QUITO, Ecuador -- Ecuador has asked the The Hague's Permanent Court of Arbitration to dismiss a case brought by Chevron, which stands accused of polluting a vast area of the Amazon, officials said today.
Ecuador has requested that the court issue a "definitive suspension" of the case brought by Chevron (IW 500/2), which is challenging a $9.5 billion fine, Ecuador legal officials confirmed.
The request was filed Thursday. "There is no deadline for the court to decide," the Ecuador justice source said.
Ecuador's Supreme Court earlier this week upheld a lower court decision against Chevron but dramatically reduced the amount to be paid in damages from $19 billion to $9.5 billion.
Chevron described the Ecuador court ruling this week as "illegitimate and unenforceable."
Chevron has never worked directly in Ecuador but inherited the pollution lawsuit when it acquired former rival Texaco in 2001. Texaco operated in the South American nation from 1964 to 1990.
Thousands of Ecuadoran villagers say they were sickened and many say they have cancer as a result of the oil pollution of their water supply.
Chevron insists that Ecuador's state oil company Petroecuador is to blame and has sought to block legal claims being made against it via courts outside Ecuador.
Copyright Agence France-Presse 2013
