La Oroya is a mining town on the the River Mantaro in Central Peru. It is situated on the Altiplano some 176 km East-North-East of the national capital Lima.
In 1533, the Spanish established a small settlement and started mining for precious metals in the area, but isolation and transport difficulties hindered extraction.
Later, the area's strategic position made it a center of guerrilla activity. One decisive battle of military engagement of the Peruvian War of Independence (August 6,1824), fought in the Highlands of the Junin Region, took place nearby, Chacamarca (Junin).
Mining in the area developed gradually, and did not greatly expand until the railway from Lima to La Oroya was completed in 1893. The railway, an extraordinary feat of engineering, was planned by the Polish railway builder Ernest, Malinowski. He was a Polish expatriate, voluntarily exiled in Peru because of the political problems in his country, occupied at that time by Germany, Russia, and Austria.
In 1851, the engineer proposed to extent the newly opened Lima to Callao railroad as far as the Valley of Jauja, situated in the fertile Mantaro Valley, at an altitude of 3,400 m (11,200 ft).
Jauja, for a short time was once the capital of Spanish Per, prior to the founding of Lima as the new capital. The name is used figuratively to mean a "never never land" or a "land of milk and honey." One oral tradition mentions that the Inca ordered the mutilation of men's and women's hand in Jauja, at the Pampa de Maquinhauyo, 8 km (5 mi) South of present day Jauja, instead of killing all of them because through them the land became polluted.
In 1868, Henry Meiggs, a promoter/entrepreneur in the railroad business. He was born in Catskill, New York. He began his career in the lumber field but was ruined by the Panic of 1837. He restarted it in Brookling, but again met with failure. Finding success in sending lumber to the Pacific Coast, he relocated to San Francisco during the peak of the California Gold Rush on the cargo ship "Albany" laden with lumber, which he sold there for 20 times its cost. Like many others that arrived in San francisco in 1849, he got into real state speculation. He promoted the possibility of piers along the North shore area, on the grounds that it was closer to the Golden Gate than the usual harbor, ;ocated just South of Broadway Street on the shore of what is today downtown San Francisco. He became extended financially in trying to do this. In order to make ends meet, he illicitly obtained a Book full of Warrants on the Street Fund (which had little money in it), which the city's controller and major had fallen in the habit of signing the Book in advance. Meiggs forged the remaining information and raised money. Before his fraud was discovered, he left San Francisco on October 6, 1854, heading for South America. According to him, he landed with only $8,000 (half a million, by some accounts) and became a successful railroad entrepreneur. While his Peruvian contracts were wildly profitable, by 1876, his financial situation had begun to disintegrate. He found it more difficult to obtain credit. His 1877 death only worsened the economic chaos in Peru. He was buried at a local cemetery Presbitero Maestro on the road that link Lima to Callao.
The Callao, Lima & Oroya Railway opened to Chilca by 1878 and reached La Oroya by 1893 and huancayo (346 km/215mi) in 1908. It is the 2nd highest Railway in the World (following opening of the Qing-zang Railway in Tibet), with the Galera summit Tunnel under Mount Meiggs at 4,783 (15,692 ft) and Galera station at 4,777m (15,673 ft) above sea level.
In 1923 a branch was opened from Ticlio (making it the World's highest junction) to Morococha via La Cima (4,818m/15,807 ft above sea level), from where in April 1955 a spur line opened to Volcan Mine, reaching an (at the time )World record altitude of 4,830 m (15,850 ft). Both branch and spur have since closed to passenger traffic. Only minerals (mainly from La Oroya), fuels, cement and food products run through the spectacular landscapes of the Peruvian Andes.
La Oroya polymetallic smelter and a copper mine at Cobriza were sold to Doe Run Corporation in 1997, the largest integrated lead producer in North America and the largest primary lead producer in the Western World. Their revenues doubled with the purchase. When the purchase was complete the company agreed to improve the facility to make it less harmful for the environment. Instead, it allowed toxic elements used in the smelting process to contaminate La Oroya's air, water and soil. As a result of years of pollution, the Hills immediately around the smelter became completely denuded, the River became more toxic, and the Health of the local inhabitants suffered. Residents have been found to have alarmingly high concentrations of lead in their blood, and in the drinking water, and many have bronchial troubles.
A 1999 study conducted 2 years after Doe Run's acquisition showed high levels of air pollution, with 85 times more arsenic, 41 times more cadmiun, and 13 times more lead than amounts generally considered safe.
On February 5, 2008 Doe Run reported that the state Health Officials confirmed that the quality of the Yauli or Mantaro Rivers was no longer impacted by the smelter's liquid discharges. However, the company also stated that the River was still polluted by mining and other operations upstream.
Despite advancements in other areas, sulfur dioxide emissions reached alarmingly records in August 2008. It is a very toxic gas with a pungent, irritating, and rotten smell.
On other Planets in the Universe, the toxic gas can be found in various concentrations, the most significant being the atmosphere of the Planet Venus, where it is the 3rd most significant component of the atmospheric gases. There, it condenses to form clouds, and is a key component of chemical reactions in the Planet's atmosphere and contributes to global warming. It has been inplicated as a key agent in the warming of early Mars.
The question is now: What are the real causes of our Global Warming? My answer is: Man's greediness toward the Earth's natural reaches."
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