Where We Live: Saving La Oroya

SAVING LA OROYA

High in the Peruvian Andes, citizens of the town of La Oroya are fighting to end toxic pollution from a metal smelter owned by the Missouri-based Doe Run Company. Earthjustice’s International Program is collaborating with the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law (SPDA), our partner in the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), to force the company and the Peruvian government to address the severe health and environmental crisis caused by the smelter.

The situation in La Oroya is shocking. More than 99 percent of the children have unsafe levels of lead in their blood. The air is polluted not only with lead but also with dangerous concentrations of toxic cadmium and arsenic. Sulfur dioxide concentrations are seven times greater than considered safe by the World Health Organization. Despite these statistics, the company and government have failed to acknowledge and address the root cause of the problem-–feeble environmental controls at the smelter.

But our efforts to help citizens in La Oroya are starting to pay off. After our report, La Oroya Cannot Wait, was published, the Peruvian Minister of Energy and Mines called environmentalists and the company to a private meeting. According to participants, the minister told Doe Run’s representatives, "I’ve been up all night reading this report and you have some things to answer for." Making good on his promise, the minister has called for a high-level administrative commission to develop an action plan, and the Ministry of Health insists it is tackling the issue. Foreign help is also beginning to materialize. USAID has promised to provide $100,000 for technical assistance, and has asked the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention to assist in the development of an emergency response plan for La Oroya.

On the legal front, our Peruvian partners filed suit to force the Ministry of Health to take action. The case was initially suspended based on the argument that citizens must first threaten to sue the government before actually doing so. But our lawyers won a big victory when the appeals court sided with us and reinstated the case. The judges agreed that if the Health Ministry is not doing its job of protecting the health and lives of citizens in La Oroya, groups like ours are free to challenge their inaction in the courts at any time.

View our full list of victories!

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