© Rainforest Action Network, 2001
October 12, 2001

PRESS RELEASE

(Guarumos, Ecuador) – Ecuadorian groups announced that dozens of women and children yesterday began a peaceful blockade of OCP Consortium machinery as it attempted to clear protected forests to build Ecuador's new heavy crude pipeline. The building of the pipeline along its current route, funded in part by Citigroup, will devastate 11 protected forest areas and lead to the doubling of oil production from National Parks and other protected areas in the Ecuadorian Amazon and have a devastating impact on local communities.

As of 4 pm EST, an estimated 40 people from local communities affected by the pipeline were participating in the successful blockade. "The blockade has virtually stopped the crews from destroying this globally significant cloud forest reserve," said environmental group Acción Ecológica, noting that a resistance camp will be maintained in Los Guarumos region on the Non-Tandapaya Road, an approximately 2 hour drive from Quito.

Opposition to the construction of Ecuador's new Heavy Crude Oil Pipeline (OCP) has captured international headlines. Unsuccessful in their attempts to use legal channels to change the planned route of the pipeline, environmental groups have put pressure on investment companies responsible for the financial backing behind the pipeline.

(In particular, Westdeustche Landesbank (WestLB), Germany's largest bank and Citigroup have been pressured by activists to use their financial influence to alter the route of the pipeline and guarantee protection of Yasuni National Park, an environmentally critical forest area planned to be drilled for short-term oil profits. WestLB has arranged a $900 million financing package for the OCP consortium and Citigroup is the financial backer of primary consortium member Perez-Companc, who owns the drilling rights to areas within Yasuni National Park.

The pipeline consortium also includes Techint, Alberta Energy, Repsol-YPF, AGIP, Kerr-McGee and the Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum, already the subject of protest campaigns for their controversial oil projects in Colombia.

Environmental and public health problems with pipeline spills in Ecuador are ongoing. In May, the country's existing pipeline ruptured due to a landslide, spilling 7,000 barrels of oil. This accident was the 14th major oil spill since 1998. The Mindo area includes steep and unstable slopes where there is a high risk of oil spills.

The Mindo inhabitants want to focus international attention on their stance in defense of endangered species and globally important ecosystems. They urge U.S. energy users to support a more rapid transition to clean energy alternatives given that half of the oil from the OCP pipeline will be destined for West Coast US markets.

Citigroup is the subject on an ongoing campaign for funding controversial fossil fuel and logging projects in endangered ecosystems. In addition to their participation in OCP, they have leadership roles in the Camisea project in Peru, the Chad-Cameroon pipeline in Africa, and the PetroZuata project in the Orinoco Delta in Venezuela.

Press Contacts:

In US:

Ilyse Hogue, Rainforest Action Network: 415-398-4404,

Janet Lloyd, Amazon Watch: 310-455-0617

In Ecuador:

Alexandra Almeida, Acción Ecológica 011 593 22 547-516 or 527-583 Error: Unable to read footer file.