No Absolution for EnCana
September 06, 2004Canadian Oil Giant EnCanas Plans to Sell Controversial Ecuadorian Operations Do Not Negate Its Responsibilities in the Region
September 3rd, 2004.
GlobalAware Position Statement:
Canadian Oil Giant EnCanas Plans to Sell Controversial Ecuadorian Operations Do Not Negate Its Responsibilities in the Region
Calgary-based oil and gas company EnCanas plans to sell its Ecuadorian holdings do not absolve the company from addressing the problems it has created and will not remove the social and environmental black marks it has earned there, says GlobalAware, a Canadian not-for-profit organization that has worked to educate Canadians about EnCanas activities abroad.
The Calgary oil company has come under fire for its lead role as the largest shareholder in the highly controversial OCP pipeline (Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados, Heavy Crude Pipeline). The 500 km-long pipeline crosses seismic fault lines, environmentally vulnerable areas and farmland resulting in a myriad of human rights and environmental abuses during its construction.
Filling the OCP, which currently runs at one third capacity, requires expansion of exploration and drilling in extremely sensitive Amazon ecosystems (like the Yasuni UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve) that are home to indigenous groups. Local and international resistance to both the pipeline and oil expansion has slowed oil company activities in the region despite allegations that oil resisters have been intimidated, assaulted, and illegally imprisoned at the hands of Ecuadorian police and military working on behalf of the EnCana-led consortium and other companies. Just a week before news of the proposed sale broke, Ecuadorian monitors circulated a press release about the forcible removal of an Ecuadorian woman opposed to oil development on her lands by two EnCana representatives accompanied by six Ecuadorian police.
GlobalAware has run an active campaign to pressure EnCana to improve its Ecuadorian operations and take responsibility for social and environmental problems it has caused. The non-governmental organization has been active in disseminating information to business analysts and EnCanas investors, participating in EnCanas annual shareholder meetings, and holding information sessions across the country to alert the public of EnCanas activities overseas. GlobalAware has urged EnCana to investigate allegations of human rights violations, remediate farmland along the pipeline route, adequately compensate farmers for continued losses, address local concerns about oil contamination and stop oil activities in protected areas. EnCana has failed to take these concerns seriously
For all of the communities along the OCP route and those in EnCanas concession blocks who will be left with broken promises, inadequate compensation and damage to their property and local environment, EnCanas departure will stand as proof positive that the companys policies on human and environmental rights protection are hollow.
GlobalAware and other activist groups can celebrate the fact that they have made Ecuador enough of a pain for EnCana CEO Gwyn Morgan that he would consider selling this lucrative jewel in the crown. At the same time, the quick-fix solution of selling out merely highlights the flaws in a global economy that allows corporations to sell their messes rather than clean them up. EnCana has moral and economic obligations to the people of Ecuador that a sale will not erase, says GlobalAware who will continue to monitor and publicize EnCana activities.
Even without Ecuador, GlobalAware will have its hands full with EnCana:
GlobalAware Position Statement:
Canadian Oil Giant EnCanas Plans to Sell Controversial Ecuadorian Operations Do Not Negate Its Responsibilities in the Region
Calgary-based oil and gas company EnCanas plans to sell its Ecuadorian holdings do not absolve the company from addressing the problems it has created and will not remove the social and environmental black marks it has earned there, says GlobalAware, a Canadian not-for-profit organization that has worked to educate Canadians about EnCanas activities abroad.
The Calgary oil company has come under fire for its lead role as the largest shareholder in the highly controversial OCP pipeline (Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados, Heavy Crude Pipeline). The 500 km-long pipeline crosses seismic fault lines, environmentally vulnerable areas and farmland resulting in a myriad of human rights and environmental abuses during its construction.
Filling the OCP, which currently runs at one third capacity, requires expansion of exploration and drilling in extremely sensitive Amazon ecosystems (like the Yasuni UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve) that are home to indigenous groups. Local and international resistance to both the pipeline and oil expansion has slowed oil company activities in the region despite allegations that oil resisters have been intimidated, assaulted, and illegally imprisoned at the hands of Ecuadorian police and military working on behalf of the EnCana-led consortium and other companies. Just a week before news of the proposed sale broke, Ecuadorian monitors circulated a press release about the forcible removal of an Ecuadorian woman opposed to oil development on her lands by two EnCana representatives accompanied by six Ecuadorian police.
GlobalAware has run an active campaign to pressure EnCana to improve its Ecuadorian operations and take responsibility for social and environmental problems it has caused. The non-governmental organization has been active in disseminating information to business analysts and EnCanas investors, participating in EnCanas annual shareholder meetings, and holding information sessions across the country to alert the public of EnCanas activities overseas. GlobalAware has urged EnCana to investigate allegations of human rights violations, remediate farmland along the pipeline route, adequately compensate farmers for continued losses, address local concerns about oil contamination and stop oil activities in protected areas. EnCana has failed to take these concerns seriously
For all of the communities along the OCP route and those in EnCanas concession blocks who will be left with broken promises, inadequate compensation and damage to their property and local environment, EnCanas departure will stand as proof positive that the companys policies on human and environmental rights protection are hollow.
GlobalAware and other activist groups can celebrate the fact that they have made Ecuador enough of a pain for EnCana CEO Gwyn Morgan that he would consider selling this lucrative jewel in the crown. At the same time, the quick-fix solution of selling out merely highlights the flaws in a global economy that allows corporations to sell their messes rather than clean them up. EnCana has moral and economic obligations to the people of Ecuador that a sale will not erase, says GlobalAware who will continue to monitor and publicize EnCana activities.
Even without Ecuador, GlobalAware will have its hands full with EnCana:
- A Mtis community has gone to the Supreme Court of BC to challenge EnCana in a bid to gain control of how local energy riches are harvested and managed;
- The Colorado Oil and Gas Commission recently approved the states largest fine in history for a gas seep caused by EnCana;
- Community groups in British Colombia are mobilizing in resistance to EnCanas plans for coal bed methane extraction
- EnCana risks becoming the next Talisman with its investments in Chad where the dictatorial government of Idriss Deby has already used oil profits to buy arms and has suppressed local resistance to the Chad-Cameroon pipeline
As with Shell in Nigeria, Talisman in Sudan and Texaco in Ecuador, EnCanas record will continue to plague it. This will prevent them from making any serious claims to ethical business practice and add fuel to the fires of communities around the world who are resisting EnCanas brand of development. We will work to ensure Canadians know whats going on, says GlobalAware.
Contact:
Nadja Drost or Leslie Jermyn
GlobalAware Canada
416-761-1952
leslie@globalaware.org
nadja@globalaware.org
GlobalAware Canada
Suite 551, 2938 Dundas St. W
Toronto, ON
M6P 4E7 Canada
Tel: (416) 761-1952
Fax: (416) 352-6160
www.GlobalAware.ca
***GlobalAware Canada is a collective of concerned individuals working towards environmental justice and social change.***
See also:
Encana will sell Ecuadorean operations
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