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Ecuadorans ask Ontario court for $18.3 billion claim against Chevron
A legal battle rooted in events that took place up to 40 years ago and 5,000 kilometres away in Ecuador, takes shape Thursday in Toronto courtroom. It pits several dozen Ecuadorans, acting on behalf of 30,000 fellow residents…of eastern Ecuador, against oil giant Chevron Corp. The Ecuadorans claim that a Texaco oil well fouled water and soil over a wide area, starting in the 1970s. They won a legal judgment…in an Ecuador court for $18.3 billion against Chevron Corp., which took over Texaco in 2001…The Ecuadorans have now come to Canada, asking an Ontario court to enforce the Ecuadoran court judgment…Chevron…questions why the Ecuadorans filed their claim in Canada,…instead of a U.S. court where parent Chevron Corp. has its headquarters.