Peru declares environmental state of emergency in its rainforest

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Source: The Guardian

Peru has declared an environmental state of emergency in a remote part of its northern Amazon rainforest, home for decades to one of the country's biggest oil fields, currently operated by the Argentinian company Pluspetrol.

Achuar and Kichwa indigenous people living in the Pastaza river basin near Peru's border with Ecuador have complained for decades about the pollution, while successive governments have failed to deal with it. Officials indicate that for years the state lacked the required environmental quality standards.

A new law published on Monday that sets out, for the first time, environmental quality standards setting acceptable limits for contaminants in soil, may be a key advance, say officials.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2013/mar/26/peru-declares-environmental-emergency-rainforest

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1. Good for the Peruvians., nt

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2. These South American countries are going to be interesting to watch...

In the next couple of years. I saw the Oliver Stone documentary - he interviewed Hugo Chavez and a couple of other presidents of South America; the leaders of these countries do not worship the god of capitalism the way our leaders do.

We can learn much if we keep an eye on them.

They could probably use a little moral support from us as well. You know our oil companies want to destroy them.