Peru: The Dark Future Of La Oroya
Peru: The Dark Future Of La Oroya
June 19, 2014 Latinamerica Press
By Latinamerica Press
By Maija Susarina
Considered one of the most contaminated cities in the world, La Oroya depends on mining which has left serious consequences on the health of the population.
It all started nearly a hundred years ago in 1922 when the mines in La Oroya began to be exploited to a larger extent. Ever since, this city has written a long history of contamination, fraud, disregard and manipulation. Last year Doe Run Peru (DRP), a US-based company that runs the mine since 1997, reopened its doors after three years of silence and started to run the zinc-circuit with over 500 employees again. However, the future of these workers, the city and the mining plant itself remains unclear.
In the beginning, the mine was only extracting lead but soon also zinc, gold and silver, which comes with the side effect of blowing all kinds of poisonous metals and acids into the air of the city. It was also Peru´s only polymetallic smelter which means that it processed all kinds of metals, also from abroad. Some countries are believed to have processed their highly poisonous metals in La Oroya because it was illegal in their own countries due to environmental policies.
The metal circuits, first in the hands of a US-based company and later nationalized, were sold to Doe Run Peru in 1997 under the government of Alberto Fujimori (1990-2000) who sold it under value in order to attract foreign investment to Peru. The company continued to exploit the mine under the condition of agreeing to the Environmental Adaptation and Management Plan (PAMA) that forced DRP to clean up the contamination and switch to newer and sustainable extraction machines. Nevertheless, PAMA never got implemented. DRP asked the Peruvian Government to postpone the program three times and went officially bankrupt in 2009, leaving the industry the whole city depends on shattered. DRP went even one step further and sued the Peruvian government for US$800 million because of the Free Trade Agreement Peru signed with the United States effective since 2009. This contract puts the well-being of economy above all other policies making it thus possible to sue Peru as US-based companies should be allowed to operate freely without any restrictions. PAMA was a restriction and according to the company itself, was one of the reasons DRP went bankrupt. Experts affirm that it is very likely that DRP will win this case.
More:
http://www.eurasiareview.com/19062014-peru-dark-future-la-oroya/