Peru

Chronology of Main Events

in Canaán de Cachiyacu and Nuevo Sucre

1994 - Maple Energy plc takes over pipelines and wells constructed by PetroPeru many decades before and begins operations in Lot 31-B.  Oil wells and pipelines for this operation run through the 1,200 person Shipibo community of Canaán de Cachiyacu, along the Rio Ucayali in Loreto, Peru.  Maple’s operations begin without consultation with the community or payment of rents.

2001 - Maple begins operations on community land in Nuevo Sucre, part of the Pacaya Field, Lot 31-E, without permission from, or consultation with, the community.

2004 - After ten years of harmful impacts from Maple’s operations, the community members of Canaán give testimony to the regional indigenous federation Organización Regional de AIDESEP Ucayali (ORAU).  They describe harm such as contamination of soil and water from Maple’s discharged oil residues, health impacts from water contamination, harm caused to wildlife, and lower crop yields impacting community food access.  The community also complains of the social harm caused by Maple’s presence, including sexual harassment and lack of respect for local culture.

January 2005 - Canaán and Maple meet and agree to solutions for some of the social and environmental problems.  According to the community, Maple fails to comply with the majority of its promises made at this meeting.

April 2005 - Maple writes a letter to the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines stating that no consultation with the community of Canaán is necessary and that Maple’s payments to PetroPeru should contribute to the development of the community, in lieu of any direct compensation payments. 

June 2005 - Canaán shuts down Maple oil wells in their community in protest of Maple’s failure to comply with promises under past agreements.  The neighboring village of Nuevo Sucre supports Canaán by bringing them food and learn for the first time that

Maple has been operating without permission on their land as well.  This shut down of wells leads to another agreement between Maple and the community.

July 2005 - EarthRights International issues a report documenting environmental contamination from Maple’s operations in the community of Canaán.  The report documented health and social impacts as well as deaths that the communities attribute to the contamination. 

November 2005 - The community of Canaán meets with Maple Energy representatives regarding environmental, social and community development issues. An agreement is reached through a community relations plan.  According to the community, Maple fails to comply with the majority of its promises under this agreement.

January-August 2006 - The community of Canaán meets with Maple Energy repeatedly regarding disputes over demarcation of land and land value.  In August 2006, the community of Canaán requests that Maple withdraw from community land and the nine oil wells there.  Maple responds that the wells are property of the Government and that the request must be taken up with the Government of Peru.  Operations continue.

2006 - Agreement to a new Community Relations Plan between the community of Canaán and Maple Energy.  According to the community, Maple fails to comply with the majority of its promises under this agreement.

2007 - Maple receives USD $40 million from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation to expand oil operations in Canaán and Nuevo Sucre and to develop an ethanol field elsewhere.  Neither Maple nor the IFC hold any consultations about the project in the villagers’ native language of Shipibo.

2007-08 -  Agreement to a new Community Relations Plan between the community of Canaán and Maple Energy.  According to the community, Maple again fails to comply with the majority of its promises under this agreement.

January 13-14, 2009 - Maple Energy Oil Spill in the Mashiria Tributary in Nuevo Sucre (Spill One).

January 24-25, 2009 - Maple Energy Oil Spill in the Yarinillo Tributary in Nuevo Sucre (Spill Two).

April 8-12, 2009 - Maple Energy Oil Spill in the Yarina Tributary in Nuevo Sucre (Spill Three).  According to community members from Nuevo Sucre, after this particularly significant spill, Maple representatives enter the community and tell villagers that Maple is renting their boats and that men in the village would be working in Nuevo Sucre on this clean up for several weeks and not outside the community.  This traps the entire community in the contaminated zone because the only exit is by waterway.  Maple provides no alternative sources of food or water to the community and does not warn them of risks caused by the spill.  Thirty-three men are employed to clean up the spill for four days.  They report that without their boats, they have no other option but to work on the clean-up.  For four days, the men from the village wade in the oil-thick tributary up to their chests without protective gear or proper equipment.  None of the workers or other community members are warned of risks to

their health.  On the fourth day, Maple calls off the work as a period of rain begins.  Maple pays the workers for fewer days than was agreed, for less pay per day than was agreed, and Maple Energy never pays the village for confiscation of their boats.

September 21, 2009 - Maple Energy Oil Spill in the Cachiyacu Tributary in Canaán de Cachiyacu (Spill Four).

November 2009 - Accountability Counsel, Racimos, IAP and Amazon Watch submit a letter to the IFC Executive Vice President about the project and receive this letter from the IFC in reply, committing to “review further the background of these incidents and the adequacy and appropriateness of the company’s response.”

February 2010 - At the invitation of indigenous federations ORAU and FECONBU, Accountability Counsel, IAP and Peruvian lawyer Lily La Torre meet with the communities of Nuevo Sucre and Canaán de Cachiyacu.

March 3, 2010 - Maple Energy Oil Spill in the Cachiyacu Tributary in Canaán de Cachiyacu (Spill Five).

April 6, 2010 -  Accountability Counsel, San Francisco-based partner International Accountability Project (“IAP”), and two Peruvian indigenous federations, ORAU and FECONBU, file a human rights and environmental Complaint on behalf of Canaán de Cahiyacu and Nuevo Sucre with the World Bank IFC’s  Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO).

April 6, 2010 -  The CAO determines that the compliant is eligible and proceeds to an assessment which must be completed within 120 working days.

April 7, 2010 - Reuters files an article (here) where Maple is quoted as claiming to have an “excellent relationship” with the community and the IFC describes this project as meeting “international best practice”!

June 2010 - The CAO conducts its assessment visit to the communities.

January 2011 - The CAO issues its Assessment Report setting out steps for entering into a mediated dialogue process.

April 2011 - The communities and Maple enter a dialogue process mediated by the CAO.

July 7, 2011 - We mourn the loss of our client Luis Saldaña, who passed away in the Shipibo village of Nuevo Sucre in the Peruvian Amazon.  Luis suffered greatly in the past few years from the impacts of oil contamination on his land.

July 10, 2011 - Maple Energy Responsible for another spill (Spill Six) in the Shipibo village of Nuevo Sucre.  On July 10, 2011, children bathing in a creek observed a spill while the community was in mourning over the death of Luis Saldaña, see below.  The company had men from Nuevo Sucre clean up the spill with no training, protective gear, or information

about the impacts of exposure to crude oil.  Women and children continued to use the water during the spill.  Despite our complaint to the CAO about the same atrocities in 2009, Maple provided no food or water to the community members who rely on the waterway for their survival.  Read more here.  The indigenous federation representing Nuevo Sucre sent letters to the Peruvian government demanding an investigation on July 15, 2011 and July 20, 2011.

August 3, 2011 - The communities sent a third letter to the Peruvian Government demanding an investigation on August 3, 2011.

August 11, 2011 - CAO-mediated dialogue ends between the communities of Canaán and Nuevo Sucre and Maple Energy due to Maple’s lack of willingness to accept responsibility for the devastating oil spills that Maple caused in Shipibo territory.

August 18, 2011 - The Government of Peru (Ministerio del Ambiente del Perú) agrees to form a multi-sectoral commission to investigate the spills by Maple Energy / Maple Gas on Shipibo territory in Nuevo Sucre and Canaán.

September 8, 2011 - The Peruvian Government’s multi-sectoral commission of Vice-Ministers reached

an official agreement with the indigenous communities of Nuevo Sucre and Canaán that confirm’s Maple Energy plc’s contamination of Shipibo land and waterways.

Key documents are available here.  Sign up for the Accountability Counsel Newsletter here to receive periodic updates about the case.

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