Lead poisoning in Peru - killing the environment and damaging the people

i've traveled in the andean highlands of peru... peru is one of the most beautiful and ecologically diverse countries in the world, and it's painful to read things like this...

A grey blanket of smog hangs over the mining town of La Oroya high up in the Andes in Peru, where several generations have suffered the effects of the lead dust and toxic fumes spewed out by a giant smelting complex.

A look around, and a few deep breaths, are all that is needed to understand that something is wrong in this town of 35,000 people in the central Peruvian region of Junín, where humble adobe and brick houses are surrounded by bleak hills in shades of grey -- the vegetation has been destroyed by acid rain -- and the dense air stings the eyes and throat.

The cause of the smog stands out like a sore thumb in the middle of the town: the smokestack of the multimetal smelter and refinery complex that spits out clouds of black smoke, and has been doing so for over 80 years.

Luis Saldarriaga, the head of oversight of the mining industry in the Ministry of Energy and Mines, tells IPS that 1.5 tons of lead and 810 tons of sulphur dioxide are emitted daily by the smelting complex administered since 1997 by the U.S. company Doe Run.

The factory's emissions of sulphur dioxide -- which can cause respiratory problems like bronchitis and are the main cause of acid rain -- are four times the acceptable limit of 175 metric tons a day, as set by Peruvian law.

The factory, located 180 km east of Lima and 3,300 metres above sea level, was built in 1922 by the Cerro de Pasco Corporation, a U.S. firm. In 1974 it was taken over by the state-run Centromín Perú, until it was privatised and acquired by the Missouri-based Doe Run in 1997.

The governmental National Environment Commission confirmed that the smelter is the source of 99 percent of the toxic emissions that people inhale in this town. Up to 20 metals -- including copper, lead and zinc -- are processed in the plant.

Few people make a living from farming in this area. The majority of the town's residents depend directly or indirectly on the smelting complex. Doe Run itself employs 4,000 workers, and most of the rest work in companies that do business with the plant or in the social programmes funded by Doe Run.

In 2001, the Peruvian government included La Oroya on a list of the country's 13 most heavily polluted towns and cities.

And the Blacksmith Institute, a New York-based non-governmental organisation dedicated to supporting pollution-related environmental projects in developing countries, recently included it on its 2006 list of the world's 10 most polluted places.

you can only imagine what kind of long-term impact the doe run facility has on the health of the citizens of la oroya, but you would never know it from reading doe run's corporate website...

Doe Run Company serves as one of the world's leading providers of premium lead and associated metals and services. Our commitment to producing these materials in a safe and environmentally responsible manner is demonstrated through pioneering techniques that make our international operations more innovative, efficient and environmentally sound. To that end, we’ve made significant contributions to the evolving industries of lead mining, smelting, recycling and fabrication of metals.

We're proud to operate one of the world’s only multi-metal facilities in La Oroya, Peru, and to serve as the Americas’ largest integrated lead producer. In our quest to continuously improve product quality, service and environmental performance, we work in partnership with our employees, communities, and customers around the globe. Their viewpoints are important to us as we strive to make tomorrow better than today.

uh-huh...

(an interesting piece of trivia... in the entire world, there are only two stands of the rare, 5-needle, molica pine, a tertiary era relic - peru and macedonia...)

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