A big banner with the words Chevron Guilty: Clean Up Amazon fluttering under Richmond-San Rafael bridge on Monday morning, hung by 5 environmentalists who have accused the energy giant of causing rainforest pollution in Amazon, have got them into trouble.

The environmental activists including Amazon Watch finance manager Thomas Cavanagh were all arrested by Marin California Highway Patrol officers.

It happened two days before a scheduled Chevron shareholder meeting at San Ramon Chevron corporate headquarters.

Ginger Cassady, who is the director for the Rainforest Action Network's Change Chevron campaign said: This was to send a loud and clear message to the Chevron CEO and other executives in San Ramon.

An Ecuadorean court in February had held Chevron liable for polluting the Amazon rainforest, ordering it to pay $18 billion in damages.

More actions are expected to be taken by environmentalists during Wednesday's meeting.

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