Amazon Crude

Synopsis

Scott Pelley reports on a multi-billion dollar lawsuit over oil drilling pollution. Chevron is America’s third largest company behind ExxonMobil and WalMart. One way it became that big was by buying Texaco in 2001. Now, that purchase of Texaco has pulled Chevron into a titanic struggle in the Amazon. The people who live in a remote region of Ecuador are suing Chevron, saying reckless oil exploration poisoned the most important rain forest on earth.

Soon, a judge in a tiny Ecuadorian courtroom will decide whether the oil company must pay as much as $27 billion in damages. That would make it the largest environmental lawsuit in history. Almost everything is in dispute in this bitter struggle except one thing: powering American cars with Amazon crude has left a toxic legacy.

Series

60 Minutes, Series

Language

English

Country

Great Britain

Year of release

2009

Year of production

2009

Notes

The film CRUDE, directed by Joe Berlinger,was based on this legal case.

Subjects

Environmental science; Law

Keywords

Amazon river; law; legal issues; oil spills; oil wells; pollution; rain forests

Online availability

URI

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/05/01/60minutes/main4983549.shtml

Price

free

Delivery

Streamed

Credits

Contributor

Scott Pelley

Production Company

Name

CBS News

Web

http://www.cbsnews.com/ External site opens in new window

Distributor

Name

cbsnews.com