In 1993, Ecuadorian villagers accused Chevron subsidiary, Texaco, of knowingly dumping toxic oil waste into the environment surrounding the Lago Agrio oil field between the years 1964 and 1992, causing massive and irreversible damage to valuable soil and water resources utilized for their food production and consumption thereby increasing the incidence of health related conditions such as cancer thirty-fold.

Chevron agreed to spend $40 million to decontaminate the affected areas and in 1998, signed an agreement with the Ecuadorian government, absolving the company from any responsibility before shutting down Texaco operations during the same year.

In 2005, to prove that it was successful in ridding the area of toxic waste, Chevron sent a team of experts to do soil and water tests but damning video footage that was never meant to reach the public eye has since then surfaced, allegedly disproving the company's claims that the land had been cleared of contamination.