Doe Run, EPA Sign Agreement on Cleanup

The Doe Run Co. and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have reached an agreement whereby Doe Run, headquartered in St. Louis, will spend up to $7.5 million on environmental improvement projects. In addition, the agreement outlines several programs that will take place during the next three to five years, that will result in improvements to the sites Doe Run owns or operates, including its smelters, mines and mills in Missouri.

• Maintain production limits of 130,000 tons per year of finished metal production at its Herculaneum smelter;
• Limit sulfur dioxide emissions at the Herculaneum smelter consistent with the 130,000 tons production limit;
• Set aside sufficient funds for future remediation work at Herculaneum operations and at the end of mining operations at Doe Run’s mine and mill facilities;
• Enclose all lead concentrate storage and handling facilities at the company’s four mill facilities to reduce airborne particulate;
• Conduct yard sampling in Herculaneum on an annual basis during the next four years and in yards up to 1.5 miles from the smelter and perform remediation where necessary;
• Prepare underground and surface water management plans and comply with new limits;
• Conduct environmental mitigation projects of up to $7.5 million, including remediation within an 8.5-mile stretch of the Bee Fork Creek near Fletcher Mill and additional projects primarily aimed at schools and public entities in Jefferson, Dent, Iron, Washington, Scott and Reynolds counties; and
• Modify the existing transportation Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) to include training, auditing, additional sampling and a study of concentrate handling and transportation practices.