Why is Chevron’s method for sampling soil bogus?
• Uphill Samples to Avoid Finding Toxics Chevron deliberately designs its sampling to avoid areas with high concentrations of contamination. One technique is premised on the ludicrous notion that water and contaminants will naturally flow uphill. Chevron takes samples from streams located up gradient from the contaminated pits so as to avoid surface and groundwater contamination, rather than taking downhill samples where the leachate from the pits flows according to the laws of gravity. • Composite Samples To Dilute Impact of Contamination Another Chevron technique, which runs counter to sound scientific practice and EPA guidance, is to mix various soil samples together and analyze them as one sample to dilute the contamination. Given the nature of the toxic dumping in Ecuador’s Amazon rainforest, Chevron should sample at “hotspots” where the highest levels of concentrations exist. The EPA specifically states that Chevron’s composite sampling is inappropriate for sites where “indiscrim
