Doe Run Company
The Doe Run Resources Corporation, known by the trade name The Doe Run Company, is a privately held natural resources company and global producer of lead, copper, and zinc concentrates. 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. It also owns two former primary lead smelter sites in the U.S. that are currently being remediated. It is wholly owned by The Renco Group, Inc
Type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Mining |
Predecessor | St. Joseph Lead Company |
Founded | 1864New York, United States | in
Founders | Lyman W. Gilbert, John E. Wylie, Edmund I. Wade, Wilmot Williams, James L. Dunham and James L. Hathaway |
Headquarters | |
Key people | Jerry L. Pyatt, Chief Executive Officer and President |
Products | Lead, copper, and zinc concentrates and lead metal and alloys |
Number of employees | 1,278 |
Parent | The Renco Group, Inc. |
Website | www |
History
![](../I/Doe_Run_smelter_Herculaneum_22.jpg.webp)
The company that would become The Doe Run Company was founded as St. Joseph Lead Company in New York in 1864.[1] In the "Old Lead Belt" of Southeast Missouri where the company operated, it was the dominant mining group.[2] In 1887, the company purchased land to build a smelter in Herculaneum, Missouri. The lead processing smelter was built on 540 acres by the Mississippi River and began operations in 1892.[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.[2] Notable accomplishments included the roof bolt in the 1920s,[2] and the St. Joe Shovel in 1922, which replaced hand shovels and increased daily employee productivity from 21 tons of rock to nearly 300 tons.[5] St. Joe was also the first mining company to employ a dedicated researcher, starting in 1930, which expanded into a department.[2]
With the gradual exhaustion of the Old Lead Belt after World War II, St. Joe explored other areas in southeastern Missouri and in 1955 found extensive deposits in an area that became known as the Viburnum Trend. The company owns six mines and four mills along the trend. Other companies also developed the area, but Doe Run owned all the mines and mills in the district by 1992.[2]
The company changed its name to St. Joe Minerals in 1970,[6] and was acquired by the Fluor Corporation in 1981.[7] In 1986, St. Joe and another mining company, Homestake Lead, formed The Doe Run Company Partnership, which added Homestake's Buick mine, mill and smelter to St. Joe's operations.[7] The Buick smelter was later converted to the Buick Resource Recycling Division for lead recycling in 1991.[7][8]
The Renco Group, Inc., acquired The Doe Run Company from Fluor and renamed the company The Doe Run Resources Corporation in 1994 (although it continued to be registered to do business as "The Doe Run Company").[9][7] In 1996, Doe Run established Fabricated Products, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, and acquired lead fabricating facilities.[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.[12][13][14] Doe Run's Peruvian holdings would eventually be separated into a separate subsidiary of the Renco Group in 2007.[13]
In 2001, regulators reported high levels of lead around Doe Run's Herculaneum lead smelter as well as in the blood of local children.[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.[16][15] In 2010, Doe Run agreed to close the Herculaneum smelter and pay $65 million for past violations of federal Clean Air and Clean Water acts. The same year, Doe Run announced plans to replace the Herculaneum smelter with an electrowinning plant. However, in 2012 these plans were put on hold indefinitely.[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.[20] Doe Run began demolition on the five main buildings of the Herculaneum smelter in 2017 as part of its redevelopment announced in 2012.[21]
Operations
Overview
The Doe Run Company manages various parts of the lead lifecycle, including mining, milling, fabrication, and recycling,[9][22] and provides lead metals, alloys and lead concentrates to companies globally.[21][23] The company's headquarters are in St. Louis, Missouri,[9] and Doe Run has holdings in Missouri, Washington and Arizona.[9] Jerry Pyatt has been president and CEO of The Doe Run Company since 2012.[24]
Doe Run employs approximately 1,100 people,[19] and it invests in locals schools and infrastructure both financially and through employee community service.[21][25][26]
Holdings and products
In the Southeast Missouri Lead District, Doe Run's mines are all on the Viburnum Trend, a 64 km long mineralized shoot with an average width of 150 meters, thickness of 3 to 30 meters and average depth of 300 meters. It is a classic Mississippi Valley type lead/zinc deposit in Cambrian carbonate rocks though it contains an unusually high proportion of lead. The principal minerals are galena (lead, PbS) and sphalerite (zinc, ZnS) with lesser amounts of chalcopyrite (copper, CuFeS2).[27][28] Lead concentrates from the area contain more than 75 percent lead, versus an industry average of 45 to 50 percent lead.[29]
