Chevron Sued by Amazon Residents in Brazil

Lawyers representing residents of an Amazon rain forest said they filed a second lawsuit to seize assets belonging to Chevron Corp. (CVX) as part of their effort to collect an $18.2 billion judgment they won in Ecuador in a pollution case.

The claim, filed Wednesday in the Superior Tribunal of Justice in Brasilia, Brazil, is part a long-running legal battle. The plaintiffs have argued their land was contaminated by oil operations dating back to the 1970s involving Texaco Inc., which Chevron bought in 2001. Last year, a court in Ecuador found Chevron liable and levied an $18.2 billion judgment

Chevron repeated its criticism of the court judgment and predicted the latest legal maneuver by plaintiffs' attorneys wouldn't succeed.

"The Ecuador judgment is a product of bribery, fraud and it is illegitimate," Chevron said in a statement. "The company does not believe that the Ecuador judgment is enforceable in any court that observes the rule of law."

The plaintiffs have said they will try to seize Chevron's assets in countries where it operates to force it to pay the judgment.

The legal action in Brazil was "made necessary by Chevron's refusal to comply with an "$18 billion court judgment in Ecuador that was affirmed on appeal," the plaintiffs said in a statement. The group said they were targeting Chevron operations in Brazil they said produce 33,000 barrels of crude oil and 13 million cubic feet of natural gas a day.

In May, the plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in Canada to seize assets there belonging to Chevron. The plaintiffs said they aim to "garnish various revenue streams" and Canadian assets belonging to Chevron.

-Angel Gonzalez and Daniel Gilbert contributed to this article

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