Asarco agrees to spend $150 million on smelter upgrades

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) have announced a settlement with copper producer Asarco that requires the company to spend $150 million to install new equipment and pollution control technology at its copper smelter in Hayden, Arizona.

The company also will fund local environmental mitigation projects valued at $8 million, replace a diesel locomotive with a cleaner model for $1 million, and pay a $4.5 million civil penalty, according to the EPA. Details of the settlement can be found here.

Asarco converts mined copper concentrates to copper anode at its Hayden smelter. Any copper scrap it consumes is melted at its refinery in Amarillo, Texas.

The federal enforcement action in Hayden targeted air pollutants, including lead and arsenic, in particulate matter (PM). With the new controls in place, the pollutants should be reduced by at least 8.5 tons per year, and PM emissions are expected to be reduced by 3,500 tons per year, says the EPA.

Under the announced settlement, Asarco will install new and upgraded ventilation hoods to capture hot flue gases from its furnaces to better capture the PM and sulfur dioxide (SO₂). The company will also replace an aging electrostatic precipitator with a new, cleaner baghouse and inject high performance lime to reduce SO₂ emissions.

Asarco also is being required to implement an improved dust control plan, including the use of wind fences, upgraded water sprayers and the installation of concrete pads.

Built in 1912 and expanded during the ensuing 103 years, the Asarco Hayden site includes an ore crusher, concentrator, smelter and a tailings impoundment area and produces 300 to 400 million pounds of copper and over 500,000 tons of sulfuric acid annually. Asarco is owned by Grupo México, a Mexican consortium that owns the Ferromex railroad and operates mines and smelters, including the one in Hayden, that make it the fourth largest copper producer in the world.