LA OROYA, PERU is the 5th most polluted place on the planet according to the Blacksmith Institute
situated in a high mountain valley in the Andes, the air is already thin; but for the past 55 years the 35,000 residents of this high valley have been continuously exposed to astoundingly high levels of hazardous pollution.
the sole source of which, is the smelter run by an american corporation, the Doe Run Company. part of the massive industrial conglomerate controlled by Ira Rennert, whose operations have been called some of the worst polluters in the u.s. For nearly 13 years, according to industry reports, the company topped the US Environmental Protection Authority’s list as the worst air polluter in the country.
continued…
as the consequences of the contamination have continued to mount, including increasing instances of mental and physical disabilities, the peruvian government, cowed by pressure from DoeRun / Rennert, and other foreign investors, has put off acting to correct or improve the situation. Peru’s Clean Air Act even cites La Oroya in a list of Peruvian towns suffering critical levels of air pollution. but under continued pressure from the company and /foreign investors, the company asked for and received a four year extension to the plants environmental management plan.
the problems at the La Oroya smelter have received heightened exposure in the msm, most recently the Guardian UK:
At an altitude of 13,000ft the Andean air is clear. A plume of white smoke rises from the chimney at the La Oroya smelter, hard at work refining arsenic and metals such as lead, cadmium and copper. But today the company is not discharging any gases over this city in central Peru. ‘It’s a nice day, so the company won’t be letting off any gases,’ says Hugo Villa, a neurologist at the local hospital. ‘They keep the worst emissions to overcast days or after dark.’
When the gases are released, they make this one of the most polluted places on the planet, with La Oroya ranking alongside Chernobyl for environmental devastation, according to a US think-tank, the Blacksmith Institute.
[…]
The pollution from his plants appears both horrific and difficult to contest. A study of 93 newborn children in the first 12 hours of their life, conducted by Hugo Villa, showed they had highly dangerous levels of lead in their blood, inherited from their mothers while in the womb. The nearer the mothers lived to the main smelter, the higher was the babies’ level of lead poisoning.
[…]
The quality of air sampled in the neighbourhood by three Peruvian voluntary agencies showed 85 times more arsenic, 41 times more cadmium and 13 times more lead than is safe. In parts of the town the water supply contains 50 per cent more lead than levels recommended by the World Health Organisation…
[…]
additionally, in june, the la times did a lengthy article which painted the operation, and the companies tactics in rather harsh light:
…La Oroya has become the unlikely setting for a fiercely polarizing struggle over U.S. corporate responsibility in the Third World.
[…]
This is a community where parents recite their children’s blood-lead readings the way moms and dads elsewhere recall their kids’ birthdays.
“They said Angel’s lead level was close to 50, but we fear it may be higher,” said his father, Mariano Pacotaype. In children, a measurement one-fifth of Angel’s, 10 micrograms a deciliter, is considered elevated by the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Officials at Doe Run acknowledge that almost every child tested in the Old Town has a blood-lead reading at least double that level.
Peruvian and U.S. activists allege that the smelter’s daily release of lead, arsenic and other toxic substances has stunted childhood development and caused an array of illnesses, including cancer. A St. Louis University research team said La Oroya faces a “daily toxic cocktail” and labeled the situation “an environmental health crisis.”
However, epidemiological and statistical studies definitively linking the emissions to illness are lacking.
[…]
Doe Run officials say emissions are down and have never been shown to have harmed anyone. “I am not aware of any case of serious illness that may be attributed to our La Oroya operations,” said spokesman Victor Andres Belaunde.
Critics say Doe Run’s repeated threats to shutter the plant and leave more than 3,000 employees jobless have intimidated Peru’s government.
“Doe Run basically does what it wants here” said Mayor Cesar A. Gutierrez Revilla, a former chemical engineer at the plant who won office this year pledging to stand up to Doe Run.
Doe Run officials deny bullying anyone…
[…]
“A place like La Oroya could have existed in the United States about 50 years ago, but not now,” said David Sterling, who heads St. Louis University’s School of Public Health’s division of environmental and occupational health. “There’s so much more regulation, enforcement and the fact that civil society will just not allow these kinds of conditions here anymore. It’s too obvious, too blatant.”
as the reader may well imagine, the Doe Run Co. was, and l would assume still is, not terribly pleased with the article in the LAT. in fact, Bruce Neil, President and CEO, saw fit to offer a few comments on the company website in response:
Doe Run CEO Comments On Los Angeles Times Article
I’d like to take this opportunity to share my thoughts on a recent article in the Los Angeles Times. A reporter from this newspaper contacted Doe Run Peru months ago, and the company’s communications team spent hours over several days, answering dozens of questions, and providing tours, photos and statistics on Doe Run Peru’s major accomplishments in order to accommodate his request. Unfortunately, the reporter chose to ignore most of what was presented, instead using a few selected facts to create a very biased and slanted story.
Having served as Doe Run Peru’s President from 2004 until 2006, I’d like to provide a different perspective.
[…]
unfortunately, he offered no defense beyond “In the past ten years, no organization has done more for the community of La Oroya than Doe Run Peru. The company’s work and commitment are ongoing.”
with companies like Doe Run, and Chiquita representing the ugly face of america in latin america, and the undue political influence exerted by the huge multi-national corporations and their subsidiaries, with, l’m betting, the assistance of the BushCo™ cartel; is it any wonder that our prestige in latin america, and agreements such as CAFTA are taking a beating.
it’s going to take a major shift in foreign policy and awareness, and generation to even begin to reconcile relationships in that arena. when we stop viewing the rest of the world as our private property and begin to respect not only the people but the environment they live in, maybe we’ll have a chance.
IOKIYAR, ugly americans indeed.
