Benzene, A Known Carcinogen, Found in Chevron's Own Contamination Tests

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From 1964 to 1990, Texaco drilled for oil in Ecuador. Though illegal in the U.S., Texaco dumped toxic production water directly into the waterways of the Ecuadorian rainforest. Texaco also built about 900 huge, unlined oil pits to store permanently leftover crude at well sites.

During this time, people living near the well sites consumed the water and ate food grown in the soil without knowing that both had been contaminated with benzene, a known carcinogen, and other toxic chemicals and metals.

Chevron, which bought Texaco, blames Petroecuador, Ecuador's oil company, for any damage to the environment and to individuals. But Petroecuador did not operate the well sites. It did not build them. Only Texaco.

Chevron tried to prove Texaco's innocence by taking contamination tests during the Ecuador trial, but the oil giant's own tests came back toxic.

Chevron's experts found illegal amounts of benzene, barium, cadmium, lead and other chemicals in the environment -- all toxic and dangerous to human health. For example:

Benzene: 18 mg found at the Sacha Norte 2 well site; Ecuador law allows only 0.05 mg. Benzene is a colorless liquid made mostly from petroleum; it is also a known human carcinogen.

The Center for Disease Control says this about benzene:


"Long-term exposure to benzene can cause cancer of the blood-forming organs. This condition is called leukemia ... The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has determined that benzene is a known carcinogen (can cause cancer)."

The Ecuadorians' lawyers tried to submit this evidence to the U.S. court where Chevron accused them of fraud, but federal judge Lewis Kaplan denied their request.