Environment Ministry must be able to regulate mining activities

The head of the Peruvian Society for Environmental Law, SPDA, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, sat down for an interview with daily El Comercio to discuss the creation of Peru’s future Environment Ministry and its relation to the country’s mining industry, one of the largest in the world. Pulgar says the Environment Ministry must be able to regulate [...]

Archeologists uncover evidence of pre-Hispanic iron mining in Andes

A team of Peruvian and American archeologists has uncovered a 2,000-year-old mine in the foothills of Peru’s Andes in the southern department of Ica. The leader of the expedition and assistant professor at Purdue University, Dr. Kevin Vaughn, says the Mina Primavera is the only pre-Hispanic hematite mine registered in South America and the first evidence [...]

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 [...]

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 river basin a toxic dump

The ¨Revive El Mantaro¨project has found high levels of toxins in the Mantaro river basin, an important water source in Peru’s central Andes. ¨Revive El Mantaro¨ – a campaign launched in July 2006 by civil society groups in six affected provinces – took soil and water samples at over 50 locations along a 105-mile stretch [...]

Peru suspends Río Blanco operations ahead of environmental talks

The Peruvian government has suspended activities at the Río Blanco mining project ahead of negotiations on Oct. 29 to address environmental concerns. The mining project has been at the center of controversy between environmental NGOs and the mining industry since 2003, when it was approved by the Peruvian state. Proponents argue the mine will bring [...]