Oil spill moves south along Peru’s northern coast

The oil spill caused by explosions on a tanker off Peru’s northern coast last week is spreading south-west and affecting popular tourist sites, according to the head of Natural Resources and Environmental Management in the Tumbes Department, Augusto Zegarra. Zegarra told Agencia Andina that the oil has spread to Piura Department and is seen off [...]

Peru inaugurates first biodiesel plant

Peru’s first biodiesel plant was inaugurated in Lima’s Lurín district on Thursday with an investment of $25 million. The general manager of the Peruvian company Heaven Petroleum Operations, Samir Abudayeh, said the plant will have an initial daily production of 120,000 gallons of biodiesel with a later production at 240,000 gallons a day, Radio Programas radio reported. “With [...]

Peru National Ombudsman: Nearly half of 78 social conflicts related to environment

Peru’s Defensoría del Pueblo — the national ombudsman organization — reported yesterday that almost half of the country’s social conflicts it tracked in December were related to environmental concerns. The state-sponsored Defensoría, in charge of protecting the basic and constitutional rights of Peruvians, released a summary of its 46th Social Conflicts Report, stating that 47 [...]

INRENA: 1.5 million acres of Peru forest certified

Peru’s National Institute for Natural Resources, INRENA, announced that 616,000 hectares, or about 1.5 million acres, of Peruvian forest was internationally certified for use last year. INRENA’s announcement is part of an effort to meet environmental provisions established by the free trade agreement with the United States. Peru plans on certifying 2 million hectares, or [...]

U.S.-owned Doe Run smelter reportedly faces legal action for Peru contamination

The Missouri-based Doe Run Company is facing legal action in the United States for contamination at its poly-metallic smelter in the Peruvian town of La Oroya, in Junín department. According to daily La República, two American missionaries filed suit against Doe Run, citing a 2005 environmental study at the University of Missouri – St. Louis [...]

Peru president proposes creation of Environment Ministry

Peru President Alan García has proposed the creation of an Environment Ministry to meet the environmental provisions included in the free trade agreement with the United States. During the ceremony of four new cabinet ministers yesterday, García said “the free trade agreement has brought a fundamental call to attention, that we owe to our Democrat [...]

Second bank approves loan for Peru gas project

The U.S. Export-Import Bank, Ex-Im, approved a $250 million loan for the second phase of the Camisea gas project Friday, following the lead of the Inter-American Development Bank which brushed off environmental and social concerns by approving a $400 million loan. The loan will partially fund a natural gas liquefaction plant and other infrastructure on [...]

Inter-American Development Bank approves $400 million loan for Peru gas project

The Inter-American Development Bank, IDB, approved a $400 million loan for Peru’s Camisea gas project today, brushing off appeals from environmentalists who insist it will do irreparable harm to the fragile jungle eco system and its indigenous inhabitants. The project consortium, headed by Texas-based Hunt Oil, will use the loan to begin construction of a [...]

Transoceanic Highway to bring thousands of tourists to Peru Amazon

The Transoceanic Highway is expected to bring thousands of Brazilian tourists to Peru’s southern Madre de Dios department during the next three years. The regional director of foreign commerce and tourism in Madre de Dios, Jorge Pineda, told Agencia Andina that the roadway cutting through the jungle shroud could usher in 150,000 tourists between 2008 [...]

Bush signs free trade deal with Peru into law: An alternative analysis and perspective

Peru will loom slightly larger than usual in the headlines in U.S. newspapers this weekend after President George W. Bush signed into law a free trade agreement between the two nations. The bill passed following a contentious feud in Congress that ended only after Republicans agreed to Democratic demands to include labor union protection and [...]

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