oriente region, ecuador pepda remedia i · 2017. 5. 4. · sa7036.. jl igsi environmental ernesto...

SA7035

RESPONSE TO MR. CABRERA REGARDING HIS EVALUATION OF PETROECUADOR'S PIT REMEDIATION PROGRAM (PEPDA)

Oriente Region, Ecuador

Maria Aguinda et al. VS. Chevron-Texaco Corpcration, Superior Justice Court, Nueva Loja, Ecuador Case No. 002-2003

PEPDA REMEDIA I

September 5, 2008

Erneslo Baca, P.E.

__ f IGSI GSI Environmental, Inc. 2211 Ncrfolk, Suite 1000, Hoo ston, Texas 77098-4054 ENVIRONMENTAL TeL (713)522-6300 Fax (713)522-8010

Plaintiff's Exhibit 8065 p. 1 of 62

PLAINTIFF'S EXHIBIT

8065 11 Crv 0691 LAK

Case: 14-826 Document: 218-1 Page: 27 10/01/2014 1334215 131

SA7036

.. Jl IGSI ENVIRONMENTAL

Ernesto Baca, P.E.

Response to Mr. Cabrera Regarding His Evaluation of PETRO ECUADOR's Pit Remediation Program (PEPDA)

Maria Aguinda et a/. vs. Chevron-Texaco Corp. ,

Superior Justice Court , Nueva loja, Ecuador Case No. 002-2003

Prepared for: Chevron Corporation

Prepared by: GSI Environmental Inc. 22 11 Norfolk, Suite 1000 Houston, Texas 77098-4054 7 13/522-6300

Issued: Septem ber 5, 2008



SA7037

R n ponst to Mr. Cabrn-a COllen-Ding his Evaluation ofPftrotcuador's Pit R t m t dlation Pro~;n.m (PEPDA)

Biol:J"aphical Summ ary of Au thor

Ern l'!lo Baca. P E; I am an environmental conrultant for GSI Env1fonmental Inc. (GSI) , and hav~ m or~ than 26 y~ars of prof~ss lOn al txp~n~n c ~ in env1fonmental ~ngin ~enng proj~cts, with sp~ci aliz ation in for~n sic ~nvlr onmental studi ~s, , urfac ~ and groundwat ~r modeling, g ~ phyS1 Cal S1Irv~y ', n,k ~val u ati OD. and d~sign and impl~m ~ntation of r~m~dial actions. I am a r ~gist~r~ d Prof~ss lOn al Engin~ ~r 10 Texa, (60781) and hav ~ b~ ~n an Auxili ary Editor for Ground Water joum al sinc~ 1991. I obtalOed my B achelor of Science degrcc from Renssela~r Po1ytechmc In stitut~ (RPI). N~w York, in 1978. and my Masters In Science 10 Environmental EnglO ccring fr om Rice Umversity , Houston , 10 1981. where I al so worked as a R e, earch SCientist 10 1980-1981 , bel'"", worki ng a, a Senior SC1enti

SA7038

Response to Mr. Cabrera regarding his evaluation of PETROECUADOR's pit remediation program (PEPDA)

Maria Aguinda et al. vs. Chevron-Texaco Corporation

Case No. 002-2003, Superior Justice Court, Nueva Loja, Ecuador

1.0 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This Response to Mr. Cabrera's evaluation regarding PEPDA presents a summary of the objectives, methods, results, and future plans of Petroecuador's Proyecto de Eliminacion de Piscinas del Distrito Amazonico (PEPDA: "Pit Remediation Project of the Amazon District"). Furthermore, it compares Mr. Cabrera's opinions with the facts, which are clearly established in numerous information sources.

PEPDA started in June 2005. According to their budget, by 2010 Petroecuador will have remediated 550 pits, 870 fosas (dry or water pits), spills, tanks, and sewage/residual waters in the whole production area of the Oriente, at an estimated cost of $121.2 million (Cronograma para la Eliminacion de Pasivos Ambientales, PEPDA, 2007). Since December 2007, when the 2007 PEPDA Annual Report was published (the Annual Report), 67 pits and 57 fosas were remediated and fully closed. Since December 2007, PEPDA initiated remediation work in 228 pits and 131 fosas in the Ecuadorian Oriente Region (PEPDA, 2007; p. 3).

By 2010, PEPDA plans to have remediated 370 pits, 68 spills, and 31 tanks and API pits within the former Petroecuador-Texaco Concession area, at a total cost of $67.8 million, which represents an average remediation cost of $85000 US per pit. These pits were Petroecuador's responsibility, since they correspond to the ones that were outside Texpet's Remedial Action Plan (RAP). More than 1/3 of this remediation work in the former Concession is in the process of being completed or has already been completed and approved by the Direccion Nacional de Proteccion Ambiental (DINAPA-National Directorate of Environmental Protection).

Based on the Annual Report, data and PEPDA remediation summaries submitted to the Court', the following conclusions regarding PEPDA are drawn:

1) The main objective of the PEPDA remediation project is to remediate aI/ of the pits requiring remediation in Petroecuador's operational area, including the oilfields located inside and outside of the former Petroecuador-Texaco Concession.

2) PEPDA's remediation project includes all pits that were not part of the RAP, which demonstrates that Petroecuador has acknowledged their responsibility for the remediation of pits that were not included in the scope of the Texpet remediation program.

1 Data presented as requested by the Court. Letter from the PEPDA Coordinator, Eng. Jorge Vivanco A., to the Chief of Environmental Protection, Amazon District, dated November 26,2007. See Section 7, Table 5 and Attachment R of this report.


Maria AguincJa et al. vs. Chevron-Texaco Oriente Region, Ecuador



SA7039

3) Remediation has been completed or is in the process of being completed at 148 pits within the former Concession. 88.5% of the 148 pits (approximately 131) located in the Sacha, Shushufindi, Auca, Yuca, Yulebra, Cononaco, Lago Agrio and Guanta fields, are associated with wells drilled or stations built by the former Petroecuador-Texaco Consortium. The remaining 11.5% (or approximately 17) consist of pits built by Petroecuador after 1990.

4) Currently, the applicable regulation for environmental remediation in oil fields is the Ecuadorian Executive Decree 1215 (D.E. 1215, referred as RAOH, for Reg/amento Sustitutivo de/ Reg/amento Ambienta/ para las Operaciones Hidrocarburiferas en e/ Ecuador). PEPDA is applying the criteria for agricultural land use for remediation at well sites. PEPDA is probably meeting the RAOH industrial limits for pit remediation at production stations, but the corresponding remediation reports are not available for review yet.

5) PEPDA evaluates its remediation work using the Environmental Quality Index (ICA-indice de CaUdad Ambienta/), which shows positive benefits due to remediation.

6) DINAPA's approval, certifying that the remediation meets the agricultural land use limits (D.E. 1215), demonstrates that the remediation has been properly completed. DINAPA as well as the landowner sign the final certificate, which confirms that the remediation was done to the satisfaction of the parties.

7) The remediation technologies being employed include soil washing to clean the sides and bottom of the pit, and to aid in oil recovery. Any soil not meeting D.E. 1215 limits is excavated and this soil is treated by landfarming, a widely accepted bioremediation technology. These technologies are the same as those used in oilfield pit remediation worldwide.

The evidence demonstrates that Petroecuador, in their pit remediation program (PEPDA), is: i) accepting their responsibility, ii) meeting Ecuadorian law, iii) using appropriate technology for such remediation, and iv) the remediation has been accepted by DINAPA.

Even though Mr. Cabrera had access to the same information to conduct his evaluation, which was used to develop this Response (see list of references below), Mr. Cabrera incorrectly and without basis ignores all of the technical details and achievements by PEPDA, as is summarized below:

1) Mr. Cabrera attempts to discredit PEPDA's remediation despite the fact that in his report he himself admits that "The majority of the PEPDA remediated pits that / have reviewed demonstrate an Environmenta/ Quality Index after remediation of 90 to 100"/0." (Cabrera, 2008, §3.2.7, p. 14). In this manner, Mr. Cabrera proposes the application of a stricter standard to the defendants.

Response to Mr. Cabrera regarding his evaluation of PETRO ECUADOR's pit remediation program (PEPDA)

2 Maria AguincJa et al. vs. Chevron-Texaco Oriente Region, Ecuador



SA7040

2) Mr. Cabrera states that the pits have a depth of 4 meters and assumes that the full 4 meter thickness of the pits fail to meet the D.E. 1215 limits. However, data from 66 PEPDA remediated pits, located in the area of the former Petroecuador-Texaco Concession and with reported volumes of remediated soils and pit areas, yield an average thickness of 1.32 meters per pit that need remediating, much less than the 4 meters assumed by Mr. Cabrera.

3) The average volume of remediated soil, based on 66 PEPDA remediated pits, is 1810 cubic meters (m') per pit. Nevertheless, Mr. Cabrera states that the average volume of soil that needs remediation is 5060 m' per pit, or 2.8 times more than the actual volume that PEPDA is remediating.

4) The crude that is recovered from the pits during the process of remediation is added to the national crude production. The value of this recovered crude was not considered by Mr. Cabrera to reduce his remediation cost estimate.

Clearly, Mr. Cabrera is interested in distorting the publicly available information about PEPDA to be able to declare a larger cost for any remediation that may be necessary.

In order to develop this response to Mr. Cabrera, the following materials were reviewed, which are presented as attachments to this document (except for the one identified as "Judicial Inspection Technical Appendices").

• Mr. Cabrera's Summary Report of Expert Examination and Appendices N, T, and 0, March 24, 2008.

• Annual Report, PEPDA, December 2007.

• Letter from the PEPDA Project coordinator, Eng. Jorge Vivanco A., to the Chief of Environmental Protection of the Amazon District, November 26, 2007.

• Letter from the Undersecretary for Environmental Protection (DINAPA) of the Ministry of Energy and Mines to the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of Nueva Loja, Ecuador, November 14, 2007.

• Va/ores de Fondo de Meta/es Pesados en Sue/os (Background Heavy Metals in Soils). Presented as part of: Judicial Inspection Technical Appendices (Appendix F.1), submitted to the Court.

• Annual Report, PEPDA, December 2006.

• E/ Comercio, Supplement, October 5, 2006.

• Progress Report, PEPDA, May 15 to July 15, 2006.

• Progress Report, PEPDA, March 15 to May 15, 2006.

• E/ Comercio, Supplement, May 28, 2006.

