'American Honor at Stake' in Ecuador Oil Spills: You Break It, You Fix It

NEW YORK, Feb. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. oil giant Chevron needs to do in Ecuador what BP is doing in the U.S. Gulf Coast region – clean up its environmental mess, the conservative-oriented organization "You Break It, You Fix It" today demanded.

The group, which was formed to encourage conservative-minded Americans to speak out on Chevron's un-remediated oil spills in Ecuador, has charged the oil company with damaging America's image overseas through obstinacy and inaction. Chevron's oil and chemical contamination in Ecuador involves more than 900 unlined discharge pits that have contaminated -- and continue to contaminate -- that region's drinking water, sickening thousands of people over a period of decades. A lawsuit on the matter has been going on for almost two decades.

"American honor is at stake in Ecuador and it is Chevron's responsibility to uphold it," said You Break It, You Fix It spokesman Joshua Rizack. "U.S. companies operating overseas have a responsibility to reflect basic American values. Chevron has not maintained those values and that is taking a toll on how America is being perceived in Latin America and elsewhere."

BP has created a $20 billion fund to remediate damage it caused the U.S. Gulf Coast region. Chevron, in contrast, has literally walked away from the 16-18 billion gallons of oil it left contaminating Ecuadorian lands and waters.  

"Why is it right for the British company BP to be cleaning its spill in the Gulf Coast, while Chevron ignores its far larger spill in Ecuador," Mr. Rizack continued. "Americans are a good and just people, and the more they learn about what Chevron is doing to our nation's honor in Ecuador, the more they will speak out, we believe."

You Break It, You Fix It has begun a national education campaign that will include a variety of paid and earned media tactics.  It will emphasize three key points:

• BP is doing the right thing. Why isn't Chevron?
• Chevron is dishonoring America through its negligence, and
• The situation in Ecuador is an emergency. Children are being sickened every day from Chevron's contamination.

SOURCE You Break It, You Fix It