Legacy Millsites Initiative: Historic mining. Modern risks.
For centuries, mercury from Huancavelica fueled silver and gold refining across present-day Peru, Bolivia, and Chile. While this region played a pivotal role in the colonial economy, it has been left with a widespread legacy of contamination.
Through the Legacy Millsites Initiative, the Environmental Health Council is identifying and assessing abandoned historic millsites, many of which are referenced in the 19th-century writings of explorer Antonio Raimondi. These sites—once small hamlets or private estates that grew into full communities—now face serious environmental health risks from legacy metals such as mercury, lead, and arsenic.
Many of these areas continue to suffer from high poverty, population growth, and limited government action. Of 27 sites assessed so far, 85% have at least one heavy metal above Peruvian screening levels, posing ongoing risks to residents.