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Year after year passes and nothing continues to be done to clean up the deadly mess in the Ecuadorian Amazon. For decades, oil companies, starting with Texaco (now called Chevron) in the 1960s, spilled millions of gallons of toxic waste water and crude oil into the rain forest. To this day, hazardous waste sits in open pits, seeping into the rivers and streams of the area. The contamination has had and continues to have grim effects on the indigenous peoples of the area and is said to be one of the worst environmental disasters known on the planet. While Chevron battles the lawsuit that could hold the company accountable, these people suffer. Until there is an actual effort to clean up the ugliness that stains this area, an end to the pain and the grieving is far from the horizon.

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Children from the Quechua tribe play near a recent oil spill near their home along Via Auca in the Ecuadorian Amazon. The infamous Via Auca, is 60 miles long and penetrates the deepest into the forest. Alongside the road runs long rusty pipes carrying oil, oil operations and giant flares illuminate the night burning gas.