PERU: Open-Pit Mine Continues to Swallow City

[Judi Lynn]

Tuesday, January 06, 2009 08:57 GMT
PERU: Open-Pit Mine Continues to Swallow City
By Milagros Salazar

CERRO DE PASCO, Peru, Jan 5 (IPS) - An immense open-pit mine located 4380 metres above sea level is swallowing up the centre of the city of Cerro de Pasco in Peru’s central highlands, while the damages, in the form of toxic waste, spread to nearby villages.

The government just signed a new law to relocate part of the local population, who for decades have suffered from the lead dust, dynamite explosions and toxic gases generated by the mining of zinc, lead and silver.

The open-pit mine now operated by Volcan, a Peruvian company, in this city of 70,000 -- which is the capital of the province of Pasco -- is now 1.8 kilometres long. Neighbourhoods stretch all around its edges.

The shabby houses located a few metres from the edge show cracks from the detonations, and children with blood lead levels far above the acceptable limits play next to vast heaps of slag.

And in villages near the city, local peasant farmers watch their livestock die because of a lack of water, and contaminated grass.

The Civil Defence Institute concluded in 2006 that 85 percent of the housing around the mine is uninhabitable. Local residents are aware that they will have to leave their homes, although that day has taken a long time to arrive because the relocation project has been postponed for years. But since they know they won’t be staying, any future plans are put on hold.

To the surprise of many locals, after two years of perseverance by a group of lawmakers, the government of Alan García signed a new law on Dec. 13 that declares the relocation of the town a question of "public need and national interest."

More:
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45293

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PERU: My Mining Deposits Are Under Your House
By Milagros Salazar

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44770