Chevron Buys 228,000 acres in the land of tax-free fracking (SW PA)

[JPZenger]

http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2011/05/chevron_corp_to_buy_228k_acres.html

I bet they are going to use the same environmental protections they used in Ecuador.

http://chevrontoxico.com/

[Glassunion]

1. You crazy...

They will be fine. It's all bubblegum and unicorns. :sarcasm:

[Divernan]

2. I think Chevron purchased mineral rights, not actual land.

That's all Big Oil is interested in. Article doesn't say what percentage/no. of acres of this land is state-owned land. I hope some enterprising investigative reporter finds out just how much Corbett's administration is charging on behalf of the state. And we need to see a map delineating exactly where these 280,000 acres are.

And just for history's sake, let's get some photos of these lands before they are devastated by fracking.

Readers: Please rec this thread up to 5 and get it out on the main page. What Chevron is doing in Pennsylvania they doubtless have already or are in the process of doing in other shale states.

[Divernan]

3. Chevron held liable for $9.5 billion in damamges to Ecuador rain forest.

I did not know about this matter - found it at the link in the OP.

Chevron Selling Assets to Escape Enforcement of $9.5 Billion Judgment in Ecuador, Plaintiffs Charge
Court Filing Requests that U.S. Judge Increase $21.8 Million Bond

5 April 2011 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Karen Hinton at 703-798-3109 or [e-mail]
Mitch Anderson at 415-342-4783 or [e-mail]

New York, NY – Chevron is divesting itself of overseas assets that could be used to enforce the $9.5 billion legal judgment against the oil giant for massive contamination of the Ecuadorian rainforest, lawyers for the Ecuadorian plaintiffs stated in a legal brief submitted to the Southern District of New York last week.

The plaintiffs requested U.S. Judge Lewis Kaplan increase a Chevron bond of $21.8 million bond to reflect the value of the assets recently sold, which surpasses at least $1.7 billion. The court filings are part of a motion to stay a preliminary injunction issued by Judge Kaplan pending an appeal to the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals.

Kaplan's preliminary injunction order purports to prevent the Ecuadorian plaintiffs and their counsel from taking any steps to enforce a $9.5 billion legal judgment against Chevron issued on February 14, at the conclusion of an eight-year civil trial in Ecuador. The 188-page judgment against Chevron in Ecuador was based on a 200,000-page trial record of more than 64,000 scientific sampling results and inspections of more than 100 former oil production sites.

Before issuing his order, Judge Kaplan did not review the Ecuador trial record or even read the Ecuador trial court decision, said Karen Hinton, the spokeswoman for the plaintiffs. "We find Judge Kaplan's apparent bias against Ecuador shocking to the say the least," said Hinton, noting that Ecuador's U.S. Ambassador expressed "concern" over the ruling.

Kaplan required Chevron to post a $21.8 million bond as a condition of granting the preliminary injunction. The amount pales next to the potential $9.5 billion judgment the company is facing in Ecuador.