Source: Indian Country

by: Lisa Garrigues / Today correspondent

QUILLABAMBA, Peru - "A big black cloud spread over the entire town, and oooh ... our faces burned like chili pepper."

Maxine Ovaldo Duenas Parki lives in Kepashiato, a collection of dirt roads and precarious wooden homes inhabited primarily by Quechuan settlers who have come to this Peruvian jungle town from the Andes looking for a better life.

In March 2006, an accident on the Camisea gas pipeline, the fifth in 18 months, caused an explosion that injured two people and panicked town residents.

Today, fears in the Urubamba River region continue, with many residents expressing concerns about unreported gas spills, poor reforestation and waste management, and lingering health effects.

Full story...

Posted by pichu at January 1, 2007 4:58 PM