Multinational oil giant Chevron Texaco is facing the most expensive environmental lawsuit in history. Accused by an Amazonian indigenous community of contaminating the land with toxic waste, the world's third biggest petrol supplier could face a fine of 27 billion dollars.

The story began in 1990 when Texaco closed down operations in an Amazonian area in Ecuador, home to the indigenous Cofàn community, where Texaco had been drilling oil since 1969. In accordance with government regulations and to avoid legal troubles, the company said it would spend 40 million dollars on cleaning the affected area.   

The cleanup however was far from what was hoped for. In Lago Agrio and other towns in the Sucumbios region, ponds remain full of waste left by Texaco, two decades after the company moved out. In that time, the sludge has found its way into groundwater and seeped into the surrounding soil. According to the local residents, these toxic substances are the root cause of serious illnesses (leukaemia for example), and consequent deaths. On May 27 their claims were backed up by the Pichincha local prosecutor, Augusto Semanante.

Fifteen years after the case began, the Cofàn community received good news as legal proceedings, which began in New York in 1993, were transferred to a court in Ecuador - largely expected to side with the plaintiffs. President Rafael Correa has done little to hide his own feelings about the "crime against humanity".   

Chevron Texaco however passed the buck to Petroecuador, the state-owned company which took over as operator of the site, and condemns the Equatorian government, calling the case a "judicial farce". The American firm fears that it will not face a fair trial in Ecuador. The judge, a former army chief, has already given his opinion on the matter: "It seems like a fight between Goliath, and a group of people who can't even pay their bills".