Peru’s Supreme Court recently ordered government health officials to develop and execute a “public health emergency plan” to alleviate toxic emissions in the town of La Oroya, where Missouri-based Doe Run operates a nearby metallurgical plant.
The company has repeatedly claimed that it has invested more than $140 million to reduce toxic emmissions. But whatever it is doing is not working.
A 2004 study conducted by the company and local health officials concluded more than 99 percent of children under six had lead poisoning.
And in December 2005, a team from the Saint Louis University School of Public Health found La Oroya residents’ blood to contain elevated levels of toxic subtances. Among them was cadmium, a poisonous element known to cause kidney failure and cancer. The level of cadmium was six times higher than acceptable U.S. levels.