• Progress Report, PEPDA, January 15 to March 15, 2006.

• Final report for the Sacha 14-1 pit remediation (Eliminaci6n de /a Piscina SA-14-1, /nforme FinaO, PEPDA, 2006.





SA7041

• Final report for Sacha-15-1 pit remediation (Eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-1S-1, Informe Finaf), PEPDA, 2006.

• Final report for the Sacha-32-1 pit remediation (Eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-32-1, Informe Finaf), PEPDA, 2006.

• Final report for the Sacha-32-2 pit remediation (Eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-32-2, Informe Finaf), PEPDA, 2006.

• Final report for the Sacha-78 pit remediation (Eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-78, Informe Finaf), PEPDA, 2006.

• Letter from the Undersecretary for Environmental Protection (DINAPA) of the Ministry of Energy and Mines to Eng. Galo Balda S., Petroproduccion Vice-President, Quito, Ecuador, October 28,2002.

• Reglamento Sustitutivo del Reglamento Ambiental para las Operaciones Hidrocarburiferas en el Ecuador, Executive Decree 1215, Appendix 2, Table 6, February 2001.

• PowerPoint presentation for the SSF-50-2 pit remediation, PEPDA, undated.

• PowerPoint presentation for the SA-78 pit remediation, PEPDA, undated.

2.0 BACKGROUND AND PEPDA OBJECTIVES

Petroecuador proposed and designed the Pit Remediation Program of the Amazon District, PEPDA (Programa de Eliminaci6n de Piscinas del Distrito Amaz6nico), to remediate the pits in the oil fields of the Amazon district. On October 28, 2002, DINAPA approved PEPDA as long as it fulfilled the conditions listed in their approval letter (see Figure 1). PEPDA officially started their remediation work on June 1 'I, 2005 in the Sacha field.

The PEPDA objectives are clearly defined in their recent Annual Report, which confirms that "all of the activities will be performed according to those established in the RAOH' (PEPDA, 2007, p. 9):

1. Elimination of all contaminated pits that exist in the Amazon District, prioritizing the open pits containing hydrocarbon wastes, followed by open pits containing water and closed pits with crude or drilling muds.

2. Restore and Improve the Degraded Crude Treatment and Recovery Plant PTRCI (Planta de Tratamiento y Recuperaci6n de Crudo

Intemperizado), to its proper purpose and operation.

3. Get involved in the contingency, control, clean up and remediation of spills and its derivatives, using current bioremediation technologies.

4. Apply decontamination treatment to tank bottoms at production stations, at reinjection and water treatment plants, and final confinement to solid wastes.





SA7042

PEPDA's purpose was confirmed in a letter dated November 14, 2007 from the Undersecretary for Environmental Protection of the Ministry of Energy and Mines to the Presiding Judge of the Superior Court of Nueva Loja:

"PETROPRODUCCION, in compliance with what is established in article 59 of the RAOH, DE 1215 and in its eagerness to eliminate various environmental liabilities (degraded crude oil pits), developed the PEPDA project, which was presented to the Undersecretary for Environmental Protection (SPA - Subsecretaria de Proteccion Ambientalj which, once the corresponding technical analysis was performed, was approved by the National Directorate for Environmental Protection -DINAPA- by way of the official note No. DINAPA-CSA-661-0210336 dated October 28, 2002; nevertheless, it is not until mid-2005 that the State Oil Company starts to implement the Project.

PEPDA's objective is to eliminate al/ of the contaminated pits in its areas of operation, the project has two basic components, which are: the elimination of al/ sources of contamination and the recovery of degraded crude. In the first case it is related to crude oil and other pit contaminants, which have been categorized as Environmental Liabilities and are part of the National Government's environmental policy. In the second case, the recovery of crude is destined to the national production, reason for which improvements have been made to the Degraded Crude Oil Treatment Plant -PTRCI- (Planta de Tratamiento de Crudo Intemperizado) located in the Sacha Central Station with an average recovery of 1200 [barrels] Bls per month since December 2005."

This letter is significant because of two reasons: i) it does not limit itself to pits remediated by Petroecuador or installed by Petroecuador only. Rather, it establishes that PEPDA encompasses all pits in the area of Petroecuador's operation; and ii) it clearly mentions that D.E. 1215 is the applicable norm for the remediation of these pits. In several parts of his report, Mr. Cabrera suggests that he is in agreement with this when he writes:

"The decree No. 1215 norms are of particular importance with respect to the total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in soils. These norms are ... directly applicable to identify the need to remediate such soils" (Cabrera, 2008, p. 14, and his Appendix U-04)





SA7043

figure 1. Lone. I. om DINAPA app.CN!ng PEPDA, provkled M m""' the 11101..:1 conaMlonl ,

-a .. _a, VlCEP~ES'l)~ I'II1'ROP~Ol)UCC f6N

0210336

IN .• '" DIcIomGnI .my~c:-o -00 ....

SA7044

Figure 1 (eontirued). Lett ... from DIN N'A opproving PEPDA. withthe hted eon

SA7045

Shushufindi, Auca, Yuca, Yulebra, Cononaco, Lago Agrio and Guanta fields. These 131 pits are associated with wells drilled or stations constructed by the former Petroecuador-Texaco Consortium and the remaining 17 are pits constructed by Petroecuador after 1990.

Given that Petroecuador created PEPDA, through which it finds itself remediating numerous pits within the former Concession, and that it also established a detailed budget to remediate the remaining pits before 2010, it is clear that Petroecuador has accepted their responsibility to remediate all pits.

3.0 ECUADORIAN REMEDIATION STANDARDS

Currently the only pertinent standards for the remediation of soils in oil fields are the limits of D.E. 1215 dated February 2001. In addition, DINAPA demands that Petroecuador use the permissible limits for agricultural soils in D.E. 1215 for the remediation of pits around oil well sites (DINAPA, 2002, in PEPDA, 2007), since agriculture is the most common use of the soils in wells within the former Concession. However, for pit remediation within production stations, the appropriate limits are the industrial limits in D.E. 1215, since the soils would not be used for agricu~ural purposes within the stations. Nevertheless, no reports have been found that would allow the confirmation of the details of pit remediation within production stations.

Table 1 presents the D.E. 1215 limits with which PEPDA has to comply for pits at oil well sites.

Table 1. Limits For Agricultural Soils (D.E. 1215, February 2001)

D. E. 1215, Appendix 2, Table 6, Parameter Agricultural Use (mg/Kg)

Values Used By PEPDA

TPH 2500

PAHs 2

Cadmium 2

Nickel 50

Lead 100

Notes: TPH: Total Petroleum Hydrocarbons PAHs: Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, formulated as the sum of the following 6 PAHs: benzo (a) pyrene, benzo (b) f1uoranthene, benzo (ghi) perylene, benzo (k) fluoranthene, fluoranthene, and indeno (1 ,2,3,-cd) pyrene. 1 PEPDA: this note refers to the remediation standards applied to Petroecuador's active remediations within and outside the former Petroecuador-Texaco Concession. D.E. 1215 was promulgated in 2001 and is applicable to the oil operations. See Attachment Q.

As it has been pointed out, in various parts of his report, Mr. Cabrera seems to recognize this fact.

the figures presented at the end (Mapas de Ubicaci6n y Etapas del Proceso de Pasivos Ambientales Intervenidos, pp. 43-50), the total is 148 intervened pits (54 in Sacha, 37 in Shushufindi, 19 in Auca, 16 in Lago Agrio, 8 in YucalRumiyacu/CononacolCulebra and 14 in Guanta). Note that 32 of the listed pits on the map of intervened pits in Shushufindi are repeated. For purposes of this Response the value of 148 pits was used since the particular pits are mentioned in such figures.



Plaintiffs Exhibit 8065 p. 11 of 62


SA7046

Yet, in other parts of his report (e.g., his Appendices D and U-04), Mr. Cabrera mixes and matches limits from a variety of sources to suit his purposes. Although the D.E. 1215 limits are currently the only ones applicable to discharge waters and soils remediation in oil fields, Mr. Cabrera's Summary Report (Table 3.1, Normas Ecuatorianas Relevantes de Ca/idad Ambiental para el Agua Superficial y el Suelo, Cabrera, 2008, p. 13) refers to various limits from D.E. 3516. Mr. Cabrera justifies his poor interpretation of the legislation by saying: " ... when there is more than one available norm in Ecuadorian law for a particular contaminant, I use the lowest available norm" (Cabrera, 2008, p. 13), which clearly demonstrates the lack of knowledge or indifference toward the application of laws in Ecuador and is clear evidence of bias by Mr. Cabrera who manipulates legislation at his convenience.

4.0 SAMPLING BEFORE AND AFTER PEPDA'S REMEDIATION

PEPDA's final remediation reports indicate that composite sampling techniques are used in the pits and that the composite samples are collected from each pit before and after the remediation. When hydrocarbon impacted soils are removed from the pits and are transported for treatment by off site "Iandfarming", the walls and bottom of the pits are sampled and analyzed (see Figures 2 and 3). In this example, 12 individual samples were combined for analysis into one composite sample. The pit is filled with clean soil after the analysis demonstrates that the native soil of the walls and bottom of the excavated pit meet the D.E. 1215 limits. The remediated soil is not returned to the pit.





SA7047

Figure 2. Laboratory data from well Sacha-14, demonstrating that safl1)les were collected from all sides of the pit.

PETROPRODUCCION HUALDI,m "'X"

PETROPRODUCCION Laboratorio Ambiental

BL BruADOllEL\Sroo, lIS y so). PAls..uu.z.OHlco

/

_~""""'''Oooo. __ • __ ._

Response 10 Mr Cabrera regarding his avalualion of PETHDECUAWRs p~ remediat io n program (PEroA)

fNFORME DE ENSAYO

10

Sarna 14. left magln Sarna 14. left III margn Sarna 14. right pit margin Sarna 14, right margin stan cf pit

Maria AguirJda et a!. vs. Ch6¥ron·Texaco Ooente Region, Ecuador



SA7048

Figure 3. Laboratory data from a composite sample from well Sacha-14

PE1ROPRODUCC]ON "' ..... 01.= "DO'

PETROPRODUCCI6N

a J!ClJADOB. HA SIPO. ES ySERJ. pAfsAMAZ6NJco

Laboratorio Ambiental ~", .. !_ '.0>-_l.ojI,lfI>Il"'oICaca,~doPob ... -'8ucum1>1le. , rupaldo tknleo al cl!..,t& 8 .. ....... trme _ __ .lao objetos ocmetIdoo a~ ElIn!onne DO deber8 ~uo::ne """ qUI: = :ru totaIidad ~ _ eacrtta

SA7049

The samples were analyzed by "Laboratorio de Protecci6n Ambienta/", LAB-PAM. Seemingly, the samples are not frequently analyzed for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), but when such analyses are performed, the samples are sent to CORPLAB. Water samples from the pit are also collected and analyzed to confirm that it meets the limits for water discharge to the environment established by D.E. 1215. Water is discharged once it is confirmed that it meets such limits.

