Peru's government needs to properly implement precautionary health measures for residents in La Oroya, where Lima-based Doe Run Peru's polymetallic smelter is located, Astrid Puentes, co-director of the Interamerican Association for Environmental Defense (AIDA), told BNamericas.
In 2007, following a petition submitted by AIDA, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) asked the Peruvian government to take precautionary measures for more than 60 La Oroya residents. The inhabitants suffer from health problems believed to be caused by air, soil and water contamination from the metallurgical complex.
The measures included the provision of adequate medical treatment and specialized medical tests and diagnoses for the beneficiaries.
During a hearing this March, AIDA presented evidence that the government had not fully complied with the measures, while authorities said that they have met the demands of the commission and asked for the case to be closed.
"We proved with independent experts that there were many things that they had not complied with, so the commission has maintained the measures. They are still valid," Puentes said, adding: "The government is still in the process of complying."
"One of the problems is that the government is giving general medical examinations and what we need are specialized tests for people, because it is not a regular situation," Puentes said.
ONGOING CONTAMINATION
The metallurgical complex in La Oroya was built in 1922 by the Cerro de Pasco Corporation and nationalized in 1971. Doe Run Peru acquired it in 1997 in a privatization process that included an environmental cleanup agreement called PAMA.
The complex includes smelters and refineries that process copper, lead, zinc and silver concentrates, as well as several byproducts. The plant is known for having caused serious lead contamination around La Oroya.
Doe Run Peru suspended operations at the smelter last year when it ran into financial difficulties as a result of the global economic crisis without completing the PAMA cleanup.
As a result, residents are still exposed to contamination. "Because lead is everywhere, people are still exposed," Puentes said. "Contamination is still going on because the city has not been cleaned up."
Doe Run Peru is an affiliate of the New York-based Renco Group. The company is currently undergoing proceedings at competition regulator Indecopi that will result in it being restructured or liquidated.
Source: www.bnamericas.com
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