Erythromycin Z Pack, [caption id="attachment_1146" align="aligncenter" width="334" caption="Street sign warning of lead poisoning in Herculaneum, Missouri, site of Doe Run smelter"]
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My posts on the CNN Planet in Peril: Battle Lines program that spotlighted the Doe Run smelting plant in La Oroya, Peru, have elicited comments from a range of people involved in the catastrophe: a journalist, activists and Peruvians whose families live near the toxic plant.
As American investigative reporter Sara Shipley Hines points out, the CNN special gave the false impression that Doe Run's sister plant, in Herculaneum, Missouri, has cleaned up its operations so thoroughly that the town is a healthy place to live. That's not the case, as people familiar with the Missouri plant can testify. Yesterday in the Comments section of on An American in Lima, a resident of Herculaneum painted a devastating portrait of the town's contamined state and what it's like to grow up breathing air laced with heavy metals.
Rather than paraphrase, Erythromycin Z Pack japan, I'll let Sharon speak for herself and for the people of Herculaneum:
I am thankful that anyone [CNN]...anyone at all did a story on the lead contamination in Peru. However, I would like to see a story done with the title, ‘The Two Faces of Doe Run'.You see, Doe Run is a beloved company in the communities that they operate in. This is orchestrated by Doe Run, in order to keep people quiet, smooth them over, 1000mg Erythromycin Z Pack, and slap a smile on their face. They sponser so many things in the community that people get to thinking about all the ‘goodies' that would be lost if Doe Run packed up and moved away, Erythromycin Z Pack. I was shocked to find out how many people would defend the company that was contaminating them and their families. It seemed that they were in some sort of denial not unlike something you would see on the ‘Twilight Zone'.
The story that was done with the people in Peru showed much the same sort of thing. Doe Run gives them a school and employs so many of their people, that if the company pulled out, the community would be finacially impacted very heavily. Erythromycin Z Pack, I live in the Herculaneum, Missouri school district here in the United States where the ‘other' Doe Run facility is located. 20mg Erythromycin Z Pack, They still do not have that site cleaned up to the satisfaction of the EPA. They continue to pollute and we continue to let them.
It has been such an uphill battle to go against Doe Run here, that I feel very sorry for the people of Peru. They may never get any real help.
I went to Herculaneum Schools from 1984-1989, Erythromycin Z Pack. (There is a Junior High and a High School located in close proximity to the lead smelter.) This is the period of time just before Doe Run got concerned enough to build a new smoke stack, and put in the bag house that is supposed to filter out the sulphur dioxide and turn it into sulphuric acid that is a sellable product.
During that time, the contamination was visible in the air, Erythromycin Z Pack usa, you could taste it in your mouth as you breathed it in, you had to wipe the yellow residue off your car everyday, and people just accepted it as a reality.
There was a yellow cloud that laid like a thick fog in the air choking the environment to the point that gym teachers would not allow class to be held outdoors. When a student, like myself, would run the track around the football field, 40mg Erythromycin Z Pack, it tasted like sucking on a book of matches, because the sulphur dioxide was so very thick in the air. Erythromycin Z Pack, What we didn't know, was that there were other harmful heavy metals that came along with the sulphur, ...like arsenic, zinc, nickel, cadmium ...the list goes on and on.
No one seemed to care much, or if they did, their complaints fell on deaf ears. Doe Run is just ‘too big'. I suppose that is what the people in that small town in Peru are still facing everyday with that smelter being in their community.
Even when the EPA and other government agencies got involved, they were less than helpful, Erythromycin Z Pack australia. It seemed to me that they were defending Doe Run, not sticking up for the community of people whom were being contaminated, Erythromycin Z Pack. They seemed to parrot the same message over and over, that , ‘only children six years of age and younger were at risk of harmful effects of lead'.
I raised my hand at one of the meetings and asked, "Have you ever seen lead contamination this bad anywhere else, at any other time?"
The answer to that question was, ‘No.'
I then added, 10mg Erythromycin Z Pack, "So what medical precident has been set for an official position stating that no one else is at risk?"
I had a grandfather who died of uremic kidney poisoning after working in the lead mines in San Francios County his whole life. That county neighbors Jefferson County where Doe Run is located and has been a major source of lead for them over the years.
I don't buy the theory that ONLY kids six and under suffer. Erythromycin Z Pack, It is very simple for my mind to process the facts that if heavy metals go in, it is difficult to get them out of the body. The kidneys are the main filter for contamination in the body. I think more study should be done on this.
Out of frustration, the Herculaneum community formed the CAG group, (Community Action Group), to make their voices heard, Erythromycin Z Pack canada. Then the CAG pushed for all the children to be tested for lead poisoning. The results were staggering, Erythromycin Z Pack. Children in the mile radius of the smelter were heavily contaminted with lead. All of this is going on AFTER the new and improved smoke stack has been in operation.
I would like to see some medical studies done on the population of people that lived and worked in the community before the new smoke stack went into operation when the contamination was at it's worst.
