Photo: cbc.ca |
January 27, 2012
Report: Brazil plans criminal charges against Chevron execs
in oil spill
CAMPOS, Brazil -- A Brazilian prosecutor plans to file criminal
charges against Chevron and some of its local managers within
weeks, adding the threat of prison sentences to an $11 billion
civil lawsuit as punishment for a November offshore oil spill.
The filing in federal court in Campos, Brazil, is likely
to include a request for criminal indictment of George Buck,
CEO of San Ramon-based Chevron's Brazil unit, as well as other
staff, three Brazilian government officials involved in the
case told Reuters.
Transocean, whose rig was used in the operation, and some
of its employees in Brazil are also expected to be charged,
according to the officials, who requested anonymity because
the case has not been presented to a judge. It is up to a
judge to determine whether to accept the charges and proceed
with indictments.
The backlash against the Chevron spill has highlighted the
risks that energy companies face as they rush to get a piece
of Brazil's oil bonanza. Chevron's legal troubles come as
new oil rules give Brazil's government more control over the
country's vast oil wealth. The regulatory overhaul has also
delayed investment projects and new drilling licenses.
Buck and Chevron acted in a "careless and irresponsible
way," an official who investigated the 2,400-barrel spill
told Reuters.
The official said it is unlikely that people facing charges
will be arrested in the near term or be barred from leaving
Brazil. As the case advances and more evidence is collected, however, such measures could
be applied, the official added.
When Reuters informed Chevron that charges were pending,
company spokesman Kurt Glaubitz said "Chevron believes
that the charges are without merit."
"Chevron is confident that once all the facts are fully
examined, they will demonstrate that Chevron responded appropriately
and responsibly to the incident," he added.
Transocean spokesman R. Thaddeus Vayda declined to comment.
Transocean is the world's biggest offshore oil rig operator.
Brazilian prosecutors have become more active in going after
alleged polluters, sometimes bringing aggressive charges to
encourage offenders to settle cases. They are moving far more
swiftly than their U.S. counterparts: BP's 2010 spill in the
Gulf of Mexico, more than 1,000 times larger in terms of oil,
has not yet resulted in any criminal charges.
In Brazil, charges in cases such as these can take a decade
before all appeals are exhausted. That could saddle Chevron
and Transocean with years of costly litigation, said Paulo
Augusto Silva Novaes, a lawyer with the Rio de Janeiro firm
of Benjo, Garcia, Souto & Novaes.
The charges would come more than a month after a Federal
Police investigator submitted a report saying Chevron and
Transocean took "unacceptable" risks in the Frade
oil field off Brazil's southern coast, and recommended that
17 individuals be indicted.
As many as 12 of those people are from Chevron, according
to legal documents reviewed by Reuters.
Chevron is also fighting a separate $11 billion lawsuit brought
by the same Brazilian federal prosecutors. Chevron also is
contesting an $18 billion judgment in Ecuador related to environmental
contamination from 1964 to 1992 by Texaco, which Chevron bought
in 2001.
On Nov. 7, a well drilled by Chevron using a Transocean rig
73 miles from the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, experienced
a pressure "kick" after tapping into an oil reservoir
in Frade.
An emergency blowout preventer was activated, plugging the
well 3,937 feet below the ocean surface. But days later, Chevron
discovered oil seeps from the sea floor hundreds of meters
from the plugged well. Pressure caused a breach of the well
wall far beneath the seabed, allowing oil to infiltrate surrounding
rock and work its way into the ocean, Chevron said.
San Jose Mercury News
http://www.mercurynews.com/rss/ci_19828382?source=rss
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