The True Cost of Chevron An Alternative Annual Report May 2011 The True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative Annual Report May 2011 Introduction . 1 III . Around the World . 23 I . Chevron Corporate, Political and Economic Overview . 2. Angola . 23. Elias Mateus Isaac & Albertina Delgado, Open Society Map of Global Operations and Corporate Basics . .2 Initiative for Southern Africa, Angola The State of Chevron . .3 Australia . 25 Dr . Jill StJohn, The Wilderness Society of Western Australia; Antonia Juhasz, Global Exchange Teri Shore, Turtle Island Restoration Project Chevron Banks on a Profitable Political Agenda . .4 Burma (Myanmar) . .27 Tyson Slocum, Public Citizen Naing Htoo, Paul Donowitz, Matthew Smith & Marra Silencing Local Communities, Disenfranchising Shareholders . .5 Guttenplan, EarthRights International Paul Donowitz, EarthRights International Canada . 29 Resisting Transparency: An Industry Leader . 6. Chevron in Alberta . 29 Isabel Munilla, Publish What You Pay United States; Eriel Tchwkwie Deranger & Brant Olson, Rainforest Paul Donowitz, EarthRights International Action Network Chevron’s Ever-Declining Alternative Energy Commitment . .7 Chevron in the Beaufort Sea . 31 Antonia Juhasz, Global Exchange Andrea Harden-Donahue, Council of Canadians China . .32 II . The United States . 8 Wen Bo, Pacific Environment Colombia . 34 Chevron’s U .S . Coal Operations . 8. Debora Barros Fince, Organizacion Wayuu Munsurat, Antonia Juhasz, Global Exchange with support from Alex Sierra, Global Exchange volunteer Alaska . .9 Ecuador . 36 Bob Shavelson & Tom Evans, Cook Inletkeeper Han Shan, Amazon Watch, with support from California . 11. Ginger Cassady, Rainforest Action Network Antonia Juhasz, Global Exchange Indonesia . 39 Richmond Refinery . 13 Pius Ginting, WALHI-Friends of the Earth Indonesia Nile Malloy & Jessica Tovar, Communities for a Better Iraq . 41. Environment; Marilyn Langlois, Richmond Progressive Antonia Juhasz, Global Exchange; Alliance Thomas J . Buonomo, Iraq Veterans Against the War El Segundo Refinery . 15. Kazakhstan & Turkmenistan . 43 Jesse Marquez, Coalition For A Safe Environment Michelle Kinman, Sergey Solyanik & Kate Watters, Mississippi . 16. Crude Accountability Pascagoula Refinery Nigeria . 45 Steve Shepard, Gulf Coast Sierra Club Nnimmo Bassey, Environmental Rights Action/Friends Texas . 17 of the Earth Nigeria; Emem Okon, Kebetkache Women’s Luke Metzger, Environment Texas; Resource and Development Centre; Laura Livoti & Marc Bryan Parras, Texas Environmental Justice Advocacy Evans, Justice In Nigeria Now Services The North Sea . 47 Chevron Offshore . 18 Keiller MacDuff, Greenpeace Antonia Juhasz, Global Exchange Philippines . .48 The High Cost of Offshore Drilling . 20 Aileen Suzara & Mia Villanueva, Filipino/American Antonia Juhasz, Global Exchange; Coalition for Environmental Solidarity Julia Ritchie, Environment California; Thailand . .50 Angela Howe, Surfrider Foundation Songwoot Patkaew & Prasitchai Nunaun Utah . 22. Nicole Widmer, Utah Rivers Council IV . The True Cost of Chevron Network . 51 V . Chevron’s Obligations . .52 VI . Resources . 53 VII . Endnotes . .54 Note: Due to space constraints, the print version of this report includes truncated endnotes. The fully sourced version is posted at www.TrueCostofChevron.com. Each participating organization and contributing author or editor is solely responsible for the content that they have contributed under the portions of this report expressly attributed to them; they do not necessarily endorse, assume no liability for, and are not responsible for, the content of any portion of this report attributed to any other organization or author, and make no warranties that such content is accurate . The editors and all participating organizations and authors are jointly responsible for the content of the introduction and recommendations . Cover: Lydia Aguinda, daughter of Maria Aguinda, lead plaintiff in the historic Aguinda vs . Chevron lawsuit in Ecuador, outside their home in Rumipamba, cleaning up a former Texaco waste pit/oil spill in quichua ancestral territory . Photo by Mitchell Anderson, Amazon Watch Introduction CEO JOHN Watson opens Chevron’s 2010 Annual Report a joint venture that includes Chevron—were documented by by telling the corporation’s stockholders that “2010 was an EarthRights International. outstanding year for Chevron.”1 In 2010, in an effort to silence local community voices opposed to the corporation’s destructive practices, Chevron dis- We do not agree. enfranchised shareholders by denying admission to its annual We, the communities who bear the costs of Chevron’s op- shareholder meeting to 17 individuals who held legal proxies. erations, have witnessed a year in which Chevron’s performance 2010 was not an outstanding