A US court has overturned a block on Ecuadoreans collecting damages totalling $18.2bn (£11.5bn) from Chevron over Amazon oil pollution. The order reversed a previous judge's ruling that froze enforcement of the fine outside Ecuador.
But it is not the end of the legal saga, which is also going through the courts in Ecuador.
Texaco, which merged with Chevron in 2001, was accused of dumping toxic materials in the Ecuadorean Amazon.
In February, an Ecuadorean court ruled that Chevron should pay to clean up pollution, awarding damages of more than $9bn as well as punitive damages of more than $8bn.
But Chevron, which argues that this judgement was fraudulent, successfully appealed to a New York judge to have collection of the fine blocked. That decision was overturned on Monday, when the Second US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York lifted the injunction.
"We can now at least dream there will be justice and compensation for the damage, the environmental crime, committed by Chevron in Ecuador," lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, Pablo Fajardo, told the Associated Press.
However, the plaintiffs have agreed not to attempt to collect the damages until the appeals process is completed in Ecuador.
Much of the US faced another round of biting winter weather on Sunday, with torrential rains...