5.0 REMEDIATION TECHNOLOGIES USED BY PEPDA

As part of PEPDA, Petroecuador is applying soil washing in combination with bioremediation (Iandfarming) as the principal processes for pit remediation. Such processes consist of the following steps (Eliminaci6n de la piscina SA-14-1, PEPDA, 2006):

1. Clearing of Vegetation. - Collection of solid wastes and water treatment. " ... vegetative waste was piled over geomembrane and grates, for their washing with pressurized water. "

2. Treatment. - Fluid suction and transport. "Fluids from pit SA-14-1 were suctioned and transported by vacuum trucks to the Degraded Crude Treatment and Recovery Plant (PTRCI) located in the Sacha Central Station. ,,3

3. Treatment and Crude Recovery. - "Mechanical treatment is conducted according to the characteristics of each mix: heating, filtration, decantation, and final centrifuging.'"

"In the degraded crude treatment and recovery plant, degraded crude from the pits is treated and recovered to convert it into commercial grade crude by complex chemical and mechanical processes. The plant has a capacity to treat 200 barrels of crude per day and can store up to two thousand barrels of low API grade crude originating from the pits. The water that is separated in the process receives treatment before being reinjected. The separated solids are treated in platforms adequate for such purpose. The recovered petroleum meets the parameters required by the piping system and is passed along, under supervision, to the national production." (PEPDA, 2007, p. 13).

It is worth noting that the petroleum crude that is collected in the third stage of remediation is added to the country's total production. In this manner, PEPDA has recovered an average of 1200 barrels per month from the pits since December 2005.

4. Contaminated Soil Clean Up and Remediation. - "Clean up of pit walls and bottom was conducted by pressure washing, until the contamination parameters were within permissible limits according to ... RA OH Decree 1215. A volume of soil (600 m3), that could not be decontaminated by washing, was transported to the PTRCI for treatment by Landfarming techniques." (Eliminaci6n de la piscina SA-14-1, PEPDA, 2006).

3 Final disposition of treated water is the API pits and eventually reinjection wells SA-29 and SA-1 00. 4 In pit SA-14-1, 290 barrels of petroleum with API gravity of 22 and a BSW of 0.2% were treated and recovered.





SA7050

"Once the solid waste and fluids are removed from the pits, the walls and bottom are washed using biodegradable products, recycled water and compressed air, until the results of the laboratory analysis indicate their decontamination according to the current environmental regulation." (PEPDA, 2007, pp. 14-15)

5. Decontamination Monitoring. - "Monitoring and the decontamination progress of the area was conducted by taking permanent samples, which were performed by PEPDA project specialists; the samples were analyzed by the laboratory ... " (Eliminaci6n de la piscina SA-14-1, PEPDA, 2006).

6. Cover and Grading. - "To close the pit, 1300 m' of clay originating from Mr. Pablo Mesfas Sanchez's farm, in Recinto Ubertad, was used in accordance to authorization provided to the Contaminated Pit Remediation Project ... the rest of the soil used to cover the pit amounted to 500 m3, obtained from the surrounding area; ... ". And, as indicated by PEPDA's 2007 Annual Report: "Once the results from the laboratory analysis indicate that the soil has been decontaminated ... DINAPA authorizes the definitive closure of the pit. "

7. Re-Vegetation. - "Once the pit was closed, a layer of black soil was added, the soil was fertilized with coffee shells, compost, and dallis grass was planted over the graded surface. . .. The requested plant species, as stated in the authorization, were provided to the farm owner."

8. Project Documentation and Certification of Pit Remediation. -PEPDA's 2007 Annual Report states that: "Once this step is concluded, the Certificate of Delivery is signed ... ; by those who certify the results achieved in the pit remediation process, and the plan for abandoning of the area is applied. "

Figure 4 presents an example of the Certificate of Delivery-Reception for Sacha 14 approved by the Petroecuador chief for the Sacha field area, the PEPDA coordinator, the DINAPA regional delegate, and the property owner of where the pit was located.

The remediation time line for the remediated pit at Sacha 14 (SA-14-1), which appears in the Final Report prepared by PEPDA, is presented in Figure 5.

As mentioned previously, within PEPDA, Petroecuador uses soil washing followed by bioremediation (Iandfarming) as the principal method for pit remediation. Soil washing consists of removing the oil phase separation from the soil by mixing with water, often with surfactants (detergents) or emulsifiers, which improves the oil recovery from the pits.





SA7051

Figure 4, CerlificMe of Delivety _ Reception for Sacha 14,

...,.. .... $et~ u .......... _ .. _ .. _-YoaIMiI_

ACtA ENTREGA-RECEPCIO:" OE I'ISCI:-iA ELiMINADA SA-14

" ... ..-, ...... *1_ ... *1 ... __ I _,..._ •• _ ......... p' :11 __ - ?? .... __ "_"",,,,1:'" ,.,......Y' _ __ .:_""' __ 111)1. _.10 ___ •

_" ..... , f 'I ... 10 ..... _ ' I _oIoL __ I". __ , ___ .--._.",_L.oo,-., "-- Jo,o .... -. c-. Jo,o .... -. _ .0..-' $ $ 1Ttll._9QoLJ~f.;, .... _ ... ",~ .. ,,-·n I •• • -..C-..... _ .... .,."rl\o._ . $ (rEr!)A)",

... . -,~._"""""PEPDA_"""" ...... ,A -, •• __ .. __ 1._ .. ... _.., __ .. ' ' ... "._ .. -....-_"'-:._ ...... __ 100_ H. $ ' 'I? .oL'" _ ... ;t __ 100 o,.n.- 11"" __ ...... ; _ Ii.J.4IAOI!. ........ d ...... 0LIri0I, _121'. __ .10-......10..-_ • ...-100_.""_ "'44 _,. '" ..-- • __ • ~ .. " __ , ""' '" , ; _10 ... CIJUl.A8. c:oIiAA

_____ ;JY« ~ .~ -.k>

SA7052

Figure 5. Remediation of pit SA-14-1 time line

Informe Final- EllmlnadOn de ta Piscina SA.14-1

Se anexa al presente informe un CD con la secuencia fotografica de los trabajos

ejecutados en la piscina hasta lograr su elimlnaci6n definitiva (Anexo N° 13. CD con

Archivo Digital Fotografico).

En el Cuadro N° 1 se detallan las actividades e insumos utilizados en el proceso de

eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-14-1 .

CU ORO N"1 ACTMDADES REALIZADAS PARA LA EUMINACI6N DE LA PISCINA SA 14-1 A

PERioDO ETAPA

Primera Etapa Jun-5epl RecoIecci6n de 2005 desechos

s6lidos.

Segunda Etapa Sucd6ny transporte de

n"""" Ago-Octl2005

T ercera Etapa Tratamiento y RecupetaCi6n deCrudo (PTRCI)

S ... Cuarta Etapa

Oct/2005 Umpleza de 50"" Conlaminado

Cuarta Etapa Umplezade Suelo 0ctI2005 Contamlnado

Response to Mr Cabrera regarding his eva luation of PETFDECUACDRs p# remediatio n program (PEPOA)

ACTMDADES EQUIPOSY MATERlALES

Pef1ilaje de la piscina y desbrooa de maleza. Remoci6n de desechos vegetates; lavado de desectlos coo agua a presi6n y en plataformas Hldrobombas de montadas sobre Ia piscina. presi6n, Los tronoos Y ramas won triturados para la trituradora, elaboraCiOn de compost. rastrillos, los reslos vegetales contaminados fueron guadatlasy Incinerados previo lavado. molosierras, Los desechos s6!idos inorgtln1cos, luego del balsas. Iavado se reutilizaron como chatarra.

Fluldizacl6n del crudo empleando agua caliente a Hidrobombas de presi6n. presi6n, comlones StlCci6n del crudo coo camiones vacuum y vacuum. barreras transports a Ia PTRCI. flOIantes

S fluldo tue sometido 8 un sistema de filtracl6n en mellas metillicas. los s61idos filtrados fueron lavados y enviados a incineracl6n. La arena cootaminada se traM mediante lecnicas de biorremadlaci6n. EI crudo fue tratado COIl demulsificantes, antiparafinioos y biocide, previa su mezcIa coo Inslalaciones C!Udo diluyenle y JP1. PTRCr Luego fue sometido a calentamiento pars pasar al prooeso de decantado y centrifugaci6n, en donde sa saca el agua restante. EI agua residual del proceso de deshldrataci6n y oentrifugaci6n fue enviada a Ia pisclna API de la Estaci6n Sacha Central. Parte del contenido de agua de Ie plscina fue evacuado al eocontrstse bajO los IImites de

Hidrobomba de permlsibilidad. presiOn, Una parte del agua sa recil'ClJl6 bajo presIOn para compresores lavar "In situ" las paredes y piso de Is piscina. Excavadora y Posteriormente el agua rue evacuada mediante

varuum Y:lI=a en Ie Estaci6n Sacha Sur VOlquetas

para so rei . Con la fina~dad d9 delermirnar III ir'npregnac:i6n de audo, sa realizaron aberturas da 3 m de profundidad y 1 m de ancho en las paredes Hidrobomba de Iongiludinales de la plscina.

presiOn, Er suelo de las paredes y el fonda fueron removidos Y homogenizados previa su transports compresores

ala PTRCI para au postenor tratamlento mediante Excavadors y

tecnicss de landfannlog. Volquetas

La cantidad de suelo COIltaminado relirado de Ia Pisdna SA-14-1 rue de 600 m".

