In the first case of its kind, the farmers claim environmental damage caused by BPs oil pipeline threatens their livelihoods
More than 100 Colombian small farmers are taking on oil giant BP in the UK high court on Wednesday in one of the largest cases in environmental legal history.
The farmers say the British company Equion Energia, formerly BP Exploration (Colombia) Ltd or BPXC, was negligent in the construction of the Ocensa oil pipeline in the mid-1990s. It ran through their properties and, they claim, caused serious damage to their land, crops and animals. If the claim is successful, it could open the way for similar claims by other communities in developing countries who say they have been adversely affected by oil pipelines.