amazonwatch's Content

Chevron's Amazon Abu Ghraib

amazonwatch — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 15:32:28 -0700

The largest oil-related environmental disaster in the world - Chevron dumped over 18 billion gallons of toxic wastewater in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Now they are trying to hide their disaster and launching public relations campaigns about "human energy". The truth is Chevron's actions cause death, cancer, birth defects, miscarriages and the worst oil related destruction of the Amazon. They damage is estimate at up to $16 billion. Chevron can't hide its actions any longer and should pay up. Visit www.chevrontoxico.com for more information and to take action.

Amazon Watch

Amazon Watch

amazonwatch — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 09:45:39 -0800

Amazon Watch works with indigenous and environmental organizations in the Amazon Basin to defend the environment and advance indigenous peoples' rights in the face of large-scale industrial development-oil and gas pipelines, power lines, roads, and other mega-projects.

Some of Amazon Watch's programs include:

Amazon Communications Team. Equipping Amazonian indigenous groups with media skills and communications tools in order to increase their capacity to defend their lands from destructive mega-projects.
Monitoring Mega-Projects. Documenting and disseminating information on the social and environmental impacts of proposed mega-projects in the Amazon basin.
Supporting Rainforest Peoples. Mobilizing technical, financial, legal and public relations support for indigenous organizations fighting destructive mega-projects.

Amazon Watch is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, non-profit organization.

Burlington Resources (now Conoco) in Ecuador

amazonwatch — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:01:02 -0800

Background on attempted oil exploitation by Burlington, now owned by Conoco, in indigenous lands in the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Indigenous Leader visits Oil Contamination in Peru's Amazon

amazonwatch — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:29:15 -0800

30 years of oil production in Block 1AB in the northern Amazon has left indigenous peoples, who have lived in the area since time immemorial, suffering malnutrition, sickness and social disruption. Since 1971, Los-Angles-based Occidental Petroleum, using practices outlawed in the U.S., pumped an average of 800,000 gallons a day of salty formation water and other toxic wastewaters into local rivers with appalling consequences for local communities.

The Camisea Dilemma

amazonwatch — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:19:36 -0800

Peru's Camisea Gas Project is arguably the most damaging project in the Amazon Basin at the time of writing. Located in the remote Lower Urubamba Basin in the south-eastern Peruvian Amazon, the $1.6 billion project includes two pipelines to the Peruvian coast, cutting through an Amazon biodiversity hotspot described by scientists as "the last place on earth" to drill for fossil fuels.

Nearly 75 percent of gas extraction operations for "Block 88", as the original Camisea concession is known, are located inside a state reserve for indigenous peoples living in isolation. In violation of both stated company policy and international laws such as ILO Convention 169 and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, employees of Veritas, a contractor working for consortia member Pluspetrol have made contact with these communities, pressuring them to abandon their ancestral lands. Pluspetrol also facilitated helicopter transport of missionaries to remote areas to contact isolated indigenous groups.

Conoco at the Crossroads

amazonwatch — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:00:05 -0800

Burlington, now owned by Conoco/Phillips, owns or holds shares in oil export licenses in the Ecuadorian Amazon. These concessions were carved out of the traditional territories of three indigenous nations—the Shuar, Achuar, and Kichwa peoples—against their opposition and without their consultation or consent. Since 1999,the ongoing efforts by these indigenous peoples to protect their lands from the expanses of new oil projects has paralyzed Burlington's operations, with no end to the opposition in site. Human rights and environmental concerns have begun to overshadow the
projects—before they're even off the ground. Burlington now has the opportunity to distinguish itself as an industry leader by adopting policies that respect the rights of the local peoples and protects pristine ecosystems—or risk a protracted, costly, and embarrassing controversy for years to come.

Amazon SOS

amazonwatch — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 14:30:48 -0800

A public service announcement about the need to protect the Amazon Rainforest and the indigenous communities who reside there, narrated by Martin Sheen.