15 Maria Aguinda et at vs Chevron-Texaco Orie nte Region, Ecuador



SA7053

Figure 5 (continued). Remediation of pit SA-14-1 time line

Informe Final- Eliminacl6n de la Piscina SA·14-1

PERf 000 ETAPA ACTIVlOADES EQUIPOSY MATERIALES

"'-, Ambiental Unidad de Proteccl6n

Caracterizaciones anallticas del avance de la Ambiental

Jut/2005- Quinta Etapa remooiad6n en Ia Piscina SA-14-1 . Petroproduccl6n Abri l 12006 Monttoreo de Los resultados obtenidos revelan el cumpflmiento Nueva Loja. Descontamina- Analisis de HAP's

dOn de los parametros amblentales eslableddos en el en CORLAB. R5-RAOH 121 5. AllaJ1sfs micol6glcos y bacteriol6gioos en LABOLAB.

Orenaje de agua "wia.

Sexta Elapa Remoci6n, limpieza y homogenizaci6n del suelo Tractor, canCaCQ3. Abril12006 Taponamlento y Reconformaci6n del relieve. Excavadora y 3 Reconformaci6n Para eI taponamiento de Ia Piscina SA-14-1 sa Volquetas , uilieron 1300 m' de suela arcilloso. Cami6n, compost.

En el area rehabililada oorrespondlente a Ia cascarilla de cafe,

Septima Etapa Piscina SA·14-1 se sembr6 pasta del tipo Daltys. ceniza de cascarilla de Abri112006 Revegetacl6n Las especles vegetales proporclonadas por el arroz, EPP, palas, del Area VlVero Forestal de Petroproducci6n Lego Agrio

Afectada (200 planlulas de cacao), fueron entregadas al machetes,

Senor Angel Arguello Yanez. azadones, flex6metro

EI segulmlento y documentaci6n del avance en los trabajos de remediaCi6n ambiental reallzados en la Piscina SA-14-t , sa desaiben en los Infonnes

Octava Etapa Blmensuales entregados a Is OINAPA.

Certificaci6n de AdemAs sa cuenta con un registro digital de Anexo N° 11 Acta EliminaciOn de Avance SemanaL Entrega-Abri l/2006 OoaJmenlOS que soportan el trabajo de canpo, Piscinas y Recepci6n OoaJmentaci6n permitiendo a la OINAPA verificar '1 aprobar 1a Piscina Eliminada del Proyecto Descontaminaci6n de la Piscina SA-14-1 'I obtener Ia finna de oonfonnldad del propietario del

predio en que sa encuentra la piscina, del Jete de Campo, del Delegado Regional de la OINAPA y del coordioador del PEPOA.

Elaborado par. Equipo T6cnicoAmbienial-PEPOA

There are a great variety of bioremediation technologies for soils that are used worldwide and include: landfarming, biopiles, and composting. PEPDA uses landfarming as described below (PEPDA, 2007, p.15):

"In cases of high levels of soil contamination, it is removed with heavy machinery, accumulating and transporting it in dump trucks to platforms ready for its treatment, located in the different fields where PEPDA works. The contaminated material is treated by bioremediation techniques, processes that consist of a field and a laboratory phase. In the field phase the soil is conditioned by homogenization with bulking agents, nutrient addition

Response to Mr C8brera regarding his eva luation of PETROECUAOORs pit remediation prOJram (PEPOA)

16 Maria Aguinda et at vs Chevron· Texaco Onente Region, Ecuador



SA7054

(biostimulation), such as nitrogen and phosphorus, aeration, and control of determinant factors (such as humidity, temperature, and pH); activities which are crucial for the establishment and development of degrading microorganisms. The laboratory phase consists of the isolation, characterization, and identification of hydrocarbon degrading microorganisms originating from the contaminated soil. In addition, during the decontamination process the microbiological activity was monitored, and once completed, indigenous microorganisms with degrading capacity are cultured in a Biological Fermenter (Bioreactor), BioFlo 5000, manufactured by New Brunswick, and applied to the soil being treated. PEPDA relies on the use of the "Laboratorio de Ciencias Biotecnol6gicas" (LACIB-Laboratory of Biotechnological Sciences) for the development and control of this process. "

PEPDA's focus meets all of the requirements by the Ecuadorian State (D.E. 1215). Also, the final certificates for the remediated sites within PEPDA's scope were signed by DINAPA and by the landowner of the site. Therefore, PEPDA is meeting their objectives.

It is worth mentioning that PEPDA has also provided details regarding all of the costs incurred during remediation (PEPDA, 2007). Such costs demonstrate that pits can be remediated at an average cost of $85000 US per pit, as it will be presented in more detail in the following section.

6.0 PEPDA's REMEDIATION COSTS

According to PEPDA's general budget (see Table 2), by 2010 there will have been 550 pits and 870 fosas (dry or water pits) that will have been remediated at an average cost of $85000 US per pit and $10000 per fosa, in addition to other environmental liabilities (Cronograma para la Eliminaci6n de Pasivos Ambientales, PEPDA,2007).

Table 2. PEPDA's Estimated Budget for the Life of the Project, June 2005 - 2010 (Cronograma para /a Eliminacion de Pasivos Ambientales, PEPDA, 2007).

Environmental Liability Count Cost (US$) Unit Cost

(US$)

Pits 550 46,750,000 85000

Fosas 870 8,700,000 10000

Contingency - Clean up and spill remediation 141 42,300,000 300,000

Clean up and remediation of solids from tanks and API pits 44 19,800,000 450,000

Biotechnological Treatment - sewage and residual water from camps 9 3,600,000 400,000

Total Cost: $121,150,000

PEPDA's remediation costs for pits in the Oriente region, listed in Table 2, constitute the most precise and correct calculation of remediation costs. PEPDA's 2007 Annual Report contains a detailed breakdown of the remediation costs, which include pit and spill remediation, treatment and recovery of degraded crude, personnel, heavy


17 Maria Aguinda et al. vs. Chevron-Texaco Oriente Region, Ecuador



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equipment rental, a biological monitoring laboratory, computing equipment, and baseline studies. In his cost estimates, Mr. Cabrera does not offer any details and his estimate is much above PEPDA's costs.

Table 3 presents the estimated budget ($67.8 million) needed to remediate the environmental liabilities within the area of the former Petroecuador-Texaco Concession. Note that PEPDA's 2007 report includes the remediation costs for pits located outside, as well as within, the former Concession area.

Table 3. PEPDA's Estimated Budget for the Environmental Liabilities Within the Former Petroecuador-Texaco Concession (Cronograma para /a Eliminacion de Pasivos Ambientales, PEPDA, 2007).

Environmental Liabilities (unit cost)

Contingency Clean up and Biotechnological

Remediation of Treatment -Field(s) Pits Fosas

- Clean up Solids from Sewage and

($85000) ($10000) and Spill

Tanks and API Residual Water Remediation

($300,000) Pits from Camps

($450,000) ($400,000)

Lago Agrio, Guanta 91 0 2 7 2 Shushufindi, AQua rico 100 0 15 7 1

Sacha 94 0 10 10 1 Auca, Yuca, Rumiyacu, Cononaco, Culebra 85 0 41 7 1

Total: 370 0 68 31 5 Total Cost: $31,450,000 $0 $20,400,000 $13,950,000 $2,000,000

The actual remediation costs incurred by Petroecuador within PEPDA are available for six pits at five sites and are summarized in Table 4. Table 4 shows that the average remediation cost per pit, for the six pits, is approximately $76000'. Details of the General 2008 Budget are presented in Appendices 1-12 of PEPDA's 2007 Annual Report.

5 This estimated cost is conservative since it is based on the total cost of remediation at each site, which could include other costs separate from those directly associated with the remediation of the pits.





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Table 4. Summary of Petroecuador's actual pit remediation costs as part of PEPDA

Number of Volume of Reported Costs'

Site' Remediated Soii' Remediated Pits

1m') (2008 US$)

SA-32" 2 8500 123275 SA-14-1 1 1000 86,071 SA-50-2 1 2000 36269 SA-15-1 1 820 47483 SA-78 1 1000 161937

Average for the 6 pits 2220 m'lpit $75839/pit

Notes: 1 Final Reports, Remediation of Pits SA-32-1 (2006). SA-32-1 (2006), SA-14-1 (2006), SA-50-2 lundated), SA-15-1 (2006), and SA-78 (undated), PEPDA.

The volume of remediated soil and the cost for SA-32 represents the sum from the 2 pits. 3 PEPDA's pit remediation volumes as mentioned in their final reports. 4 The remediation costs presented in the reports were adjusted to 2008 dollars using the US

Federal Reserve Bank's Consumer Price Index (CPI) Calculator: (http://woodrow.mpls.frb.fed.us/resea rc hi datal uslca Ic/).

PEPDA's actual unit pit remediation costs (expressed in dollars per cubic meter of soil) varies from site to site depending on such parameters as volume of soil, water and crude; distance to the off-site treatment areas; and even weather conditions during remediation. The unit cost for soil remediation reported in PEPDA's 2007 Annual Report was approximately $17/m', while the final reports for remediated pits (Informes Finales, Eliminacion de Piscinas, PEPDA, 2006) indicate a unit cost of approximately $34/m', both values have been adjusted to 2008 dollars (see Table 4 and Cuadro No.4, PEPDA, 2007, p. 27).

The President of Ecuador, Mr. Rafael Correa Delgado, supported the economic administration of the project and in May 2007 affirmed that: "there exists the technical capacity from national experts to conduct the remediation work and at a lower cost than what private business provides. ,£

In the EI Comercio supplement published by Petroecuador October 5, 2006, it was stated that PEPDA's remediation costs were 30% less than those established by private firms, due to the coordinated action of the fieldwork'.

7.0 PIT AREAS AND VOLUMES REQUIRING REMEDIATION

PEPDA has compiled, at the request of the Court, details about the surface area, depth and volumes of remediated soils (or soils to be remediated)'. Mr. Cabrera ignores this information and makes his own inaccurate assumptions with respect to the areas and depths of the pits, and remediated soil volumes, without any basis.

6 EI Comercio, May 28, 2007. 7 EI Comercio, October 5, 2006. 8 Letter from PEPDA's project coordinator, Eng. Jorge Vivanco A., to the Chief of Environmental Protection, Amazon District, dated November 26,2007. The body of the letter says: "In regard to control sheet 9039, attached, please find the information requested by the Superior Court of Justice of Nueva Loja, Sucumbfos, regarding the characterization and volumes of the Proyecto Eliminaci6n de Piscinas y Limpieza de Derrames - PEPDA work."





