Source:
International Herald Tribune/Associated PressOffices of inspector in Ecuador-Chevron pollution suit burglarized, computers stolen
The Associated Press
Published: December 20, 2007
QUITO, Ecuador: A court-appointed engineer in charge of determining whether Chevron Corp. caused environmental damage in the Ecuadorean jungle said Wednesday his offices were burglarized and three computers with information about the case were stolen.
Richard Cabrera told The Associated Press his Quito office was broken into before dawn Friday. Two desktop computers, a laptop, two printers and a digital camera were missing after the break-in, he said.
"It may be common criminals," he said. "I don't blame any of the parties in this matter, that we'll leave" to the authorities.
Cabrera is preparing a report for a class-action suit filed against the San Ramon, California-based company by 30,000 jungle settlers and Indians. They are seeking US$6 billion (€4.2 billion) in cleanup costs for the jungle region where Texaco Petroleum Co. spent three decades extracting oil before it merged with Chevron in 2001.
Cabrera said that he plans to hand in his final report on the alleged environmental damage in the last two weeks of January. The burglary "will not be an obstacle to my work," he told the AP. "I'm moving forward."
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http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/12/20/america/LA-GEN-Ecuador-Chevron-Suit.php