Daryl Hannah visits Ecuador Indians who are suing Chevron

Lago Agrio, Ecuador – Daryl Hannah said she planned to meet with Ecuador’s president Tuesday to discuss a lawsuit by Indians and settlers against Chevron Corp., a day after she trudged through the jungle to visit the polluted site.

San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron is on trial in Lago Agrio, 110 miles east of the capital, Quito, for allegedly failing to clean up billions of gallons of toxic wastewater.

Hannah, 46, star of the 1984 movie “Splash,” rolled up a sleeve of her shirt and dipped it into an oil pit, holding it above her head as the thick liquid dripped down her arm.

“Obviously they’re suffering severely,” she said by telephone from her hotel in the jungle town. “A whole host of horrors have come their way with the advent of supposed civilization.”

The plaintiffs are seeking $6 billion in damages, claiming that Texaco Petroleum Co., which merged with Chevron in 2001 and spent three decades extracting oil here, dumped more than 18 billion gallons of oily wastewater into the rainforest, and failed to properly clean it up.

Chevron denies the allegations.

The Fray frontman possible heir to 13th-century mansion

Denver – Isaac Slade, frontman for The Fray, says he hasn’t decided whether he wants to inherit a $15 million English mansion from Sir Benjamin Slade, a 60-year-old aristocrat who may be a distant relative.

Sir Slade, who has no children, is looking for an heir for the 150-acre estate, Maunsel House, located 140 miles west of London. The 13th-century mansion boasts three lakes, a ballroom and hundreds of cattle.

The Denver-based rocker, who contacted his namesake, said he and his wife, Anna, had visited Slade and his wife at their estate.

“We had a wonderful couple of days with Ben and Kirsty, who were amazing hosts,” he said in a statement this week. “For now, we’re all just getting to know each other.”

The Fray also includes Joe King, Ben Wysocki and Dave Welsh. Epic Records released the band’s debut album, “How to Save a Life,” in 2005.

Benjamin Slade launched a well-publicized search for heirs because the estate faced an uncertain future.

“All my relatives in England have their own large houses and had no interest in taking on another place,” he said.