SA7057

In fact, in the main text of Mr. Cabrera's report (§6.3.1, Cabrera, 2008) and its Appendix H (§6) , Mr. Cabrera states that there are 916 pits', of which 749 would require remediation. He also states that these 749 pits represent a surface area of 631,000 square meters (m') and that an additional area, which represents a generalized contamination of 50% of such an area, also needs to be remediated. Therefore, Mr. Cabrera expects that a total area of 947,000 m' be remediated or an average area of approximately 1,260 m' per pit. Mr. Cabrera also states that all the pits have an average of 4 meters depth and assumes that the full 4 meters require remediation (Cabrera, 2008, §6.3.1, p. 48 and Appendix N, p. 3). On the basis of these estimated values, Mr. Cabrera states that 3,788,000 m' of soil needs to be remediated, that is, an average of 5060 m' of soil for each pit.

If Mr. Cabrera had reviewed the information that PEPDA compiled and submitted to the Court, he would have realized his overestimate. In fact, his values are very much larger than PEPDA's average volume of remediated soils at each pit, which are the true values, since they were measured in the field. As part of this case, PEPDA presented data for 158 pits as part of their response to the Court. Of these pits, 66 of them included area and volume data. It is also worth mentioning that these pits were within the former Concession area. PEPDA remediated 119,471 m' of soil originating from these 66 pits. Based on these data (see Table 5), the average volume of remediated soil per pit is only 1810 m', which is substantially less than the volume estimated by Mr. Cabrera. In addition, if one divides the remediated soil volume by the area of these 66 pits, an average thickness of soil remediated by PEPDA of 1.32 meters is obtained, which is much less than the 4 m thickness that would have to be remediated, according to Mr. Cabrera's assumptions.

In summary, if one compares the soil volumes that would require remediation according to Mr. Cabrera, with the volumes remediated by PEPDA, it is evident that Mr. Cabrera exaggerates the quantity of soil that needs remediation by a factor of 2.8 times. If this volume of soil is then multiplied by any volume-based unit cost, obviously the remediation cost would also be exaggerated by a factor of at least 2.8 times.

Table 5. Dimension and Volume Summary of Remediated Soil for the 66 Pits Within the Former Concession Area. (Source: Letter from the PEPDA Coordinator, Eng. Jorge Vivanco A, to the Chief of Environmental Protection, Amazon District, Dated November 26, 2007.)

Length Width Field Pit

(m) (m)

Sacha 14.1 26 24 Sacha 14.2 39 21 Sacha 15.1 15 15 Sacha 15.2 20 10 Sacha 17 70 40 Sacha 24.1 58 37 Sacha 24.2 17 14 Sacha 32.1 30 29 Sacha 32.2 86 49

9 In his Appendix N (§1.1), Mr. Cabrera says that there are 917 pits.


20

Pit area Volume of

remediated soil (m') (m')

624 1000 819 1400 225 800 200 520

2800 2800 2146 500 238 119 870 1500

4214 8000

Maria Aguinda et al. vs. Chevron-Texaco Oriente Region, Ecuador



SA7058

Field Pit

Sacha 44 Sacha 47 Sacha 50.1 Sacha 50.2 Sacha 50.3 Sacha 52 Sacha 54.1 Sacha 58 Sacha 62.1 Sacha 62.2 Sacha 72.1 Sacha 72.2 Sacha 77 Sacha 78 Sacha 96.1 Sacha 96.2 Sacha 111 Sacha 117 Sacha 118.1 Sacha 118.2 Sacha 118.3 Sacha 120 Sacha 123.1 Sacha 123.2 Sacha 123.3 Sacha Profundo 1

Sacha Profundo 2 Shushufindi 5 Shushufindi 10 Shushufindi 17.1 Shushufindi 17.2 Shushufindi 17.3 Shushufindi 17.4 Shushufindi 22A.1 Shushufindi 22A.2 Shushufindi 22B.1 Shushufindi 22B.2 Shushufindi 25 Shushufindi 26 Shushufindi 27.1 Shushufindi 27.2 Shushufindi 29 Shushufindi 34.1 Shushufindi 34.2 Shushufindi 41.1 Shushufindi 42A


Length (m)

30 14 22 25 3 40 61 29 11 16 40 30 35 29 20 29 90 73 80 55 55 38 64 60 60 96 55 25 20 16 15 20 24 40 40 40 69 43 30 65 40 65 80 36 18 40

Width (m)

18 12 19 25 3

21 28 30 9 14 36 29 30 28 20 19 20 63 60 22 22 30 60 20 20 43 38 20 19 13 12 15 12 40 30 25 39 18 30 43 20 32 60 26 14 40

21

Pit area Volume of remediated soil (m') Im'l

540 700 168 336 418 1300 625 2000 9 9

840 1000 1708 683 870 1200 99 200 224 500 1440 5000 870 1400 1050 2000 812 1000 400 800 551 320 1800 2700 4599 5000 4800 3840 1210 908 1210 908 1140 3500 3840 8000 1200 2000 1200 2000 4128 3300 2090 2080 500 300 380 571 208 558 180 514 300 856 288 801 1600 3448 1200 2489 1000 2500 2691 2691 774 492 900 600 2795 3962 800 1124 2080 4571 4800 3000 936 1769 252 416 1600 2000

Maria Aguinda et al. vs. Chevron-Texaco Oriente Region, Ecuador



SA7059

Length Width Pit area Volume of Field Pit remediated soil 1m) 1m) 1m') Im'l

Shushufindi 45A 62 30 1860 2605 Shushufindi 456 50 30 1500 2000 Shushufindi 69.1 90 46 4140 5370 Shushufindi 69.2 28 100 2800 840

Auca 11.1 6 6 36 380 Auca 21.1 27 20 540 800 Auca 26.1 89 43 3827 5392

Lago Agrio 25 35 19 665 2.9 Laqo Aqrio Norte 4 10 7 70 70 Laqo Aqrio Central 4 22 19 418 24.5 Lago Agrio 11.5 40 40 1600 2.1

Average: 1810 m'

8.0 EVALUATION OF REMEDIATION BENEFITS

PEPDA evaluates the effectiveness, or the magnitude of environmental improvement, as a result of the remediation by using the Environmental Quality Index (ICA - fndice de Ca/idad Ambientaf), which PEPDA cites as having been obtained from Suarez-Venegas (2002). This method is documented in the final reports for the SA-14, SA-15, SA-32 and SA-78 wells.

Each of the four parameters required by D.E. 1215 (TPH, Cadmium, Nickel and Lead) are adjusted by a percentage according to the scale shown in Table 6. Those percentages are combined for each pit using the ICA equation, which results in indices before and after each pit remediation.

An ICA result of 70% or more for each particular pit implies that the TPH, cadmium, nickel or lead concentration is less than or equal to the D.E. 1215 limit for agricultural soils. An ICA result of 70% or more after remediation means that the remediation would be approved. Mr. Cabrera reproduces Table 12 from PEPDA's Final Report of the Sacha 14 remediation, but erroneously states that the percent valuation of environmental quality of 70% represents the D.E. 1215 limits for sensitive ecosystems. Mr. Cabrera's declaration regarding ICA and the D.E. 1215 limits is clearly a poor interpretation of the facts. In another glaring inconsistency, Mr. Cabrera tries to discredit PEPDA's remediation as inadequate even though in his own Summary Report he admits that "The majority of pits remediated by PEPDA that I have reviewed demonstrate a post-remediation index of environmental quality of 90 to 100%." (Cabrera, 2008, §3.2.7, p. 14).

The existence of residual hydrocarbon levels in soil is totally permissible, as long as it meets the limits established for agricultural soils specified in D.E. 1215. The DINAPA Director, Manuel Munoz, toward the end of 2006 correctly said that:





SA7060

"Remediation is not absolute, nevertheless, it meets the permissible limits of environmental regulation. ,,10

Table 6. Table from PEPDA's Remediation Report for Well SA-7B, Showing the Percentage Valuation of Environmental Quality Based on the Concentration Parameters Required by D.E. 1215.

Percent Valuation Parameter TPH Cadmium Nickel Lead of Environmental

Quality > 5500 > 5 > 200 > 350 0

5500 5 200 350 10

5000 4.5 175 300 20

4500 4 150 250 30 Analytical Value 4000 3.5 125 200 40

3500 3 100 150 50

3000 2.5 75 125 60

2500' 2 50 100 70**

1500 1.5 25 70 80

500 1 20 40 90

< 100 < 0.8 < 10 < 12.5 100 Measurement Units mg/Kg mg/Kg mg/Kg mg/Kg %

Notes: * RAOH Decree 1215: Permissible limits for the identification and remediation of contaminated

soils in all phases of the hydrocarbon industry, including service stations. ** Analytical values that are 70% or less are considered as non-permissible.

The before and after remediation quality indices (ICA) from the five pit remediation reports with ICA values (Final Report, Eliminaci6n de Piscinas, SA-14-1 (2006), SA-15-1 (2006), SA-32-1 (2006), SA-32-2 (2006), and SA-78 (undated), PEPDA) are presented in Table 7:

Table 7. leA Evaluation of PEPDA Remediated Sites.

Site Environmental Quality Index Environmental Quality Index

Before Remediation (ICA) After Remediation (ICA) SA-78 22.16% 92.50% SA-32-1 37.40% 93.00% SA-32-2 35.98% 96.31% SA-15-1 17.63% 96.50% SA-14-1 18.38% 92.50%

Note. leA calculations were found In 5 of the 6 currently available Pit remediation reports (Informe Final, Eliminaci6n de Piscinas, SA-14-1 (2006), SA-15-1 (2006), SA-32-1 (2006), SA-32-2 (2006), and SA-78 (undated), PEPDA).

As can be seen, the ICAs for the remediated pits which are presented in Table 7, had a significant improvement after the remediation work. All of these PEPDA remediated locations were certified by DINAPA as remediated pits. PEPDA used a remediation method virtually identical to the one described in Texpet's Remediation Action Plan

10 EI Comercio, December 16, 2006.





SA7061

(RAP). The remediation conducted by Texpet was also approved by the DINAPA and the Ecuadorian State as certified in the Final Certificate (Acta FinaO for the Completion of the Execution of Environmental Work Contract and Liberation of Obligations, Responsibilities and Demands, 1998.

