Daishowa + Unocal = Lubicon Destruction
By Christopher Genovali - Pacific Environment Resources Center
Sausalito, CA, USA - It comes as no surprise to environmentalists in California that Unocal is leading the industrial assault against the Lubicon Cree and their boreal forest homeland in Northern Alberta.
Uncoal's record in its home state of California is one as a rogue corporate polluter with little respect for the environment, the community or the law. Unocal's activities in Lubicon territory are part of the company's continuing disregard for the ecology of the planet and for human rights.
Unocal has a long rap sheet of environmental violations and a history of polluting for profit, as the group Citizens For A Better Environment (CBE) has pointed out in its report Poison for Profit. Unocal's toxic dumping of selenium and dioxin wastes into San Francisco Bay threatens shellfish, fish, birds and marine mammals, as well as the people who depend upon the bay for their source of food. The CBE is going to court to halt Unocal's trashing of the bay.
Unocal is not only the biggest selenium polluter of San Francisco Bay, it holds the record for the largest toxic spill in California's history. The 15-year-long "leak" occurred at Unocal's San Luis Obispo facility. The company continually denied there was a problem until it was finally forced to accept full responsibility.
Activists in California are also campaigning against Unocal because of its questionable operations in Burma, where the company invests in gas projects that support a repressive military junta. Unocal claims it is doing nothing wrong in Burma despite significant evidence to the contrary. Burma activists have also called for a boycott of Unocal products.
So when Unocal acts in a callous and calculating manner regarding the sour gas plant in Lubicon territory, concerned Californians should be made aware. As CBE stated in its report, Unocal's extraordinary rate of polluting is part of a conscious international strategy. There is a reason the periodical Multinational Monitor (watchdog of transnational corporate behavior) recently named Unocal as one of the ten worst corporations on the planet.
Environmental organizations in California working on various Unocal issues are joining forces and coordinating efforts. They include:
Pacific Environment & Resources Center
Canadian Forest Protection Project
Fort Cronkhite, Building 1055
Sansalito, CA 94965
Phone: (415) 332-8200
Citizens for a Better Environment
500 Howard Street
Suite 506
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: (415) 243-8373
The Burma Forum
#318 - 2118 Wilshire Blvd.
Santa Monica, California 94043
Phone: (310) 451-4493
