Letter from Hunter and Ruth Farrell in Peru
February 15, 2006
Lima, Peru,
Dear Friends,
A courageous woman from La Oroya’s Catholic parish made a hard decision last Friday afternoon. A national television station called late in the day to say they wanted to interview someone who was against the strike being organized to pressure the Peruvian government to permit the Doe Run Company to postpone its compliance with Peruvian air standards for four more years. We asked Yolanda if she would be willing.
Yolanda is no fool. She knows that she lives in a company town. She knows that the same people who were organizing the strike have called her a “traitor” and threatened “drastic measures” against “all who oppose the Doe Run compliance extension.” Yolanda expressed fear for her family and herself. She had every reason in the world not to speak out. For years, folks in La Oroya have just bowed their heads and choked back their protest. And the smelter has continued to churn out more than 1000 tons of toxic emissions every day.
Perhaps silence was the more prudent course for Yolanda.
But Yolanda chose to speak out. She described before a national television audience the fear and the threats, the lack of basic freedom of expression, her concern for a town-full of lead-poisoned children. When the interview was over, she was shaking, but we paused to thank God for the mustard seed of faith and the large dose of courage God had provided her in the critical moment.
And this morning, the newspapers and TV and radio news were buzzing with the news: the strike organizers cancelled the strike. Four local community leaders, inspired by Yolanda’s decision, got on a bus and traveled the four hours down to Lima to meet with the press.
Thus there was no violence in La Oroya today. And if people continue to speak out and all of us continue to pray and advocate, Dios mediante (God willing), there will be no violence in La Oroya in the coming weeks.
Thank you for your prayer and your advocacy.
Hunter Farrell
The 2006 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 47
Our friends at Occupational Knowledge International, a non-profit organization that provides scientific information to the community groups in La Oroya, sent the following summary. This may be helpful in understanding exactly what the Doe Run Company is requesting of the Peruvian Government.
February 15, 2006
U.S. Lead Producer Asks Peru to Allow Dangerous Emissions
Doe Run, the largest lead producer in the United States, wants permission to discharge more than 500,000 pounds of lead into the environment at its La Oroya smelter in Peru, an amount 11 times higher than current levels at its Herculaneum, Missouri, site.
In a proposal recently submitted to the Peruvian government, the company is seeking permission to continue operating with pollution levels far higher than those allowed in the United States—even after the 2011 implementation date.
“These air pollution levels for heavy metals pose a serious continuing health risk to those living in this area of Peru,” said Perry Gottesfeld, executive director of Occupational Knowledge International (OK International).
OK International has just completed an analysis of the proposed pollution targets, showing that the company plans to emit excessive amounts of lead, arsenic, and cadmium even after investing in new pollution control equipment under an earlier agreement with the Peruvian government.
Doe Run, based in St. Louis, Missouri, has applied to the Peruvian Government for a five-year extension to its existing agreement to install pollution control equipment at its plant in La Oroya. The company bought the smelter in 1997 and had initially agreed to correct pollution problems by 2006.
Peru is currently seeking comments on Doe Run’s application to allow these higher levels in order to extend the current deadline.
OK International compared the proposed emission reduction targets for heavy metals at La Oroya to the company’s reported emissions at their lead smelter in Herculaneum.
The Herculaneum smelter is the largest single source of lead emissions in the U.S., according to the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) compiled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The proposed lead emissions for 2011 at the La Oroya site are 11 times higher than those from the Herculaneum site in 2003. The levels for arsenic are 1,245 times greater, and for cadmium they are 19 times greater.
“This is a blatant example of how U.S. companies attempt to operate with different standards at their locations abroad,” Gottesfeld said.
The Herculaneum plant failed to meet EPA lead air standards in three of the last four quarters of 2005, according to the EPA.
“Given that the Peruvian air standard is the same as the U.S. standard, it does not seem credible that the company can propose to release 11 times more lead without causing significant environmental and health impacts,” said Gottesfeld.
Already, 99.9 percent of the children in the town of 30,000 are overexposed to lead according to Doe Run’s own study.
OK International has urged the Peruvian government to reject Doe Run’s application.
For further information, contact:
Perry Gottesfeld
Executive Director
OK International
220 Montgomery Street, Suite 1027
San Francisco, CA 94104 USA
(415) 362-9898
OK International website