9.0 OTHER ERRORS AND MISUNDERSTANDINGS BY MR. CABRERA REGARDING PEPDA

In his Summary Report of Expert Examination, Mr. Cabrera says that PEPDA, as Texpet, left " ... enormous quantities of contamination." As mentioned in Section 8.0 of this report, PEPDA's remedial work was approved by DINAPA. In addition, all of the ICA values show a great reduction in residual TPH, Cadmium, Nickel and Lead because of the remediation. Of the five pits that were remediated, and for which there are TPH data available (SA-14-1, SA-15-1, SA-32-1, SA-32-2, and SA-78), it was possible to calculate the average final TPH, which was 1432 mg/kg, with a range of 320 to 2494 mg/kg, values below the D.E. 1215 limits for agricultural soils.

It is important to highlight that Mr. Cabrera only collected one sample (SAC54-PIT1-SD1-SU1-R(40-130)) from a PEPDA remediated pit (SA-54-1). Even considering Mr. Cabrera's biased sampling and analysis methods, the analytical result of this soil sample was only 163.54 mg/kg TPH, a concentration well below the limit of 2500 mg/kg established by D.E. 1215. Clearly, this sample does not represent an enormous quantity of contamination as Mr. Cabrera erroneously points out in his report. Mr. Cabrera does not have any basis to criticize PEPDA's remediation since the only sample that he took meets the applicable limit by a large margin. (Ref.: §2. Declaracion de Resultados, Bullet 9, p. 5 of 60, Informe Sumario del Examen Pericial, Richard Cabrera, March 24, 2008; and Appendix U-04, Table 289, p.380).

According to Mr. Cabrera, an effort is needed to reduce the TPH concentrations in remediated and non-remediated pits to a level of 1000 mg/Kg or less. Nevertheless, in his own Table 3.2, Mr. Cabrera reproduces PEPDA's table, which is based on the agricultural limit of 2500 mg/Kg that DINAPA uses, and not on the sensitive ecosystem limit that Mr. Cabrera says is necessary.

In the case of the PEPDA pits, the only relevant sample by Mr. Cabrera, as mentioned above, was the sample collected from SA-54, which demonstrates a good PEPDA remediation as he himself states in his report (Informe Sumario del Examen Pericial, Appendix U-04, Table 289, p. 380, Cabrera, 2008).

It is worth mentioning that even DINAPA's Director, Mr. Manuel Munoz, in 2006 during his appearance before Ecuador's National Congress on May 10, 2006, restated Texpet's fulfillment of the remediation while he observed that Petroecuador was slow in responding to their responsibilities:

"Texaco in their way undertook the pit remediation that corresponded to them, which was 33% of the total, but Petroecuador during more than 30 years did absolutely nothing with respect to remediation of the ones corresponding to the company's."





SA7062

On October 5, 2006, Petroecuador published a special supplement in the largest circulation newspaper in the country, EI Comercio, recognizing Texaco's (Texpet's) fulfillment of the remediation as well as Petroecuador's intention to meet its responsibility to remediate the remaining pits in the area of the former Concession:

"By means of an accord signed in 1995 between the Ecuadorian State and the Texaco firm, it initiates an Environmental Remediation [Action] Plan (RAP) to remediate 165 pits. Petroecuador, the state's company, by way of their subsidiary Petroproducci6n, continues the cleanup of the 264 remaining pits that wero not intervened by Texaco."

The only evidence that Mr. Cabrera presents, in his effort to support a lower TPH limit in soils, is irrelevant or simply a poor interpretation of the applicability of U.S. regulations, such as the use of action levels for underground storage tanks (UTSs), but which Mr. Cabrera applies to the remediation of pits in the Ecuadorian Oriente region. (Ref.: §2. Declaraci6n de Resultados, Bullet 10, p. 5 of 60; §3.2.7 Normas Ambientales, pp. 13-15; Appendix D, Informe Sumario del Examen Pericial, Richard Cabrora, March 24, 2008)

Mr. Cabrera proposes the reduction of all metals concentrations to a level of approximately 100% of PEPDA's environmental quality valuation, which coincides with the laboratory's analytical detection limits for cadmium, nickel, and lead, or an extremely low value. This proposal has no technical merit since it is well known that all soils contain a certain level of natural metals, called background levels or concentrations. The experts nominated to the Court by the defendants during the Judicial Inspections have reported these background concentrations for metals in soils in the former Concession area (see Appendix F.1, Valores de Fondo de Metales Pesados en Suelos, 2007). Additionally, the Ecuadorian environmental regulations accept the concept of background levels for metals. D.E. 1215 states that if background concentrations are found above the established limits, those limits can be raised (not lowered as Mr. Cabrera proposes) based on a statistical field study (2nd paragraph, Table 6, Anexo 2, of D.E. 1215, 2001). This clause in D.E. 1215 would be applicable in cases where the natural metals concentrations in non-impacted soils exceed the limits presented in Table 6 of Anexo 2 of the RAOH (2001). (Ref.: §3.2.8 Concentraciones de Contaminaci6n de Fondo, pp. 16-17; Appendix B Evaluaci6n del Uso de la Informaci6n, §5 Concentraciones de Metales de Fondo, Informe Sumario del Examen Pericial, Richard Cabrera, March 24, 2008).

Mr. Cabrera, in his Appendix N states that: " ... PEPDA is currontly dedicated to the clean up of contaminated soils in and around of some of the waste pits in the Concession. Soil washing is the main remediation technology used, at a minimum cost of approximately $60 per cubic meter (m3) of troated soil." This declaration is false for various reasons: i) PEPDA has confirmed that it is remediating all, not just some, of the remaining pits in the Concession; ii) although PEPDA uses soil washing as the remediation method, the remediation method also includes excavation and landfarming of the soils that do not meet D.E. 1215; and iii) soil washing does not cost $60/m', since PEPDA's total remediation cost, including the whole pit remediation and the closure steps, cost an average of between $17 and $34/m', just





SA7063

as mentioned in PEPDA's Annual Report (Cuadra No.4, PEPDA, 2007, p. 27 and Table 4 of this Response. The unit costs were adjusted to 2008 dollars). (Ref.: Anexo N Costos de la Remediacion del Suelo, §2 Estimacion de Costos de Remediacion, §2.1 Tecnologfas Aplicables, Informe Sumario del Examen Pericial, Richard Cabrera, March 24, 2008).

10.0 ATTACHMENTS

Attachment A Informe Anual, PEPDA, diciembre 2007 - PEPDA's Annual Report,

December 2007

Attachment B Informe Anual, PEPDA, diciembre 2006 - PEPDA's Annual Report,

December 2006

Attachment C Informe de Avance, PEPDA, enero 15 a marzo 15, 2006 - Progress

Report, PEPDA, January 15 to March 15, 2006

Attachment D Informe de Avance, PEPDA, marzo 15 a mayo 15, 2006 - Progress

Report, PEPDA, March 15 to May 15, 2006

Attachment E Informe de Avance, PEPDA, mayo 15 a julio 15, 2006 - Progress

Report, PEPDA, May 15 to July 15, 2006

Attachment F Carta con fecha del 28 de octubre de 2002 de la Subsecretaria de

Protecci6n Ambiental (DINAPA) del Ministerio de Energia y Minas al

Ing. Galo Balda S., Vicepresidente de Petroproducci6n, Quito

Ecuador - Letter dated October 28, 2002 from the Undersecretary of

Environmental Protection (DINAPA) of the Ministry of Energy and

Mines to Eng. Galo Balda S., Petroproducci6n Vice-President, Quito

Ecuador

Attachment G Carta con fecha del 14 de noviembre de 2007 de la Subsecretaria de

Protecci6n Ambiental (DINAPA) del Ministerio de Energia y Minas al

Presidente de la Corte Superior de Nueva Loja, Ecuador. - Letter

dated November 14, 2007 from the Undersecretary of Environmental

Protection (DINAPA) of the Ministry of Energy and Mines to the

Presiding Judge of the Superior Court, Nueva Loja, Ecuador.

Attachment H Informe Final, Eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-14-1, PEPDA, 2006 -

Final Report, Remediation of Pit SA-14-1, PEPDA, 2006

Attachment I Informe Final, Eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-15-1, PEPDA, 2006 -


Attachment J Informe Final, Eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-32-1, PEPDA, 2006 -





SA7064


Attachment K Informe Final, Eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-32-2, PEPDA, 2006 -


Attachment L Informe Final, Eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-78, PEPDA, 2006 - Final

Report, Remediation of Pit SA-78, PEPDA, 2006

Attachment M Presentaci6n PowerPoint para SSF-50-2, PEPDA, sin fecha -

PowerPoint Presentation for SSF-50-2, PEPDA, undated

Attachment N Presentaci6n PowerPoint para SA-78, PEPDA, sin fecha -

PowerPoint Presentation for SA-78, PEPDA, undated

Attachment 0 EI Comercio, Suplemento del 28 de mayo de 2006 - EI Comercio,

May 28, 2006 Supplement

Attachment P EI Comercio, Suplemento del 5 de octubre de 2006 - EI Comercio,

October 5, 2006 Supplement

Attachment Q Reglamento Sustitutivo del Reglamento Ambiental para las

Operaciones Hidrocarburiferas en el Ecuador, Decreto Ejecutivo

1215, Anexo 2, Tabla 6, febrero de 2001. - Regulatory Replacement

to the Environmental Regulations for Hydrocarbon Operations in

Ecuador, Executive Decree 1215, Appendix 2, Table 6, February

2001.

Attachment R Carta del Coordinador del Proyecto PEPDA, Ing. Jorge Vivanco A., al

Jefe de Protecci6n Ambiental, Distrito Amaz6nico, 26 de noviembre

de 2007. - Letter from the PEPDA Project Coordinator, Eng. Jorge

Vivanco A., to the Chief of Environmental Protection, Amazon District,

November 26,2007.





SA7065

Emesto Baca, P .E.

Biographical Summary

Mr. Saca is a Senior Environmental Consultant for GSI Environmental, Inc. (GSI), and has more than 26 years professional experience in environmental engineering projects, with specialization in forensic environmental studies, surface and groundwater modeling, geophysical surveys, risk evaluations, and design and implementation of remedial actions. Mr. Saca is a Professional Engineer licensed in Texas (60781) and has been an Auxiliary Editor for the Ground Water Journal since 1991. He obtained his B.S. in Environmental Engineering in 1978 from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), NY, and his M.S. in Environmental Engineering in 1981 from Rice University, Texas, where he also worked as a research scientist in 1980-1981, before working for Woodward-Clyde Consultants' Houston office from 1981-1985 as a Senior Staff Engineer. Mr. Baca has worked as an environmental engineer in various surface and groundwater projects in the U.S., as well as 6 countries around the world. Mr. Baca has been involved as an expert witness in a major environmental litigation project in Ecuador since 2003. He is fluent in written and spoken English and Spanish.

