Case Study: Jobs and Health in Peru

Abstract

At the end of the 1990s, local groups in the city of La Oroya, Peru, struggled to draw attention to a problem that everybody was aware of but nobody had yet addressed: the high levels of pollution affecting its population living near a minerals smelter operation. The city of La Oroya had a long and complex relationship with the metallurgical facilities, a powerful local stakeholder, crucial to the region’s development. This was a difficult context for groups trying to address the consequences of decades of environmental neglect, as local authorities’ support leaned towards Doe Run Perú (DRP), a company reluctant to invest in modernizing its facilities and lowering pollution emissions. Although the presence of air pollution was evident, nobody had an idea how serious the problem really was. Local NGOs conducted a series of studies to assess the impact of pollution on the local population’s health. The results were shocking, showing that the population, and especially the children, had blood lead levels that far exceeded the maximum acceptable limits set by the World Health Organization. That was the beginning of an uphill battle to make the state and the company take action to protect people’s health. This case has become emblematic as it reversed the usual model of international advocacy: southern organizations providing information to campaign efforts in the North to influence decisions in the North.