Drop by drop.Even as U.S. oil giant ChevronTexaco works to close down a long-running court case in Ecuador over how a subsidiary disposed dis·pose v. dis·posed, dis·pos·ing, dis·pos·es v.tr. 1. To place or set in a particular order; arrange. 2. of oil-laden water at an Amazon well, oil and water is becoming a problem for another unit--this time in Nicaragua. The amounts are smaller, but lawsuits are coming soon, environmentalists promise. At issue is how Texaco Caribbean handled two gasoline gasoline or petrol, light, volatile mixture of hydrocarbons for use in the internal-combustion engine and as an organic solvent, obtained primarily by fractional distillation and "cracking" of petroleum, but also obtained from natural gas, by spills totaling more than 32,000 liters that forced the closure of two stations in less than a year. The first spill spill - register spilling , caused by a broken hose, dumped nearly 20.000 liters of gas into the soil surrounding sur·round tr.v. sur·round·ed, sur·round·ing, sur·rounds 1. To extend on all sides of simultaneously; encircle. 2. To enclose or confine on all sides so as to bar escape or outside communication. n. Texaco's Parque Industrial station in Managua in May 2003, the government found. It ordered a study of environmental damages and for Texaco to pay damages. The second spill happened in April, when a driver backed into a pump at the Texaco Masaya station, spilling more than 12,400 liters. The government ordered Texaco to pay a US$6,330 fine or lose its national operating license. The company paid. People living near the Parque Industrial spill claim gas seeped into their drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. . One woman who lives behind the Parque Industrial station says she has tested positive for traces of gasoline in her blood and urine. Oilwatch Mesoamerica and the Nicaraguan Humboldt Center say they'll sue. Texaco's legal representative in Nicaragua, Juan Carlos Juan Car·los Born 1938. King of Spain (since 1975) who acceded to the throne on the death of Francisco Franco and helped restore parliamentary democracy. Noun 1. Habed, insists that Texaco's primary object is to protect the environment. Habed says Texaco has already cleaned up a "considerable part" of the first spill but said he couldn't say exactly how many gallons have been removed from the soil. Texaco insists, however, that there is no evidence that the spill has affected the drinking water. "Finding traces of gasoline in the blood of some of the neighbors does not mean it came from the service station at Parque Industrial," Habed says. |
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