#toxicmetals

Last month I was given the opportunity to travel alongside Mr. Conrado (director of Peru Joining Hands Network) and Mr. Charlie Berthoud (PCUSA Pastor) and his two sons to one of the most polluted places in the world. La Oroya, Peru. La Oroya is located in central Peru on a central plateau of the Andes Mountains, at an elevation of 12,195 feet.

Originally La Oroya was a beautiful and clean place to live. This all began to change in 1922 when an American owned smelter was constructed in their little town. The purpose of a smelter is to melt the rocks that the mining companies have dug out of the mountains. This is a chemical process that is highly toxic. Currently, the smelter in La Oroya is not functioning, but when it was fully functioning it emitted 2000 pounds of toxins into the air every single day. This is why La Oroya is considered one of the five most contaminated cities in the world. Although the smelter is not currently functioning the pollution from the previous years of operation could take centuries to reverse. 

The main pollutants found in the air, water, and soil are lead, copper, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and sulfur dioxide. These toxic metals affect the people and children of La Oroya in deadly ways and there is no way for them to escape the harmful effects. Not only has the smelter devastated the people but it has also ruined much of the wildlife. The once green Andes Mountains are now covered in a sheet of white ash that resembles snow. The white sheet that now covers the mountains of La Oroya are a result of sulphuric acid. The smelter emits smoke that has a lot of sulphur dioxide in it. When it rains, it turns the sulphur dioxide into sulphuric acid aka Acid Rain. Because of the acid rain, nothing can grow on the mountains. The mountains are a grim reminder of the toxins that plague La Oroya.  I will attach photos of this below.

Doe Run Peru is the name of the smelter that has caused all of the contamination. Doe Run Peru was a company owned by a New York billionaire (Ira Rennert) who bought the smelter in La Oroya in 1997, at which point contamination levels began to spike. In 2009 he claimed that the company was going bankrupt. He blamed the State of Peru, claiming that their enforcement of environmental regulations was more costly than anticipated, and he subsequently sued the State of Peru in international court (referred to in Spanish as CIADI; in the English, it is known as ICSID) for $800 million. In the meantime, creditors of the smelter (including the State of Peru) have tried to auction it off, but no one wants to buy it despite the fact that the State drastically weakened environmental standards in order to do so. Just recently, the workers´union in La Oroya has said they intend to buy it.

Peru Joining Hands Network, PC(USA) global partner in Peru, have been working in La Oroya for almost 20 years, fighting for justice. Because there is no plan made by the government for the reversal of this pollution Joining Hands partners directly with local community leaders in La Oroya. The community leaders have been planting trees on the mountain to promote growth with an overall goal of reforestation. The majority of this group is made up of older women who hike about 2.5 miles three times a week to water and groom their plants. These women (and men) are literally changing the world with hopes of a better future for the generations to come.

We were able to talk directly with the community leaders and even make the hike with them so that we woud have the opportunity to look at their project first hand. I was incredibly inspired by them and it really made me think about how much power we have even though we may feel and look powerless. 

A BIG thanks to Jed Hawkes Koball for providing me with tons of research and information about La Oroya, and a big shout out to Charlie Berthoud who took some amazing photos on our trip.

If you would like a more in depth description of the health problems that affect the children, and people of La Oroya you should check out this short documentary that features Joining Hands Network. (Segment 23:08-35:08 is about La Oroya). You will see Conrado at the end of the segment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqXSE5ZTZ-E

I have attached quite a few photos below so hopefully the pictures will put things into perspective!