IPS: BURMA-BUSINESS: Oil Giant Suff

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Subject: IPS: BURMA-BUSINESS: Oil Giant Suffers Legal Setbacks

http://www.link.no/IPS/art/eng/serv/AP/97/05/08/05.30_005.html
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>              [Image] BURMA-BUSINESS: Oil Giant Suffers Legal
>        BACK  [Image] Setbacks
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> by Reese Erlich
> SAN FRANCISCO, May 8 (IPS) - Popular pressure has dealt a series of
> blows to the oil giant Unocal in recent weeks, affecting its
> environmental policies and future investments in Burma.
> 
> Human rights activists, environmentalists, and trade unionists have
> sharply criticised Unocal for putting profits ahead of people.
> Recent court actions and a key Clinton Administration decision now
> echo some of those criticisms.
> 
> In the first case, a federal court judge in Los Angeles ruled Mar.
> 25 that a highly unusual suit by human rights groups against Unocal
> may proceed to trial.
> 
> The suit, brought under the Alien Tort Claims Act, charges that
> Unocal cooperates with the military regime in Burma (Myanmar) in
> repression and slave labour. The Act allows persons to sue others in
> U.S. courts for rights violations committed abroad. Although the
> defendant must be in the United States when the suit is filed, none
> of the parties has to be a U.S. citizen.
> 
> In another decision, a San Francisco federal judge ruled Apr. 14
> that Unocal was responsible for having polluted the San Francisco
> Bay with the toxic chemical selenium.
> 
> And seven days later, the Clinton administration enacted an
> executive order prohibiting all new investment in Burma, a move
> strongly opposed by Unocal, which is investing in a 1.2 billion-
> dollar natural gas pipeline there.
> 
> These strikes against Unocal reflect grassroots groups' ''long- term
> organising,'' says Greg Karras, a representative of Community for a
> Better Environment.
> 
> Unocal is fighting back.
> 
> The company recently sold off most of its U.S. refineries and gas
> stations, and plans to shift its corporate headquarters from Los
> Angeles to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Those actions will result in the
> loss of hundreds of jobs, according to Howard Spencer, president of
> Local 1-326 of the Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers (OCAW), which
> is located near San Francisco.
> 
> ''Unocal has been polluting the San Francisco Bay with selenium and
> tolerating human rights abuses in Burma,'' said Spencer. ''And now
> they're laying off American workers in order to invest in Asia.''
> 
> From April 21-23 the OCAW, along with the United Mine Workers union,
> gathered petitions and held rallies to demand an end to all U.S.
> investments in Burma, including an end to the building of the
> natural gas pipeline.
> 
> Unocal has refused to discuss the issues with IPS, despite repeated
> requests for interviews. But press reports have cited Unocal sources
> as denying any involvement with human rights abuses in Burma.
> 
> Company officials say they pay high wages to pipeline workers and
> have built hospitals and schools in the area. They oppose President
> Bill Clinton's Apr. 21 executive order that forbids new U.S.
> investment in Burma. They argue that western investments can help
> moderate the Burmese military regime's policies.
> 
> ''We firmly believe that Unocal can contribute as a partner in this
> region to the betterment of the lives of the people,'' Unocal
> Chairman Roger Beach told Reuters recently.
> 
> But human rights groups point out that although Unocal and other
> western companies have invested in Burma for years, human rights
> abuses by the military regime, known as the State Law and Order
> Restoration Council (SLORC), are getting worse.
> 
> Pam Wellner, coordinator for the San Francisco-based group 'Free
> Burma/No Petro Dollars for SLORC', says ''1996 was the worst year
> yet for human rights abuses'' in Burma.
> 
> Unocal faced a major setback when a Los Angeles federal judge ruled
> that human rights activists could proceed with their suit against
> the company.
> 
> The suit alleges that Burmese farmers have been relocated and forced
> to work on pipeline-related projects. While not ruling on the
> substance of the allegations, Judge Richard Paez said a jury might
> see Unocal's payments to SLORC as tantamount to ''participation in
> slave trading.''
> 
> Unocal denies such charges and is appealing the ruling.
> 
> In another major legal setback, San Francisco Federal Judge Thelton
> Henderson ruled Apr. 14 that Unocal violated both federal and state
> laws by continuing to dump selenium in the San Francisco Bay. In
> high concentrations, selenium can cause birth defects, deformities,
> and even death.
> 
> Unocal's pollution stemmed from its decision to buy less costly, but
> selenium-rich crude oil for its Rodeo refinery, according to
> environmentalists. That crude, along with a particular refining
> process, resulted in Unocal's plant releasing about five pounds of
> selenium a day, almost six times the amount allowed under federal
> law.
> 
> The Bay became contaminated, leading health officials to warn people
> not to eat some Bay fish and shellfish. At current levels, the
> selenium contamination can cause flu-like symptoms.
> 
> ''Poor people rely on fishing in the Bay for food,'' says
> environmentalist Karras. ''Eighty percent of them are people of
> colour. This is a form of environmental racism.''
> 
> Unocal sold the polluting refinery in April. But the company could
> be liable for fines of up to 50 million dollars for violating the
> federal Clean Water Act.
> 
> Unocal's actions in the United States and Asia have turned some
> former adversaries into allies. In the past, unions have opposed the
> demands of some environmental groups, fearing that big clean- ups
> could result in plant shutdowns and layoffs.
> 
> But the selenium case could serve as a model of
> environmentalist-union cooperation, says union president Spencer.
> 
> ''The environmental groups filing suit thought very carefully
> about'' potential job loss, said Spencer. ''They weren't trying to
> shut the plant down. So we became allies.'' (END/IPS/RE/YJC/97)