The community is not just dealing with lead. Erythromycin Z Pack, There are many different contaminants coming out of that smoke stack. Lead gets the spotlight, but there are other serious environmental impacting contaminants that seem to have gone unnoticed. 40mg Erythromycin Z Pack, The issue is so big that we tend to focus only on the impact to people of the community. The Mississippi River is being contaminated, the wildlife and vegetation around the smelter is being effected, the trains and trucks leaving the facility also contaminate everywhere they go by spillage and dust that falls from them. The air, the soil, and the water are all affected.
This is not old news, the contamination still exists, and I am still concerned, Erythromycin Z Pack. I really hope that more stories are done about this factory both here in Herculaneum, Missouri and in the small town of La Oroya, Erythromycin Z Pack craiglist, Peru. Our hearts are with them.
Good news that the EPA is adopting stricter standards; let's hope the agency enforces them so the people around the smelter no longer suffer.
And renewed efforts must be made to do right by the people of La Oroya. Halfway measures are not good enough. Both Doe Run Peru and the Peruvian government must safeguard the public health and the enviroment now.
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10 responses so far ↓
1 Judy // Jan 20, 2009 at 11:26 pm
I LOVED YOUR STORY!! A VERY GOOD JOB!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!i too will pray for all that live around there and work there.. ps.for future reference it is St Francios,Co,and the lead mines are shut down,but they still give tours,in Bonne Terre,it should say come tour the lead mines,and get lead and other harmful substances in your body!THANKS A GREAT READ..Judy
2 La Oroya - putting the $ in perspective. « Life in Peru // Jan 21, 2009 at 9:23 am
[...] Read an interesting comment about Doe Run’s history in the US at americaninlima.com. [...]
3 Miguel // Jan 22, 2009 at 12:55 am
It’s interesting how money seems to have more value than people living there. And, the media really does not give any special coverage. Probably all the news about it are filtered.
I remember I read in the newspaper the other day about a spill somewhere near the Missisippi river, and how lots of ash and other byproducts from coal I think were spilled close to that river. And, again, this didn’t draw the attention of the media as it should have. And, it’s like nothing happened there when it ‘s really bad actually.
4 Barb // Jan 23, 2009 at 5:10 pm
True, Miguel. Coverage from major news outlets is scant.
I didn’t hear about the Miss. River spill (surprise, surprise).
5 Barb // Jan 23, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Thanks Judy.
I can’t believe they’re offering tours of the mines. Ugh! How can that be legal?
6 Becky (Ramsey) Coleman // Mar 3, 2009 at 4:16 pm
I grew up on Church St. in Herculanuem, Lead affected my whole family. My father worked there for 24 yrs, his name was Thomas Ramsey he died in 2005 of Mesothelioma. The bag house a building of the Doe Run Co. was full of Asbestos. My dad got his retirement on the 16th and died on the 17th his money was taken back out of his acount on the 18th. I hate Doe Run Lead co.
7 Barb // Mar 3, 2009 at 5:38 pm
Becky, I’m sorry that your dad and others were poisoned by Doe Run. It is inexcusable. The bitter irony of dying one day after receiving retirement, then the money being rescinded.
No doubt you’ve spoken to lawyers who represent mesothelioma cases; it appears that these cases are being won.
I did a profile in the early 2000s for a magazine about a lawyer in So. Fla who was the first to successfully prosecute Dow Chemical for death due to asbestos poisoning. He was proud of that victory and I believe it paved the way for more cases.
But no legal victory can compensate for the loss of the person you love. And the victories are only partial if they do not stop the guilty parties from continuing to do harm.
Have cases been filed against Doe Run?
8 Moral Compass // Mar 10, 2009 at 12:17 pm
Lawsuits have been filed against Doe Run on behalf of poisoned children. You have to hit this company from every point possible, however. That includes media attention; health agency oversight; environmental oversight; strengthening the laws that regulate the industry, and giving those laws teeth; education of residents about the deadly health effects to ALL residents related to the toxins they are exposed to- including arsenic and cadmium; and lawsuits. The greed of the owner and officers of this company is legendary. They have thumbed their nose at not just the law, but at the health of all nearby residents. Their corporate profits, and their personal financial enrichment is made at the expense of local children…the officers and owner are blinded by their all-consuming greed.
9 Barb // Mar 10, 2009 at 12:42 pm
MC, one on level it’s hard to believe that DR can get away with continuing to pollute and poison people in the United States, where the EPA has guidelines. On the other hand, the company appears to operate from the premise that if they wait long enough to address a problem, people will eventually forget, and DR won’t have to do anything. They also probably “delay” mitigation in hopes that some of the affected people will die in the meantime and hence won’t be around to raise a stink. Those strategies are all too common.
Here in Peru, DR acts with even more impunity because laws are lax or nonexistent, and virtually nothing is done to enforce them. Peru’s “normal” tap water (what comes out of anybody’s kitchen tap) is not drinkable by WHO standards. It is full of heavy metals, as well as e-coli. Given that disregard for the public health, it’s no wonder that the toxic conditions at Doe Run Peru are allowed to continue. Whatever abatement is done is only partial.
10 Kevin // Dec 24, 2009 at 3:44 pm
My wife and I were interviewed by a team of college students for a documentary. I hope that gets some kind of exposure. They had talked that PBS was looking into it.