushufindi 48 reports and call on authorities to investigate the misconduct.”

After the lawsuit was filed against Chevron in 2003, the plaintiffs’ lawyers nominated Dr. Calmbacher, and the court appointed him to conduct judicial inspections of oil well sites in the former Petroecuador-Texaco Petroleum Co. concession area to assess alleged environmental damage. Dr. Calmbacher led those inspections for the plaintiffs, supervising the taking of soil and water samples, from August to October 2004.

The fraudulent reports were filed in February and March 2005, and later used by Lago Agrio court appointee Richard Cabrera in his $27 billion damage assessment against Chevron. Cabrera never investigated Sacha 94 or Shushufindi 48, yet specified more than $101 million damages based on the fabricated findings. Dr. Calmbacher also inspected Sacha 6 and Sacha 21, yet the plaintiffs’ lawyers failed to submit reports containing his conclusions regarding those well sites. Dr. Calmbacher testified that he did not find a risk to human health or the environment, or a need for further clean-up, at any of the Texaco Petroleum-remediated sites he inspected. He also said he never concluded that Texaco Petroleum’s remediation in Ecuador in the 1990’s was not successful.

In his March 29 deposition ordered by a U.S. federal court, Dr. Calmbacher said he sent signed signature pages and initialized blank pages to the plaintiffs’ legal team by overnight courier in late 2004 for the submission of reports he thought would contain his true findings. Dr. Calmbacher also testified that the plaintiffs’ lawyers never informed him that the Lago Agrio court had ordered him to answer questions on the reports after they were submitted under his signature in 2005.

Chevron has long claimed the lawsuit is baseless and tainted by scores of irregularities and fraud. The company last September filed a demand for arbitration with the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague asserting that Ecuador’s handling of the Lago Agrio litigation amounts to a breach of the U.S.-Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty.

To view Dr. Calmbacher’s full sworn deposition, see www.chevron.com/ecuador/depo.pdf. Additional information on the Ecuador lawsuit can be found at www.chevron.com/ecuador.

Chevron is one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies, with subsidiaries that conduct business worldwide. The company’s success is driven by the ingenuity and commitment of its employees and their application of the most innovative technologies in the world. Chevron is involved in virtually every facet of the energy industry. The company explores for, produces and transports crude oil and natural gas; refines, markets and distributes transportation fuels and other energy products; manufactures and sells petrochemical products; generates power and produces geothermal energy; provides energy efficiency solutions; and develops the energy resources of the future, including biofuels. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif. More information about Chevron is available at www.chevron.com.

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We suggest you review the sworn deposition as linked above to stay informed.  Why would anyone award or praise Correa for this racket?

-Pedro Camargo for ECrisis