AP/ MIAMI HERALD/A long form exploration of Peru's mining industry/ As Peru continues to exploit its natural mineral resources, the small provincial capital, Cerro de Pasco suffers from a 50-year-old open-pit zinc and lead mine that coats homes with toxic dust. The soil is so contaminated that the Quechua people no longer feel safe growing potatoes and lettuce. In 2008, Peru's congress passed a bill to relocate its residents. But to date, the government has not allocated the $500 million needed. President Alan Garcia Garcia largely supports the big mining companies, saying technological advances have rendered industrial mining contamination "a topic for last century."
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