La Oroya, Peru, is one of the most contaminated places on the planet, with decades of poison unleashed on this small community. For more than 20 years a group of citizens has advocated for the enforcement of adequate environmental measures.
Now, for the first time, there are signs of hope.
La Oroya, Peru is one of the most contaminated places in the world. Poisoned by the emissions of a U.S.-owned metals smelter, nearly 1,000 miles of surrounding land is contaminated as much as four inches deep with lead, cadmium and arsenic.
As you travel on a patchwork section of Interstate 75 in Southwest Detroit and cross the River Rouge, this scene emerges before you: towers and tanks spreading out on both sides of the road, constituting a massive Marathon petroleum refinery.
For Emily Donovan, youth director at Little Chapel on the Boardwalk in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina and co-founder of Clean Cape Fear, the fight to protect and nurture children goes far beyond the walls of the church.
The high water from Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey may be subsiding, but the long-term threat in Texas is far from over. In the Houston area, emergency crews are still going door-to-door looking for people who may still be in their homes. As the water recedes the threat of mold and contaminated water supplies from local chemical plants and refineries continues to complicate recovery efforts.
