Historic Town Hall Event: Bayou American Indian Tribe Hard Hit by BP Gulf Spill to Host Leaders of Ecuador's Indigenous Communities Devastated by Chevron Oil Contamination http://www.amazonwatch.org/newsroom/view_news.php?id=2127

At Thursday's Town Hall forum, the Ecuadoreans will present to the Houma community a report containing ten lessons the communities in Ecuador have compiled from their experience in confronting severe oil contamination. Entitled The Lasting Stain of Oil: Cautionary Tales and Lessons from the Amazon, the report details some of the hidden health, environmental, cultural, and economic impacts of an oil disaster, as well as lessons for holding the polluter accountable and planning for long-term recovery.

The report was prepared by the Asamblea de Afectados por Texaco (The Assembly of Communities Affected by Chevron/Texaco), in conjunction with Rainforest Action Network and Amazon Watch, two U.S.-based advocacy organizations that support the efforts of communities in Ecuador to demand environmental cleanup.

Experts estimate that approximately 345 million gallons of pure crude were discharged into Ecuador's rainforest and waterways relied on by local groups for fishing, bathing, and drinking. For decades, Texaco (now Chevron) deliberately dumped 18 billion gallons of toxic oil waste, 17 million gallons of oil, and left over 900 unlined oil pits in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest. The contamination has decimated Indigenous groups in Ecuador and caused an outbreak of illness, birth defects, and cancers that have accounted for at least 1,400 deaths.