June While in Rome Meeting Pope Leo XIV That the Doe Run Company, a Subsidiary of Renco Group, Would Pay the Settlement to Peruvians

Barreto, former archbishop of Huancayo in the Peruvian Andes, was preparing to testify in St Louis, Missouri, in the first of four civil trials in a 19-year legal battle against Doe Run, owned by US billionaire Ira Rennert. “This is a historic milestone, Barreto told the Guardian. But this long-awaited justice doesn’t solve the problem faced by many children who were personally affected, especially neurologically.

The money will not compensate for the harm they have suffered, but it is a sign that justice has been served. Barreto led a nearly two-decade campaign against the company over health impacts on La Oroya, listed in 2007 as one of the world’s 10 most polluted places. The settlement ended one of the longest-running cross-border environmental lawsuits.

St Louis-based law firm Schlichter Bogard alleged Doe Run failed to reduce lead emissions at the Peruvian smelter, causing permanent injuries. Doe Run Resources Corporation, headquartered in St Louis, did not admit wrongdoing. The case began in 2007 in state court for 17 Peruvian children and grew to 1,373 plaintiffs, each potentially receiving at least $100,000. Jerry Schlichter, the firm’s founder, called it a historic tipping point” holding American companies responsible abroad.

This will be a life-changing event for every one of these 1,373 children, he said. Barreto had enlisted Saint Louis University researchers, who in 2005 found some of the highest blood lead levels ever recorded in La Oroya children. A 2004 study found nearly 100% of children under six had blood-lead levels above 10 μg/dL, exceeding levels linked to growth impairment and lower IQs. Barreto faced threats from smelter employees fearing job losses after starting activism in 2004. It was an irrefutable fact that I was threatened in various ways, he said.