Education

M.S., Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas, 1981.

B.S., Environmental Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, 1978.

Professional Background

Environmental Consultant, Groundwater Services, Inc., Houston, TX, 2002 - present

Environmental Consultant, BAC-GROUND, Houston, Texas, 1985-Present.

Senior Staff Engineer, Woodward-Clyde Consultants, Houston, Texas, 1981-1985.

Research Scientist, Rice University, Houston, Texas, 1980-1981.

Professional Affiliations

Registered Professional Engineer (Texas 60781). American Geophysical Union (AGU).

Key Areas of Experience

Texas Ground Water Association (TGWA). National Ground Water Association (NGWA).

Groundwater and Surface Water Modeling: During the past 17 years, Mr. Baca has conducted numerous groundwater and surface water computer modeling projects, including, regional groundwater supply studies for the City of Houston, Fort Bend County, and Brazoria County in Texas, and contaminant transport studies for USEPA Superfund and other sites. He has reviewed groundwater-modeling results and conclusions prepared by experts testifying in several lawsuits, and conducted a detailed water quality study of Lake Houston for the City of Houston. Mr. Baca has also conducted particle tracking and capture-zone modeling of site constituents at several industrial facilities.

Groundwater Data Review and Evaluation: Mr. Baca has been involved in the review and evaluation of groundwater data obtained from sites nationwide as well as from Brazil, The Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Mexico. His 17-year experience includes source/origin and travel time analyses, site characteristics, estimates of contaminant transport, and cost allocation studies.

Environmental Site Investigations: Mr. Baca has performed numerous site investigation activities including water, soil, and waste sampling; surface and borehole geophysical surveys; and aquifer tests to delineate soil and groundwater contamination.





SA7066

Geophysical Investigations: Mr. Baca has performed terrain conductivity surveys, growth fault studies, resistivity surveys, magnetometer surveys, and geophysical logging at industrial facilities located throughout the Gulf Coast to evaluate potential contaminant migration pathways and locate buried wellheads.

Bioinfomatics: Mr. Baca has established and maintained Web servers to support microbiology laboratories by creating static and dynamic web pages that included laboratory databases (MySQL) and programs (php) to display information in text form as well as graphically.

Publications

Baca, Ernesto, "On The Misuse Of The Simplest Transport Model," Technical Commentary, Ground Water, v. 37, n. 4, July-August, 1999.

Baca, Ernesto, Philip B. Bedient, and Richard Olsen, "Urban Impacts of Water Supply Reservoir," Journal of Environmental Engineering Division, ASCE, February 1982.

Bedient, Philip B., Nina K. Springer, Ernesto Baca, et aI., "Ground-Water Transport from Wastewater Infiltration," Journal of Environmental Engineering Division, ASCE, February 1982.

Bedient, Philip B., Ernesto Baca, and Nina K. Springer, "Measurement and Prediction of Groundwater Contaminant Transport," National Center for Ground Water Research, Rice University, Houston, Texas, November 1980.

Newell, Charles J., Ernesto Baca, and Philip B. Bedient, "Subsidence-Based Safe Yield for a Gulf Coast Aquifer', Presented at the American Geophysical Union Spring Meeting, AGU, Baltimore, Maryland, May 20, 1986.





SA7067

RESPUESTA AL SENOR CABRERA EN RELACION A SU EVALUACION DEL PROGRAMA DE REMEDIACION DE PISCINAS DE PETROECUADOR (PEPDA)

Regi6n Oriente, Ecuador

Maria Aguinda y Otros contra Chevron-Texaco Corporation, Corte Superior de Justicia de Nueva lola, Ecuador JUicio No. 002-2003

5 de septiembre de 2008

Ernesto Bac3, P.E •

• fIGSI GSI Environmental, Inc. 2211 NQrfolk, Suit" 1000, Houston, Texas 77098-4054 Tel: (713) 522-6300 Fax: (713) 522-8010

Notaci6n numerica en este apendice: 1000 (miT) 1.000 (mil) 1,43 (una unidad con 43 centesimas)


CVX-RICO-1163623


SA7068

__ fIGSI ENYiRON'Mf:NTAI..

Ernosto Baaa, P.E.

Respuesta al Senor Cabrera en relaci6n a su evaluaci6n del programa de remediaci6n de piscinas de PETROECUADOR (PEPDA)

Maria Aguinda y Otres contra Chevron-Texaco Corporation

Corte Superior de Justicia de Nueva Loja, Ecuador, Juicio No. 002-2003

Preparado para: Chevron Corporation

Preparado per: GSI Environmental Inc. 2211 Norfolk, Suite 1000 Houston, Texas 77098-4054 EE.UU. 713/522-6300

Emitido: 5 de septiembre de 2008


CVX-RICO-1163624


SA7069 vVo~q~ eL~~

Respuesta 81 Senor Cabrera en Relaci6n a su Evaluaci6n d~~~ Programa de Remediaci6n de Piscinas de Petroecuador (PEPDA) ~

Preparado por: Ernesto Baca, P.E GSI Environmental, Inc. Houston, Texas, EE. UU.

Resumen Curricular del Sr. Ernesto Baca:

Soy consultor ambiental para la empresa GSI Environmental, Inc. y tengo mas de 26 alios de experlencia profesional en ingenieria ambiental, con especializacion en las areas de investigacion ambiental, evaluaciOn, revisiOn y modelaci6n de agua superficial y subterranea, investigaci6n bioffsica, evaluaci6n de riesgos humanos y ecol6gicos, y el dise~o e implementaci6n de aceiones de remediaciOn.

Soy un Ingeniero con Registro Profesional (P. E. - por sus siglas en ingles), miembro de las ~iguientes organizaciones profesionales: UniOn Americana de Geoffsica (AG.U. - por sus siglas en ingles), AsoclaciOn Nacional del Agua Subterranea (N.G.W.A. - por sus siglas en ingles), y la Asociaci6n Tejana del Agua Subterranea (T.G.WA - pos sus siglas en ingles).

Obtuve el titulo de Magister en Ingenieria Ambiental en el alio de 1981, en la Universidad de Rice, donde servl como un cientlfico investigador antes de pasar a la consultora Woodward-Clyde Consultants donde trabaje desde 1981 hasta 1985 como ingeniere Senior de Planta. Desde 1985, he trabajado como consultor ambiental independiente, y he investigado los patrones de contaminaci6n de suelos y agua superficial y subterranea en slties alrededor de los Estados Unidos y en 6 palses alrededor del mundo, con enfasis en America Latina.

Certificaci 6n del Sr. Ernesto Baca:

EI informe refleja mis conocimientos y opiniones sabre en esta materia.

Ernesto Saca

Fecha

CVX-RICO-1163625



SA7070

Respuesta al Senor Cabrera en relaci6n a su evaluaci6n del programa de remediaci6n de pisclnas de PETROECUADOR (PEPDA)

Marla Agulnda y otros contra Chevron-Texaco Corporation

Juicio No. 002-2003, Corte Superior de Justicia, Nueva Loja, Ecuador

1.0 RESUMEN EJECUTIVO

Esta Respuesta a la evaluaci6n de! Senor Cabrera sobre eJ PEPDA presenta un resumen de los objetivos, metodos, resultados, y planes futuros del Proyecto de Eliminaci6n de Piscinas del Distrito Amaz6nico (PEPDA) de Petroecuador. Ademas, com para las opiniones del Senor Cabrera con la realidad que se encuentra claramente establecida en numerosas fuentes de informaci6n.

EI PEPDA comenz6 en junio de 2005. Segun su presupuesto, para el ano 2010 Petroecuador debera haber remediado 550 piscinas, 870 fosas (piscinas secas 0 de agua), derrames, tanques, y aguas negrasJresiduales en lodas las areas de producci6n del Oriente, a un costo total estimado de $121,2 millones (Cronograma para la Eliminaci6n de Pasivos Ambientales, PEPDA, 2007). Cuando se publicO el Informe Anual para 2007 de PEPDA (el Informe Anual) en diciembre de 2007, se habran remediado y clausurado completamente 67 piscinas y 57 fosas. Desde dlciembre de 2007, el PEPDA ha iniclado labores de remediaci6n en 228 piscinas y 131 fosas en el Oriente ecuatoriano (PEPDA, 2007; p. 3).

Para el ano 2010, PEPDA planea haber remediado 370 piscinas, 68 derrames y 31 tanques y piscinas API dentro de la antigua Concesi6n Petroecuador-Texaco, a un costo total de $67,8 millones, 10 cual representa un costa promedio de $85000 por piscina. Estas piscinas quedaron a cargo de Petroecuador, ya que correspond en a las que estuvieron fuera del Plan de Accl6n de Remediaci6n de Texpet (RAP, por sus siglas en ingles). Mas de 1/3 de estos trabajos de remediaci6n dentro de la antigua Concesi6n estan en proceso de completarse 0 han sido completados y aprobados por la Direcci6n Nacional de Protecci6n Ambiental (DINAPA).

En base al Informe Anual, datos y resumenes de remediaci6n de PEPDA sometidos ala Corte\ se concluye 10 siguiente sobre el PEPDA:

1) EI programa de remediacl6n del PEPDA tlene como objetivo principal la remediaci6n de todas las piscinas que requieren remediaci6n en el area operacional de Petroecuador, incluyendo los campos petroleros dentro y fuera de la antlgua Concesion Petroecuador-Texaco.

2) EI proyecto de remediaci6n del PEPDA incluye todas las piscinas que no formaron parte del RAP, 10 cual demuestra que Petroecuador ha aceptadp su responsabilidad por la remediaci6n de las piscinas que no fueron incluldas en el alcance del programa de remediaci6n de Texpet.

I Datos preselltados a pedido de la Corte. Carta del Coordinador del PEPDA, Ing. Jorge Vivanco A., al Jefe Proteccl6n Amblenlal, Ol3lrito Amaronioo, con fecl1a de 26 de noviembre de 2007. Vt'iase la SBGGi!'in 7, la Tabla 5, y 81 Adjunto R de esle Informe.

