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Chevron lawyers sanctioned by judge in Amazon pollution suit
A U.S. federal court has sanctioned Chevron and its lawyers at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher for abusive questioning during a deposition related to the oil giant's multi-billion dollar liability in Ecuador for environmental contamination, according to court papers made available today.
The questioning that led to the sanctions was conducted by Andrea Neuman, one of Chevron's lead lawyers on the Ecuador matter and a partner at Gibson Dunn's office in Irvine, CA.
Neuman is the fourth Chevron lawyer to be sanctioned recently in the Ecuador matter. Separately, two Chevron employees are under criminal indictment in the South American nation for lying about the results of a purported environmental remediation that Chevron is using as a defense to the civil lawsuit over the contamination, which affects an area the size of Rhode Island.
Dozens of indigenous and farmer communities in Ecuador are suing the oil giant for deliberately dumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into Ecuador's Amazon region when it operated a large oil concession from 1964 to 1990. The contamination–which includes more than 900 abandoned toxic waste pits–has plunged the region into a public health crisis that threatens thousands of people with cancer and other oil-related diseases, according to evidence before the court.
In the brief seeking the sanctions, the Amazon communities accused Neuman of using "blatant intimidation tactics" that "fall below the standards of professional conduct" required by Colorado and Federal rules in Colorado. The questioning occurred when Neuman deposed an American technical expert for the plaintiffs on Oct. 6 in Denver.