Rio prosecutors accuse Chevron of 'crime'

Rio prosecutors on Wednesday accused US oil giant Chevron and 17 executives of "environmental crime" in connection with last November's major oil spill off southeastern Brazil. The federal prosecutor's office said in a statement that it was charging "Chevron, oil drilling contractor Transocean and 17 executives with environmental crime and damage in connection with the oil spill" that occurred off the Rio de Janeiro coast last November. "The president of Chevron's Brazil unit, George Buck, and three other officials of the company also sought to frustrate the work of the prosecution by presenting a misleading emergency plan" and by "altering documents shown to the authorities," the statement added. The oil spill "affected the entire maritime ecosystem, which could lead to the extinction of species, as well as the region's economic activities, in addition to damage caused to the state," it said, quoting prosecutor Eduardo Santos de Oliveira. The prosecutor's office called for the "seizure of all assets of the accused, including 11 senior officials and employees from Chevron and five from Transocean." It called for payment of bail of $550,000 for each person and 5.5 million for each company. Earlier Wednesday, Carlos Minc, the state's environment secretary, also accused Chevron of "unprofessional conduct" and said he favored barring the US oil giant from operating in Brazil until it pays for recent oil spills at the Frade field it operates off the Rio de Janeiro coast, including a minor one last week. He said there would be "no impunity" for foreign oil companies operating in Brazil and said: "We must set an example with Chevron". "If (foreign) firms have the best technology, take all the precautions, they will be welcome, if not they won't be," he told a press conference. Chevron was "careless", made "a series of errors and should be barred from producing until it can show it can operate (safely) and pay what it owes," Minc said. To date, the US oil firm has not paid "a single cent" for two fines totaling $54 million imposed after the November spill, he added.