Raspuesta 131 Seilor Cabrera en rolacl6n a su evaluacidn dal programa da remediaci6n de plsr:Jnas de PETROECUADOR (PEPDA)

Marla Aguinda y otros aonlra Ch .. RegiOn Oriente. Ecuador


CVX-RICO-1163626


SA7071 \4Co .. q~lo . ~~~

. ~~~~ 3) Ya se han completado 0 esMn en proceso de remediarse 148 Piscina~ 1~

dentro de la antigua Concesi6n. EI 88,5% de las 148 pisclnas (aproximadamente 131) ubicadas en los campos de Sacha, Shushufindi. ~ Auca, Yuca, Yulebra, Cononaco, Lago Agrio y Guanta esta asociado a pozos perforados 0 estaciones construldas par el antiguo Consorcio Petroecuador-Texaco. EI11,5% restanle (0 aproximadamente 17) consiste de pisclnas construidas por Petroecuador despues de 1990.

4) En la actualldad, la legislaci6n ecuatoriana apllcable a la remediacion ambiental en campos petrol eros es el Decreto Ejecutivo 1215 (D.E. 1215, Reglamento Sustitutlvo del Reglamento Ambiental para las Opera clones Hid rocarbu riferas; RAOH). EI PEPDA esli aplicando criterios para suelo de uso agricola en pozos petroleros. EI PEPDA probablemente esta cumpliendo con los limites del RAOH para suelos Industriales en la remediacion de plsclnas dentro de las estaciones de produccion, pero los informes de remediacion correspondientes no han estado dlsponibles para ser revlsados.

5) EI PEPDA evalCia sus trabajos de remedlaci6n usando el (ndice de Calidad Ambiental (ICA), el cual demuestra beneficios positlvos despues de la remediacion.

6) La aprobaclon de la DINAPA, certificando que la remediacl6n cum pie con los limites para suelos de uso agricola (D.E. 1215), demuestra que la remediacion se ha realizado correctamente. EI acta final que conflnna que la remediacl6n se realizo a la satlsfaccion de las partes es flrmada tanto por la DINAPA como por el propietario del terreno.

7) Las tecnologias de remediaci6n que se estlm utilizaildo incluyen el lavado de suelos para limplar las paredes y el fondo de las piscinas y para ayudar con la recuperaci6n de petroleo. EI suelo que no cumple con los limites apropiados del D.E. 1215 es excavado y tratado por "Iandfarming," una tecnologla de biorremediacl6n ampliamente aceptada. Estas tecnologias son las mismas utlllzadas en pisclnas de campos petroleros en todo el Mundo.

La evidencia demuestra que Petroecuador, en su programa de remediacion de piscinas (PEPDA) esta: i) aceptando su responsabilidad, ii) cumpliendo con la legislaci6n ecuatoriana, iii) usando una tecnologia apropiada para tal remediacl6n, y Iv) la remediacl6n ha sido aceptada por la DINAPA.

A pesar de que el Serior Cabrera tuvo a su alcance la misma informacion para reaJizar su evaluaci6n que la que fue utilizada para desarrollar esta Respuesta (ver listado de referencias mas abaJo), eJ Serio I" Cabrera, incorrectamente e infundadamente ignora los detalles tecnicos y 109ros del PEPDA, como se resume a continuaci6n:

1) EI Sefior Cabrera intenta desacreditar la remediaci6n realizada por el PEPDA a pesar de que en su informe ill mismo admite que "La mayoria de piscinas remediadas por PEPDA de las que he rev/sado informaci6n demuestran un indlce de calidad ambiental post remediacion del 90 al

Raspuesta a/ SaMr Cabram an fBlaci6n a su evaluacl6t! d,.1 pfu!lnlma de ramedlacl6n da piscinas de PETROECUADOR (PEPDA)

2 Maria Agu/nd6 y otros contra Region Oriante. Ecuador


CVX-RICO-1163627


SA7072\4~(~Q~

~~ 0:~$~

t.Q...,~ 'yo-100%." (Cabrera, 2008, §3.2.7, p. 14). De esta forma, el s.enor Cabrera J propone aplica~ un estandar mas estrlcto a la parte demandada. .-.r~

2) EI Senor Cabrera afirma que las piscinas tlenen una profundidad de 4 metros y asume que los 4 metros de espesor de las piscinas no cumplen con los limites del DE 1215. Sin embargo, los datos para 66 piscinas remediadas por el PEPDA, ubicadas en el area de la antigua Concesion Petroecuador~Texaco y con volumenes de suelo remediado y areas de piscinas reportados, demuestran que el espesor a remedlar promedio es de 1,32 metros por piscina, muy inferior a los 4 metros que asume el Seftor Cabrera.

3) EI volumen promedio de suelo remedlado, basado en las 66. piscinas remediadas por el PEPDA, es de 1810 m3 por plscina. Sin embargo, el Seftor Cabrera afirma que el volumen promedio de suelo que neeesita ser remediado es de 5060 rn3 par plsclna, 6 2,8 veces mas que los volumenes reales que el PEPDA esm. remediando.

4) EI crudo que se recupera de las piscinas durante el proceso de remedlaci6n es aiiadido a la produccl6n nacional de crudo. EI valor de este crudo recuperado no fue considerado par el Senor Cabrera para reducir su casto estirnado de remediacion.

Claramente, el Seflor Cabrera esta interesado en distorsionar la informacion dlsponible pUblicamente sobre el PEPDA para poder declarar un costa mayor para cualquier remediaci6n que pudlera ser neeesaria.

Para desarrollar esta respuesta al Senor Cabrera, se revisaron los siguientes documentos, los cuales se presentan como adjuntos al presente documento (salvo el identificado como "Aplmdices Tecnicos de las Inspecciones Judiciales") .

• Informe Sumario del Examen Perieial del Senor Richard Cabrera y Anexos N,

T, yO, 24 de marzo de 2008

• Informe Anual, PEPDA, dlciembre 2007

o Carta del Coordinador del Proyecto PEPDA, Ing. Jorge Vivanco A., al Jefe de

Protecci6n Ambiental. Distrito Amaz6nico, 26 de noviembre de 2007.

o Carta de la Subsecretaria de Protecci6n Ambiental (DINAPA) del Ministerio

de Energia y Minas al Presidente de la Corte Superior de Nueva LOja,

Ecuador, 14 de noviembre de 2007.

• Val ores de Fonda de Metales Pesados en Suelos. Presentado como parte

de: Aplmdices Tecnicos de las Inspecciones Judlciales (Apendice F.1),

entregado a La Corte.

o Informe Anual, PEPDA, diclembre de 2006.

o EI Comercio, Suplemento del 5 de octubre de 2006.

o Informe de Avance, PEPDA, mayo 15 a julio 15 de 2006.

R"'Gpu",sta al Sf/flor Cabrera en ralar;i6n a IJU evaluac16n del programa de ramfldlacJ6n de 3 piscinas de PETROECUADOR (PEPDA)


CVX-RICO-1163628


SA7073

• Informe de Avance, PEPDA, marzo 15 a mayo 15 de 2006.

• EI Comercio, Suplemento del 2B de mayo de 2006.

• Informe de AvanGe, PEPDA, enero 15 a marzo 15 de 2005.

• Informe Final, Eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-14-1, PEPDA, 2006.

• Informe Final, Eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-15-1, PEPDA, 2006.

• Informe Final, Eliminaci6n de fa Piscina SA-32-1, PEPDA, 2006.

• Informe Final, Eliminaci6n de la Piscina SA-32-2, PEPDA, 2006,

• Informe Final, Elimlnaci6n de la Piscina SA-7B, PEPDA, 2006.

• Carta de la Subsecretarla de Protecci6n Ambiental (DINAPA) del Ministerio

de Energia y Minas af Ing. Galo Balda S., Vicepresidente de

Petroproducci6n. Quito Ecuador, 28 de octubre de 2002.

• Reglamento Sustitutivo del Reglamento Ambiental para las Operaciones

Hidrocarburiferas en el Ecuador, Decreto Ejecutivo 1215, Anexo 2, Tabla 6,

febrero de 2001.

• Presentaci6n PowerPoint para SSF-50-2, PEPDA, sin fecha.

• Presentaci6n PowerPoint para SA-7B, PEPDA, sin fecha.

2.0 ANTECEDENTES Y OBJETIVOS DEL PEPDA

Pstroecuador propuso y disefi6 el Programa de Elimfnaci6n de Piscinas del Distrito Amaz6nico, PEPDA, para remediar piscinas en los campos petroleros del distrito Amaz6nico. EI2S de octubre de 2002, DINAPA aprob6 el PEPDA siempre y cuando se cumpliese con las condiciones listadas en su carta de aprobaci6n (vease la Figura 1). EI PEPDA comenz6 oficialmente los trabajos de remediaci6n el 1 ro de junio de 2005 en el campo Sacha.

Los objetivos del PEPDA estan claramente definidos en su reciente Informe Anual, el cual confirma que "fodas las actividades se desarrollaran segun con 10 establecido en el RAOH' (PEPDA, 2007, p. 9):

1, Eliminar fodas las piscinas contaminadas existentes en el Distrito Amaz6nico, en forma prioritaria las piscinas abiertas con contenfdo de desechos hidrocarburfferos, posteriormente las piscinas abienas con contenido de agua y las piscinas taponadas con crudo Y lodos de perforaci6n.

2. Rehabilitar y Repofenciar Ie Planta de Tratamienlo y Recuperaci6n de Crudo Intemperizado - PTRCI, para su correcto funcionamiento y operaci6n.

3. fntervenir en la contingencia, control, Iimp/eza y remediaci6n de derrames de petro/eo y sus derivados, utilizando tecn%glas actua/es de biorremediaci6n.

Respuesta al Sailor Cabrera an re/acJ6n a 9U avaltililCi6n dElI programa de remadiaciOn dEl 4 p/scin"" de PETROECUADOR (PEPDA)


CVX-RICO-1163629


SA7074\~Co~q

~~ ~

4. Apfiear tratamientos de deseontaminaci6n a sedimentos de tanques de ~ ~ las estae/ones de producei6n, de plantas de reinyeoci6n y tratamiento de ~ -agua y confinamiento final de desechos s6lidos. , tf

EI prop6sito del PEPDA se confirm6 en una carta con fecha de 14 de noviembre de 2007 de la Subse

oriente region, ecuador pepda remedia i · 2017. 5. 4. · sa7036.. jl igsi environmental ernesto...

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