NEW YORK, March 12 (UPI) -- A district judge in New York ruled that Chevron Corp. can move ahead with an international arbitration claim tied to environmental pollution in Ecuador.
Ecuador sued Chevron, claiming its affiliates failed to clean up after oil production in the region from 1968-92. Chevron counters the claims, saying state-run Petroecuador is responsible for the damage.
U.S. District Judge Leonard B. Sand in Manhattan ruled against Ecuador in its effort to block the environmental lawsuit for arbitration, saying a stay was "inappropriate," The Wall Street Journal reports.
Ecuador tried to stop arbitration by Chevron by filing a lawsuit in Manhattan in December. Sand's ruling has no direct impact on the $27 billion lawsuit the U.S. supermajor is fighting in Ecuador.
Chevron moved on its arbitration effort in September when it said the government in Ecuador was interfering in the 17-year-old case. Ecuador denies the challenge.
The lengthy legal case has become particularly messy. Chevron spokesman Kent Robertson said the Manhattan ruling was the right thing to do in order to "compel" Ecuador to "clean up the Amazon."
Jonathan Abady, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, told the Journal the arbitration effort was an "attack" against his clients.
