A court in Ecuador has ordered Chevron Corp. to pay US$ 8.6 billion for damages to part of the Amazon region. US$ 5.4 billion of this would be to cover costs for restoring polluted soil US$ 1.4 billion to set up a healthcare system, US$ 1 billion to reconstruct water sources, US$ 800 million to treat affected residents.

Chevron is appealing the court’s judgement, insisting that it is “illegitimate and unenforceable…the product of fraud and is contrary to the legitimate scientific evidence.” Last week, Chevron won a suspension order on the ruling, but the company still expects to lose the case being heard in Lago Agrio; a ruling should be delivered in the coming weeks or months.