NY judge gives ‘Crude’ filmmaker more time to release footage Chevron wants in Ecuador lawsuit

NY judge says filmmaker can give oil footage later

NEW YORK — A New York judge has given a filmmaker more time to release outtakes of a documentary for use in a legal dispute over whether Chevron owes billions of dollars in damages for oil contamination in Ecuador.

Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan previously ordered filmmaker Joseph Berlinger to turn over footage from a film called “Crude” on Friday. Berlinger now has until the end of the month.

Berlinger is fighting the order. His lawyer says he needs more time.

The lawsuit is part of a 17-year-old fight. Ecuadoreans claim their land was contaminated during three decades of oil exploration and extraction by Texaco Inc., which became a wholly owned subsidiary of San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron Corp. in 2001.

Chevron says the footage will help bolster its case.