[Goldfisch]

Chevron to appeal pipeline ruling

ChevronTexaco, America's second-biggest oil company, is to appeal a court ruling ordering it to pay $40.3m (£27m) for damage from a pipeline leak.
A Montana jury ordered the company to pay for the environmental damage from a gasoline pipeline leak in 1955, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The award could lead to more lawsuits against oil companies, legal experts told the newspaper.

The prosecution claimed Chevron failed to adequately clean up the oil spill.

Residents of Sunburst argued that the leak at the Old Sunburst Works refinery Montana subsequently harmed public health and property values.

ChevronTexaco says it pumped the ground clean for two years after the leak and it is still monitoring pollution levels.

State regulators agreed with the ChevronTexaco assessment that there was no health risk.

However, the case indicates that other companies may have to pay damages if they too have been held responsible for leftover contamination from old refineries under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act.

Separately, Texaco is facing a billion-dollar lawsuit which was brought by the lawyers for 30,000 Ecuadoreans, who say a Texaco subsidiary - which later merged with Chevron - poured contaminated waste water into open pits.

Quelle: BBC