Cerro de Pasco, a city in Peru, has a mining history that dates back almost 400 years to the early Spanish colonial era. In recent decades, the extensive extraction of metals like lead, zinc, and silver has transformed the landscape, with a massive open-pit mine, around 300 meters deep, now overshadowing this city of 80,000 in the Peruvian Andes.
As a result, the environment in and around Cerro de Pasco suffers from severe pollution, with serious consequences for the residents’ health. High levels of hazardous substances such as lead and arsenic have been found in the soil and drinking water, leading to widespread cases of heavy metal poisoning among the local population.
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Poisoned for decades by a Peruvian mine, communities say they feel forgotten
Transcript
Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.00:00:04:08 – 00:00:32:18
Land of the brave and not of many. This is the motto of Cerro de Pasco, a Peruvian city that’s been devoured by a man of immense proportions. Its residents believe in the shadow of this colossal pit, facing an insidious danger. Heavy metal poisoning. This is the story of a community that has been living through an environmental and health crisis.
00:00:32:21 – 00:00:43:21
A silent battle that remains largely unresolved.
00:00:43:24 – 00:00:59:24
Located at 4300m above sea level in the Andes Mountains, Cerro de Pasco is one of the highest cities in the world. It’s also one of the most polluted places on Earth.
00:00:59:27 – 00:01:32:29
The city flourished thanks to its mineral wealth, silver sink and notably lead, but also fell victim to it. The local community is exposed to toxic heavy metals. There are dozens, hundreds, sometimes even thousands of times in excess of locally mandated safe limits and well above international guidelines. According to a recent investigation by the NGO Source International. This is the fifth study done in Cerro de Pasco in the past decade, and things have been improved over time.
00:01:33:01 – 00:02:06:22
This relentless exposure is causing irreversible damage to the health and neurological development of locals, especially the most vulnerable children.
Peru’s leading sink and silver producer, currently manages the mining pits. Vulcan took ownership of the pits in 1999 when he acquired it from the state mining company Centrum in Peru, which had previously been operated by the United States based Cerro de Pasco Copper Corporation.
Research has shown that exposure to toxic metals like lead during children’s developmental years result in delayed brain growth, diminished motor skills, and impaired language and social capabilities.
00:03:38:15 – 00:04:06:21
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The headmistress has to filter tap water three times and mix it with bleach before children are able to safely wash their hands. But despite her efforts, the exposure has already occurred.
Research from Source International showed the children had levels of lead 43 times higher than the maximum acceptable levels for children.
00:04:06:24 – 00:04:35:16
Lourdes Mendoza, a resident and mother of three, has witnessed the devastating impact of lead poisoning on her family. Noah Benjamin, her middle son, has suffered severe illness for nearly his entire life, resulting in the loss of one night and due to cancer. Benjamin also grapples with nausea, diarrhea, headaches, fainting, and nosebleeds. The latter is a telltale sign of light exposure, which afflicts many children in the town.
In response to the dire situation of children in Sevilla postponed, the government declared the relocation of the entire city as a matter of public necessity and national interest in 2008. But in the 15 years since then, there’s been no change. In 2012 and then again in 2017, the Peruvian Ministry of Health declared a state of environmental emergency instead of the Pascal, even though in 2018 the Peruvian government allocated some funds for the construction of a treatment center for children affected by heavy metals, the plant has not been realized, but is determined to seek justice, refusing to accept that her community has been abandoned by the authorities.
The three mining companies that have assumed control of the mine over the past century have been slowly eating away at the town, buying entire neighborhoods to expand the mining pit.
00:07:00:12 – 00:07:43:11
To date, this districts resemble ghost towns where plants grow inside abandoned, crumbling structures. On the outskirts of Cerro Pasco have also witnessed significant environmental deterioration, particularly in the concentration of heavy metals in the rivers.
00:08:15:21 – 00:08:57:04
This year Source International uncovered a total of 140 violations of Peruvian heavy metal limits. 115 related to water sources and 25 in soils between 2018 and 2023.
00:08:57:04 – 00:09:33:27
The Volcan Mining Company has been fined approximately $3.5 million, mostly for failing to comply with environmental norms, exceeding contamination limits and failing to supervise remediation plans, according to Peru’s Environmental Assessment and Control Organization. Despite multiple inquiries, neither Volcan nor Glencore, its major shareholder, have responded to pollution allegations. Instead, they continue to shift blame to previous mining operations. Mongabay repeated request for comment from the Peruvian government went unanswered.