News
Venice Attorney Objects to Occidental's Actions in the Amazon; Group Documents Higher Cost than $3.99 a Gallon
Santa Monica, May 4, 2007—Venice-based attorney Benjamin Schonbrun strode into a share-holders meeting of Occidental Petroleum today as part of an action protesting the oil company’s pollution of the Peruvian Amazon.
Schonbrun was part of a group of attorneys, actors and indigenous peoples organized by the human rights/environmental organization Amazon Watch to speak directly to Occidental’s Board of Directors during a shareholders’ question and answer period.
Actor Benjamin Bratt who attended the meeting on behalf of Amazon Watch said he would “ask shareholders to hold the board and leaders accountable for the company’s irresponsible business practices” and that the devastation left by the multi-national was “still being felt” in the area.
The action capped a week in which the Achuar, the indigenous people who inhabit the area impacted by Occidental’s drilling, demanded that the multi-national clean up the pollution it left behind or face legal action.
Amazon Watch contends that between 1971 and the year 2000 Occidental dumped 850,000 barrels of crude oil a day into the surrounding area contaminating waterways and surrounding land—approximately 9 billion barrels total.
“The Exxon Valdez pales in comparison,” said Amazon Watch Executive Director Atossa Soltani.
In 2000 Occidental sold its concessions to a South American oil company. A company spokesperson contends that when the concessions were sold the purchasing company assumed liability.
A research report released by Amazon Watch on Thursday, May 3 demonstrated a more lethal cost for oil than $3.99 a galleon. 99 percent of Achuar peoples tested in a Peruvian government study have levels of lead and cadmium in their body that is above EPA and Worth Health Organization acceptable limits.
Said Bratt, “The report issued yesterday is the smoking gun” and “clearly Occidental is holding the smoking gun.”
Speaking at a press conference prior to attending the share holder’s meeting, attorney Marco Simon of EarthRights International said, “If [Occidental Petroleum] did this in the United States, they would have been held accountable long ago."
In 2005, a law partner in Schonbrun’s firm participated in a landmark case in which the oil company, Unocal, agreed to compensate Burmese villagers who had sued the multi-national for human rights abused which occurred during the company’s building of a pipeline in Burma.
Schonbrun's first involvement with the Achuar occurred last year, when he traveled deep into the Peruvian Amazon along with scientists, medical professionals, and lawyers to document the impact of pollution in the area.
“The Achuar were not looking for this fight,” said Schonbrun. “They’ve been living for hundreds of years in the Amazon… and Occidental came onto their land to drill for oil… and ruined their ability to live on it.”
Heavy Police Presence Surprises Locals
Santa Monica locals were surprised this morning to see a highly visible police presence surrounding the Fairmont Miramar Hotel where the Occidental shareholder meeting took place. All parking spaces on the block around the hotel appeared to be cordoned off or usurped by a multitude of law enforcement vehicles. Several individuals passing by stopped to inquire as to what was drawing such heavy security. Longtime Venice artist Laddie John Dill who happened to be installing new sculptural work approximately one half-block from the Fairmont Miramar thought a presidential candidate was speaking at the hotel.
Sergeant Rudy Camerena, a Public Information Officer with the Santa Monica Police Department stated that approximately 40 – 50 police were in the hotel’s vicinity. In contrast with the Los Angeles Police Department which is under fire for actions taken during an immigration protest earlier in the week, officers appeared friendly, cordial and relaxed, speaking easily with protesters and passers-by.
