Posted on 05/09/2005 8:08:55 AM PDT by MikeEdwards
You’ve probably never heard of The Doe Run Company of St. Louis or its subsidiary’s copper and lead smelting operation in the small mountain village of La Oroya, Peru, about 112 miles from Lima, but not long ago, the village had a distinguished visitor, Dr. Patrick Moore, co-founder of Greenpeace and chairman and chief scientist of Greenspirit Strategies. The day he arrived, La Oroya’s mayor was leading thousands of marchers.
Were they protesting Doe Run Peru? No. They were demonstrating against anti-mining activists, like Oxfam and groups tied to Christian Aid, the Sierra Club, EarthJustice and Friends of the Earth — to insure continued operation of the facility that is the town’s lifeblood.
It wasn’t just about jobs, either. Since purchasing the smelter in 1997, Doe Run Peru has launched programs to reduce the pollution that is associated with all such operations. It’s also provided funds for healthcare, education, reforestation and hot lunch programs for local children.
Dr. Moore was impressed. He pointed out that Doe Run had inaugurated new water-collection systems for treating storm water and sewage, and implemented "the first-ever community-wide" blood-level surveys and reduction programs, using Centers for Disease Control protocols.
Before Doe Run arrived, the government of Peru and others had owned and operated the facility for 75 years. During all that time, no effort was made to repair damage to the forests and rivers around La Oroya or to improve the health and safety of people who worked in or lived near the smelter. During all that time, the activists were nowhere to be found.
Doe Run Peru has spent nearly $140-million: on pollution reduction and health programs, and to plant 106,000 seedlings, modernize schools, and provide small business and vocational training for nearly 8,000 local women. . . . .
(Excerpt) Read more at canadafreepress.com ...
Ping.
Gee, I am shocked to see the watermelons protesting a good corporate meighbor. </sarc
Bump - good article.
Earth worshippers, or the black plague, which is worse?
Earth worshippers, or the black plague, which is worse?
Earth worshippers = Green Enviralist Plague
Canadian mining companies do more real good in the Third World than all of the hand-wringing do-gooders combined!
Typically, they provide schools, clinics and vocational training to the locals - all at company expense.
Onward to the final victory of Capitalism!
;^)
They both seek to reduce the Earth's population by two thirds. But the greenies do it knowingly...
BTTT!!!!!!
Alan Caruba! He's awesome! He posts with us at an EZ Board site where I moderate. He's going to love the exposure over here. He is an excellent writer and a very smart man, IMHO.
Thanks for posting this! :)
I'm posting this from a mine construction camp in the high Andes of Argentina and you are exactly right. It really is a North American thing and these companies do more for the locals than all the wasted UN money ever spent in these areas.
We hire the locals, many of them this is their first real job, and teach them to show up on time, train them to be carpenters, mechanics, surveyors and supervisors. It is our plan to eventually turn the management of the mine over to the locals when they are able to handle it.
I worked on a project in Africa and all the UN aid did was make the locals more dependent on the UN...which, of course was the object.
Also,
Doe Run is a US company
You do get around, don't you!
Hi Ed,
I can't remember where the heck I was the last time we "spoke"...was I in Africa??
Cheers from Argentina
To rid the Third World of poverty, give the citizens two things - private property and free enterprise.
The description of this mine appears its on the right track.
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