year for the communities was anything but exceptional. As we have documented in this where Chevron operates. third installment of the True Cost of Chevron: An Alternative The campaigns undertaken by communities around the Annual Report, Chevron continues its long history of ravaging world to hold Chevron accountable for its actions were out- natural environments, violating human rights, ignoring the standing. The acknowledgements of Chevron’s wrongdoings longstanding decisions of Indigenous communities, destroying by government entities in locations around the globe were out- traditional livelihoods, and converting its dollars into unjust standing. The hard fought victories achieved by citizens uniting political influence in the United States and around the world. to change the Chevron Way were outstanding. This report is a record of egregious corporate behavior After nearly 18 years of litigation, the indigenous people that—in locations as diverse as California, Burma, Colombia, and campesinos of the Ecuadorian Amazon achieved a criti- Ecuador, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, the Philippines and the U.S. cal milestone in 2010. An Ecuadorian court ordered Chevron Gulf Coast—has spanned decades and carries on today. to pay $9.5 billion for cleanup, clean water, health care and In the year that saw the world’s largest unintentional oil other reconstruction efforts for the tens of thousands of people spill, intensifying global concerns about the safety of the hydro- affected by the company’s widespread contamination in the carbon industry, Chevron has failed to change its behavior. region. In 2010, Chevron pursued ever-riskier and ever-deeper off- Environment Texas, the Sierra Club and the National shore projects in the South China Sea, the North Sea, the U.S. Environmental Law Center reached a settlement in 2010 with Gulf Coast, and the Canadian Arctic. Chevron Phillips Chemical requiring the company to pay a $2 In 2010, Chevron intensified its investments in three million penalty and implement major changes at its chemical controversial liquefied natural gas projects in areas of western plant in Baytown, Texas. The plant had violated its clean air Australia that have tremendous international conservation permits hundreds of times since 2003, leading to more than significance. one million pounds of illegal emissions. In 2010, Chevron announced a major expansion of its In an unprecedented victory for the community of Rich- Alberta, Canada tar sands projects, which are destroying the mond, California, in 2010 the State Court of Appeals upheld environment and severely impacting the health, livelihood and the majority of findings in a lower court decision that the cultural preservation of Indigenous communities living down- Environmental Impact Report for the expansion of Chevron’s stream from this destructive development. Richmond refinery violated state environmental law. In 2010, a rupture of Chevron’s pipeline in Salt Lake City, After decades of campaigning against Chevron’s highly pol- Utah dumped over 33,000 gallons of oil into Red Butte Creek, luting coal operations, communities in Alabama, New Mexico exposing residents to oil fumes and unknown health impacts and Wyoming welcomed—with cautious optimism—Chevron’s as the pollution flowed downstream through this densely announcement that 2010 would be the year the corporation populated streambed. After the pipeline was turned back on would exit the coal industry. under Chevron’s assurances of safety, a second rupture occurred We celebrate these triumphs and the many courageous within a few hundred feet of the first spill just 5 months later, individuals whose refusal to be silenced has been instrumental dumping an additional 21,000 gallons of oil. in bringing Chevron’s egregious actions to light. In 2010, Chevron continued its well-documented history Even so, there is much work to be done. Chevron is vigor- of releasing toxic pollution in both Angola and Nigeria through ously contesting the landmark verdict in the Ecuador case and recurrent leaks and waste discharges, and the harmful practice is continuing flagrant violations of environmental and human of gas flaring. rights around the globe. As Luis Yanza, coordinator for the In 2010, the Chevron joint venture developing the super- Affected People’s Assembly in Ecuador, writes, “the struggle will giant Tengiz Field in Kazakhstan emitted such high levels of continue today stronger than before . to ensure that justice toxins into the air that the country’s government fined the triumphs over impunity.” operation nearly $64 million. We invite you to read our report of the true cost of Chev- In 2010, a Chevron pipeline explosion covered part of an ron’s operations in communities from Alaska to Thailand, to Indonesian village