A judge in a small jungle town in Ecuador on Monday ordered Chevron to pay more than $9 billion in damages, finding the energy giant responsible for the oil pollution that has fouled a stretch of land along Ecuador’s northern border.

The case, which began in a New York court in 1993, has been closely monitored by the oil industry for precedents that might be set for future lawsuits.

The amount in the ruling – $8.6 billion plus a legally required 10 percent reparations fee – was issued by Judge Nicolas Zambrano in the town of Lago Agrio. The amount dwarfs the $3.9 billion that Exxon Mobil was ordered to pay for the 1989 spill in Alaska. But Chevron said it would appeal, accusing the plaintiff’s attorneys of conspiring with witnesses to present tainted testimony.

“The Ecuadorian court’s judgment is illegitimate and unenforceable,” a Chevron statement said. “It is the product of fraud.”

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