Peru fights gold fever with fire and military force

So toxic is liquid mercury that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recommends calling a hazardous waste specialist if a spill is larger than a broken thermometer. Exposure can cause neurological damage, birth defects, infertility and other health nightmares.
In Madre de Dios, gold miners are putting 30 to 40 tons of the stuff into the rivers each year, according to government estimates. It has leeched into nature reserves, the flesh of widely consumed river fish and three-quarters of the adult hair samples tested in the regional capital, Puerto Maldonado.
http://www.ticotimes.net/2014/08/19/peru-fights-gold-fever-with-fire-and-military-force