LOS ANGELES - March 20 - A federal court will hear oral argument next week to determine the proper venue in a landmark class-action human rights lawsuit against Occidental Petroleum (Oxy) for contaminating indigenous communities from the Peruvian Amazon. The suit, Maynas Carijano v. Occidental, brought by EarthRights International on behalf of 25 indigenous Peruvians and U.S. environmental group Amazon Watch, alleges egregious harm caused by Oxy over a 30-year period in the Corrientes River basin of northeastern Peru. The plaintiffs argue the case should be heard in the United States and contend that Oxy left massive contamination in the rivers and lands of the indigenous Achuar people, causing death, widespread poisoning and destruction of the Achuar way of life. The suit alleges that Oxy deliberately ignored industry standards and employed out-of-date practices, resulting in severe cadmium and lead poisoning among indigenous communities. In addition, it is contended that Oxy illegally dumped 850,000 barrels of toxic wastewater a day for three decades, and caused acid rain by flaring huge quantities of gas, failing to warn local indigenous communities of the health dangers and improperly storing chemical wastes in unlined pits. One of the Peruvian plaintiffs, Apu Tomas Maynas Carijano, an Achuar elder, will attend the hearing, and will also make a presentation at Loyola Law School about the lawsuit, on Tuesday, March 25, from noon to 1pm.

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