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Peru declares emergency in Amazon where illegal gold mining is poisoning jungle tribes

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  • Peru declares emergency in Amazon where illegal gold mining is poisoning jungle tribes

    Peru declares emergency in Amazon where illegal gold mining is poisoning jungle tribes

    Franklin Briceno, The Associated Press | May 24, 2016 11:29 AM ET

    LIMA, Peru ? Peru?s government declared an emergency across a broad jungle region Monday because of mercury contamination caused by wildcat gold mining.

    The 60-day decree affects 11 districts in the Madre de Dios region bordering Brazil where studies carried out by Stanford University and others have found high levels of the toxic element in people, rivers and fish.

    Deputy Health Minister Percy Minaya said as many as 50,000 people could be exposed to high levels of mercury. Particularly affected are members of the Harakmbut indigenous group, some of whom were found with mercury levels six times the suggested level.

    The government said it would send hospital boats to help treat people living in the affected area, where authorities have been trying to stamp out illegal mining along rivers.
    ...
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    Translation Google

    Declare a state of emergency in eleven districts of Madre de Dios

    Mercury pollution caused by artisanal mining


    9:06.Lima, May. 23. The Executive declared a state of emergency in eleven districts of the Peruvian Amazon by mercury pollution caused by artisanal mining.

    The measure will last sixty days, according to the Supreme Decree No. 034-2016-PCM published Monday in the legal regulations in the Official Journal El Peruano .

    The eleven districts are Tambopata, Inambari, Las Piedras and Labyrinth, in the province of Tambopata; and Fitzcarrald, Manu, Madre de Dios and Huepetuhe in the province of Manu; and I?apari, Iberia and Tahuamanu in the province of Tahuamanu the department of Madre de Dios.

    Different ethnic groups jungle department of Madre de Dios, bordering Brazil, have high levels of mercury in their bodies, "which entails serious, chronic and complex health problems, particularly in children and pregnant women," says recital.

    He explains that this is a result of "improper practices used by illegal and informal mining for the extraction and processing of alluvial gold."

    In that period the immediate and necessary response actions and rehabilitation aimed at reducing the harmful effects caused by this situation should be run.

    The declaration of a state of emergency is based on technical reports that show the status of mercury contamination of the waters of rivers, aquatic species and population by exceeding the maximum permissible limits.

    This contamination, according to legal device is the result of artisanal mining which operates in the area of ​​the country.

    According to the disposition of the Executive, the regional government of Madre de Dios, local governments involved, the Indeci and the Ministry of Agriculture, Health, Construction and Sanitation, Environment, Education, Energy and Mines, Interior, Culture, and Women and Vulnerable Populations, shall execute the immediate and necessary response and rehabilitation actions.

    (FIN) CCR
    JRA

    Published: 23/05/2016
    El Poder Ejecutivo declaró el estado de emergencia en once distritos de la amazonía peruana por la contaminación con mercurio causada por la minería artesanal.
    "Safety and security don't just happen, they are the result of collective consensus and public investment. We owe our children, the most vulnerable citizens in our society, a life free of violence and fear."
    -Nelson Mandela
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