MAXUS PRESIDENT GIVEN BOUQUET OF ROSES DRENCHED IN OIL
TO COMMEMORATE RAINFOREST DESTRUCTION
ACTIVISTS DEMAND THAT OIL COMPANY COME CLEAN
ON ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD: MAXUS DOES THE MINIMUM
"The oil-covered roses we give Maxus today are to remind the company of
the oil it has spilled in the Ecuadorian rainforest over the last two
years. Maxus plowed its bulldozers through an Ecuadorian national park and
Indian homelands. Now the corporation is polluting the same region with
crude oil and toxic chemicalsyet Maxus claims to be running an
environmental oil operation. If Maxus operation is as clean as it says,
then why wont it release its environmental records?"
Shannon Wright, RAN Amazon Program Director
(Dallas) During his keynote address before the Interamerican Petroleum and
Gas Conference at the Dallas Fairmont Hotel, three concerned citizens
presented Dallas-based Maxus Energy Corporation President Roberto Monti
with a bouquet of oil-covered roses, symbolizing Maxus spoiling of the
Ecuadorian rainforest. The women also presented the Maxus president with
letters from concerned local citizens, asking him to release the companys
environmental records on the Ecuador project and submit to a full
environmental audit.
Along with dozens of organizations in Ecuador, the activists in Dallas
call on Maxus to immediately halt its environmentally harmful activities
in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Maxus has developed its Block 16 oil concession
inside Ecuadors ecologically fragile Yasun National Park and Huaorani
indigenous territory. Maxus acquired its Block 16 oil concession in 1991,
after Conoco abandoned its plans to develop the area in response to
concerns from the environmental and human rights community.
At that time, Maxus pledged to carry out the project as a model for
environmentally and socially sound oil development. However, since pumping
its first barrel of oil from the Ecuadorian rainforest in April 1994,
mounting evidence indicates that Maxus is not adhering to its own
environmental management plan. Measures for lessening the ecological and
social impact of the Block 16 oil project have not prevented the pollution
of a pristine rainforest area which local peoples depend on for food and
water. Ecuadorian organizations report that Maxus activities are plagued
by environmental mismanagement, resulting in several spills inside the
national park, the deforestation of some 52,000 acres of rainforest, the
release of oil and toxic fluids into the parks waterways, and the
construction of two landfills inside the park.
CEDENMA, a coalition of over a dozen environmental organizations in
Ecuador, CONFENAIE, the regional Amazon Indian federation, and the
Washington-based Amazon Coalition with over 40 member organizations
internationally have all repeatedly expressed their concern over Maxus
impact on Ecuadorian rainforest and local indigenous peoples, and will
continue to pressure the company until it changes its practices.
Rainforest Action Network works to protect the Earths rainforests and
support the rights of their inhabitants through education, grassroots
organizing, and non-violent direct action. ###