Copper Mining & Environmental Justice in Peru by Valeria Yraita-Zevallos    What is the cost of being one of the biggest copper contributors to corporations from the large powers? For the mining cities throughout Peru, the cost is the health of children and families living in these cities. The cost is contaminated waterways that leave people without safe drinking water and deteriorating ecosystems. The cost harms people and the environment, while simultaneously fueling the profits of companies based in China and the United States.   The Ministry of Energy and Mines in Peru has claimed that Peru is the “second-largest producer of copper in the world” [1] . Yet, mining cities such as La Oroya, Cerro de Pasco, Morococha, and others throughout Peru have been feeling the negative outcomes of mining for decades. Big corporations from the U.S. and China operate these mines due to their strong demand for copper to build “electrical equipment and industrial mac...