Free Steven Donziger and Clean Up the Amazon from Chevron's Crimes

From Steven: As time for my pardon from President Biden runs low — there are now only two weeks left for a decision — I want to remember the environmental tragedy in Ecuador that forms the backdrop for my campaign.

The pictures document what might be the worst ecological calamity created by a single oil company in history. They also make me sick to my stomach. These are three of the roughly 1,000 oil waste pits left by Chevron in Ecuador’s rainforest; most have been there for 50 years or more. The pits are full of cancer-causing toxins that are piped into the rivers and streams used by Indigenous and farmer communities for their drinking water, bathing and fishing. A large portion of the now $12 billion Chevron owes the communities will be used to remediate these pits. Thousands of people have either died of cancer or face a grave risk of death due to this totally substandard and preventable system of oil extraction. Chevron built this system to maximize profits knowing it would kill.

I took more than 250 trips to this region from my home in New York over two decades to try to help those harmed force Chevron to fund a lifesaving clean-up. When Ecuador’s Supreme Court ruled in 2013 that we won the legal case, Chevron refused to comply and instead had me jailed in the US on a baseless contempt of court charge in the nation’s first corporate criminal prosecution. It was pure retaliation by the oil industry and a brazen violation of the rule of law. Chevron also had me barred from leaving the country, preventing me from meeting my clients and stalling a final resolution of the case. By jailing me, Chevron also denied the communities they poisoned their right to counsel. The pits are still there. Vulnerable people continue to get sick and die. Don’t just take my word for it. More than 100 leading civil society groups in the world support the communities and my demand for a pardon.

A pardon will enable me and other lawyers to bring the judgment to fruition. It will send a clear message that corporations cannot jail their critics. To learn more or to help, please go to FreeDonziger.com and call the White House at 202-456-1111 to urge action.