Letter from Hunter and Ruth Farrell in Peru
December 2, 2005
Friends,
Marco dreams of becoming a doctor someday. But according to a recent government study, 99.9 percent of the children tested in his hometown of La Oroya, Peru, have excessive lead levels. Marco has five times the maximum permissible level. Lead poisoning can cause learning problems, retarded growth, hyperactivity, kidney and liver disease, and neurological problems that are the stuff of nightmares for parents everywhere. The lead levels in La Arroyo are so high that many children are born with lead poisoning, which is transmitted from mother to child through the placenta during pregnancy. (Marco, by the way, is not his real name—we use a different name to prevent reprisals.)
How can Marco become a great doctor if he has lead poisoning?
Marco’s hometown is the site of a large metal smelter owned by the Doe Run Company of St. Louis, Missouri. Each day, the smelter puts out more than 1000 tons of toxic emissions. When Doe Run purchased the smelter in 1997, it promised to clean things up by January 2007, and the Peruvian government approved the sale based on the company’s promise. But now, despite extremely favorable prices for the minerals it produces in La Oroyo, Doe Run has announced that it will not keep its promise and is threatening to close down the smelter if the government does give them a five-year extensión.
Your letter can make a difference
In early December, the Movement for Health in La Oroya—a local group of parents, teachers, church members, and neighborhood and Chamber of Commerce representatives—will be presenting 10,000 letters to Glodomiro Sánchez, the Peruvian Minister of Energy and Mining. He will decide whether to hold Doe Run to its legal commitment or permit five more years of polluting Marco’s town with impunity. Your letter, together with thousands of others, will show that the eyes of the world are focused on this decision and that Marco’s dreams need to be taken into account, too. See the sample letter below.
Would you be willing to take five minutes and send a letter to Mr. Sánchez, respectfully requesting that the health of La Oroya’s children be ignored no longer? Please send your letter before December 12, by email, in care of: oroyachildren@gmail.com. We will deliver your letter to Minister Sánchez in December, together with the thousands of others.
Campaign Organized by the Movement for Health of La Oroya and its Technical Roundtable:
The Catholic Parish of La Oroya
The Neighborhood Comités
The Old La Oroya Defense Comité
The People’s Assembly
The Old La Oroya Chamber of Comerse
The Filomena Tomaira Pacsi Association,
Cooperacción
LABOR
ANDES
Joining Hands Against Hunger Network
Sample Letter
Please send your letter (or cut and paste this one) into an email message and send to oroyachildren@gmail.com by December 12
[Date]
Mr. Glodomiro Sánchez
Minister
Ministry of Energy and Mines
Republic of Peru
Dear Minister Sánchez,
I write to express my concern about the critical health situation of children and expectant mothers in La Oroya. I understand that you have the authority to hold the Doe Run Company of St. Louis, Missouri to its legal obligation to respect Peruvian environmental legislation.
On three separate occasions, the Doe Run Company has sought and won permission to postpone the critically needed environmental improvements which would have improved the population’s health. Now the Company is threatening to close down if it is not granted a five year extension.
The Peruvian Health Ministry’s recent lead study showed that 99.9% of La Oroya’s children have lead poisoning, and both the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Lima’s El Comercio newspapers have challenged the Peruvian government to fulfill its constitutional role of safeguarding the life and health of La Oroya’s population.
I urge you to protect the health of La Oroya’s people by not approving an extension for Doe Run’s Environmental Management and Pollution Mitigation Agreement ("PAMA," in Spanish).
Sincerely,
[Full name]
[Complete address]
[City, State, Country]
(Peruvian citizens, please include D.N.I. number)
