The documentary film “Choropampa: The Price of Gold” prompted the health commission of the Peruvian Congress to approve a bill this week that regulates the transport of dangerous mining materials and waste, and entrusts control to local governments. In July 2000 a truck belonging to the Ransa company spilled 151 kg of mercury on the Choropampa highway in the northern Peruvian sierra. The toxic metal affected some 900 local residents, and many still suffer neurological damage. Ransa has refused to compensate the victims.

But Canadian journalist Stephanie Boyd and Peruvian cameraman Ernesto Cabellos produced a 75-minute documentary on the spill, achieving the public's support in denouncing the event. The film has been shown in many international festivals and is now being distributed among civil society groups, environmental organizations and universities.