Doe Run Company
It owns four mills, six mines and a lead battery recycling plant, all in southeast Missouri, United States, and a subsidiary Fabricated Products Inc. with locations in Arizona and Washington.
[3][4] During its early history, St. Joseph Lead Company developed many tools, techniques, and safety processes that became widely adopted by the mining industry.
[10][11] The following year, Doe Run more than doubled in size with the purchase of the La Oroya smelter and Cobriza copper mine in Peru from state-controlled Centromin for $247 million.
[15][4] Following this finding, Doe Run undertook a large-scale cleanup effort, purchasing approximately 160 homes and replacing soil for over 700 properties to bring the site back into compliance with the U.S. Clean Air Act.
[15] In December 2013, Doe Run closed the Herculaneum smelter, retaining just a small operation for refining specialty alloys and maintaining the site.
[17] After the closure of the Herculaneum primary lead smelting facility in 2013, the company altered its business model to focus on its mining and recycling operations.
[18] In 2016, citing falling prices and environmental regulations, Doe Run downsized its lead production by approximately 10 percent and eliminated 75 jobs in its Missouri facilities.
[19] In 2016, the company sold 18 acres of its former lead smelter site in Herculaneum to Riverview Commerce Park LLC for redevelopment as a commercial port.
[24] Doe Run employs approximately 1,100 people,[19] and it invests in locals schools and infrastructure both financially and through employee community service.
It is a classic Mississippi Valley type lead/zinc deposit in Cambrian carbonate rocks though it contains an unusually high proportion of lead.
[35] Doe Run is one of only a few North American facilities capable of removing lead from glass in cathode ray tubes that were once common in televisions and computer monitors.
[37] In addition to mining operations and its secondary smelter, The Doe Run Company has a wholly owned subsidiary called Fabricated Products, Inc., that has locations in Vancouver, Washington and Casa Grande, Arizona.
[39][40][41][42] In 1997, Doe Run purchased a smelter and copper mine in La Oroya, Peru from the Peruvian state-controlled company Centromin during a privatization scheme.
[43] Studies conducted by the Director General of Environmental Health in Peru in 1999 showed that ninety-nine percent of children living in and around La Oroya have blood-lead levels that exceed acceptable amounts.
"[46] Because Doe Run Company is a major employer in the city, union leaders and the mayor were often persuaded to side with the industry and circumvent government attempts to address the pollution, but the political tide finally started to shift in the mid-2000s[44] In 2006, the Peruvian government granted Doe Run a three-year extension to meet emission level standards.
[13][47] In a 2007 press release, Doe Run Peru announced that it would appeal a fine levied on it by Peruvian regulators for surpassing emissions standards in La Oroya.
"[48] In September 2007, environmental health organization Blacksmith Institute listed La Oroya as one of the World's Worst Polluted Places because of pollution generated at Doe Run Company's poly-metallic smelting plant:[49] From 2007 to 2013 nearly one thousand individuals who had been exposed to toxic metals in La Oroya as minors initiated ongoing civil lawsuits in St. Louis against "Renco, Doe Run Resources Corporation (DRRC), and other companies and officers associated with Renco for injuries caused by poisonous emissions.
