The sentence was handed down Friday by a jury in Pointe a la Hache in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, a marshy area southeast of New Orleans.

Contacted by AFP on Sunday, Chevron's lead trial attorney Mike Phillips said the company "will appeal this verdict to address the numerous legal errors that led to this unjust result."

Plaquemines authorities sued Chevron following its takeover of another oil behemoth, Texaco, in 2001. They accused Texaco of violating an environmental protection law adopted in 1978 in Louisiana.

The text stated that "exploration and production sites shall be cleared, revegetated, detoxified, and otherwise restored as near as practicable to their original condition upon termination of operations to the maximum extent practicable."

But the lawsuit alleged Chevron and Texaco did not fulfill their obligations.

Local authorities also accused the group of worsening the effects of the tides by degrading the marshes that could protect against rising sea levels.

The jury awarded Plaquemines $575 million for the loss of part of its land, now permanently under water, $161 million for pollution, and $9 million over the abandonment of equipment.

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CHEVRON