Thu Oct 21, 2010
Source: Fast Company
The dust has settled on the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, the U.S. government has lifted its moratorium on Gulf drilling, and now Chevron has announced that it plans to file an application for deepwater drilling permits in the area. This oil giant doesn't have the abysmal safety record of BP -- but that doesn't mean environmentalists can let their guard down.
The company has been known to cut corners in the past. Between 1964 and 1990, Chevron dumped 18.5 billion gallons of toxic waste sludge into streams and rivers in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest, where the company was drilling for oil. The dumping was purportedly done to save Chevron cash, and now the company is being sued for environmental damages.
There are more recent transgressions, too. Just this past June, a leaky Chevron pipeline spilled 33,000 gallons of oil into a Salt Lake City creek. The company was also recently involved in a spill in Angola, but it won't reveal the oil spill's size. A 2002 oil spill in Angola prompted the country to fine Chevron $2 million in environmental damages. That spill was caused by badly maintained pipes.