The World's Worst Oil Related Disaster You've Never Heard Of | I Was There

Deep in the Amazon Rainforest of Ecuador lies the "Amazon Chernobyl", a 1,700-square-mile environmental disaster brought on by oil extraction and production. After a visit to Ecuador in 1993, human rights lawyer Steven Donziger and other attorneys brought a class-action lawsuit against Texaco (later Chevron) on behalf of over 30,000 farmers and Indigenous people from this Amazon region who were affected by this disaster. Through his personal testimony and supporting footage, Steven recounts his experience advocating on behalf of the environment and affected communities and the personal toll this work has had on his life.

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[VICE]

What untold history would you like to see us cover next?

[alienresearchlab]

"It's cheaper to pay their lawyers than to pay the people that they've harmed." That quote got me smh.

[mizaramirez]

This should be a crime against humanity.

[YoYo-gtiq]

"To say that we just tried to cover this up is just true - uh, untrue."

Perfectly revealing.

[nh_]

This is extremely disgusting and extremely hard to watch. But I’m glad I’m being taught about it today

[rowanh]

Holy Hell...Chevron must have done a great job covering this up, I just heard about this this year...

[exotichemorrhoids]

Absolutely horrifying, this must be one of the worst crimes committed during the last 4 decades

[tychosvoboda]

I hardly get angry, but this makes my blood boil.

[lifeislife]

Companies shouldn't have more power than human lives.

[MadMrMatter]

This was hard to watch but very necessary to watch.

[TheWorld_]

This is a crime against humanity.
The worst sort of corporate atrocity.

[rachelw]

I actually do remember this. I was in middle school living in SE Asia- my dad was a geologist for a major oil company, so this- and others- really stood out to me and bothered me a lot.

[Brett_S_]

We suck soo bad! C'mon humanity. This ALL needs to change.

[funnymank]

Absolutely awful. The CEOs of these companies must face justice for their crimes

[chaoticfirearm]

CHEVRON MUST PAY FOR THEIR CRIMES. Literally and figuratively.

[annanoux]

I'm so proud of this lawyer, he must have invested so much in this case!

[zackmeisle]

I think anytime there is lawyers or doctors claiming "Theres absolutely no evidence that there is an increase in cancer rate and that these are just poor people who get sick anyway" or any other claim in similar situations...We should mandate them to spend a period of time in that "non risky" area and see if they will spout the same bullshit when its their own health being put on the line.

[urbexplorationz]

This man is a hero! The world needs more people like him...

[igotisekaid]

This is the content we want vice: 100% journalism good job 👏

[luisn.]

Damn, as a former oilfield worker! This is shameful. Big oil tyrants need to go down baby. The same is happening in Montana, Texas and more than likely every where else. Thanks for opening my eyes!