Peru declares state of emergency in Amazon due to mercury contamination

Peru declared a state of emergency on Monday in the southeastern Amazon jungle due to mercury contamination caused by illegal mining, part of President Ollanta Humala's drive to formalize the sector.

The health ministry will conduct blood and urine tests and mercury awareness campaigns in 11 districts in Tambopata, Manu and Tahuamanu provinces of Madre de Dios region during the 60-day state of emergency, environment minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal said.

The government will also bring portable water treatment plants and foment fish farming to avoid consumption of contaminated fish in local rivers, Pulgar-Vidal said.

"Over 40% of the local population has been exposed to mercury poisoning, which is very high," Pulgar-Vidal said in a meeting with foreign correspondents at the ministry in Lima. "It's particularly severe among informal miners and indigenous communities, and way above maximum permitted limits set by law."

The Madre de Dios regional government, led by informal miner Luis Otsuka, has misused funds aimed at formalizing unauthorized gold mining operations in the area, he added. Environmental agency OEFA said last month it will bring legal action against Otsuka for obstruction of the government's environmental monitoring program.

President Humala is scheduled to step down at the end of July following an election run-off on June 5 between former banker and cabinet chief Pedro-Pablo Kuczynski and ex-congresswoman Keiko Fujimori. Fujimori, who is leading in several polls, has proposed halting the formalization process.

Since taking office in July 2011, Humala has sought to formalize the country's estimated 200,000 informal miners and set up military bases and units to control the flow of fuel, chemicals and machinery to illegal mining operations in Amazon jungle areas such as Madre de Dios, curb exports of illegally produced gold and destroy unauthorized river dredges and gold mills.

Illegal and informal miners, who generate an estimated US$3bn in annual revenue, produced about 20% of Peru's 145t of gold output in 2015, according to the energy and mines ministry (MEM). Tax authority Sunat has impounded at least 2t of illegally produced gold since 2011.