Chevron Appeals Massive Amazon Pollution Fine

Chevron has launched an appeal challenging a whopping $9.5 billion penalty for polluting much of Ecuador's Amazon region. Company attorneys are accusing lawyers and supporters of the indigenous groups who brought the suit against Chevron of "corrupting" the trial, and claims that the finding against the corporation is filled with "numerous legal and factual defects," reports the BBC.

Texaco, which merged with Chevron 10 years ago, was found liable for dumping 18 billion gallons of toxins into the Amazon river basin. Crops failed, animals were killed and cancer increased among residents, the suit against Chevron charged. The corporation has filed its appeal in an Ecuador court, but also plans to challenge the decision in US courts and at an international tribunal. (More Ecuador stories.)