Doe Run owns six mines on the Viburnum Trend: Brushy Creek, Buick, Casteel, Fletcher/West Fork, Sweetwater and Mine No 29.[30] These mines produce ore that is milled at the company's four mills to extract lead, zinc, and copper concentrates.[31] Approximately 90 percent of the primary lead supply in the United States has been derived from the ore from these mines over the years.[32] Following the closure of the Herculaneum smelter, metal concentrates from the mines are shipped overseas for smelting.[33]
Doe Run's other Missouri holdings include a recycling smelter in Boss, Missouri.[8] The secondary smelter recycles metal from old lead batteries and scrap lead.[34][4] The process creates secondary lead that can be manufactured into new products.[34]
The smelter processes about 13.5 million lead-acid batteries annually,[34] recovering lead from the batteries for reuse.[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.[35][36] Safety precautions at Doe Run lead facilities include washing trucks that come into contact with lead, as well as having exposed workers shower and change clothes after each shift.[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.[10] These facilities manufacture and market fabricated metal products, including lead oxide for batteries, lead shielding used for radiation protection in hospitals, extruded shapes used in plating and pollution control, lead-lined drywall and plywood, and sheet lead for roof flashing.[10]
Doe Run also owned a primary lead smelting facility in southeastern Missouri in the unincorpated region of Glover.[38] The company acquired the facility in 1998 from ASARCO, but it was closed in 2003. [39][40][41][42]
Environmental issues
La Oroya, Peru
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.[13] In doing so, Doe Run agreed to reduce emissions at the heavily polluted site to acceptable levels within 10 years.[43] Despite substantial investment in site improvements and local infrastructure, health and environmental problems persisted.[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. The drinking water of La Oroya has been shown to contain 50 percent more lead than the levels recommended by the World Health Organization. These studies also showed high levels of air pollution, with 85 times more arsenic, 41 times more cadmium and 13 times more lead than amounts considered safe.[44]
A 2005 study found that the town was facing a serious environmental health crisis. Not only were there elevated lead levels in children, the study also found above-normal levels of cadmium, arsenic, and antimony throughout the population. Exposure to these toxic heavy metals is associated with kidney failure, cancer, and other problems.[45] In an interview, the author of the study said he was "scandalised" by the breadth and depth of the contamination because he "found levels of lead in children that you don’t even see in the USA in adults who work with lead."[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. In February 2007 Doe Run's Peruvian assets were spun out as an independent subsidiary of Renco Group, Doe Run Peru.[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. Jose Mogrovejo, Doe Run Peru's vice president for environmental affairs, said that infractions were not of a magnitude that could harm the environment: "Our concern is that people could infer from reading the resolution that it says we have damaged the environment, and that is not the case."[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."[50] In 2009, Doe Run Peru shut down the smelter after the Peruvian government cited the company for environmental violations. In April 2011, Renco Group filed an $800 million lawsuit against Peru, alleging Peru had violated the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement.[47] The case was dismissed in 2016.[50]
Herculaneum, Missouri
In 2001, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources found that street dust in the town of Herculaneum contained 30% lead.[15][51] Testing the same year by the United States Environmental Protection Agency found high levels of air pollution. Test results also showed elevated levels of lead among more than half of pre-school age children who were tested living near the smelter in Herculaneum.[4][52]
In 2002, Doe Run undertook a voluntary buyout of homes in the area[53] and over the next few years purchased approximately 160 homes.[54] In addition to the buyout, Doe Run invested $14 million in the removal of lead-contaminated soil. It replaced soil for more than 700 properties, including residences, schools, public parks, and other land.[55][4] By the end of the year, Doe Run was in compliance with the Clean Air Act lead standard.[56] According to a company representative, another $12 million was spent in 2007 in an effort to further reduce air pollution from the smelter.[57]
In 2010, after issuance of new stricter EPA lead standards, Doe Run agreed to close the Herculaneum smelter and pay $65 million to correct past violations of the federal Clean Air and Clean Water acts.[16][58][59] The same year, the company announced plans to replace the Herculaneum smelter with an electrowinning plant, which would replace smelting with a contained wet chemical process, reducing emissions by nearly 99 percent.[60] The plans were a result of research the company had been conducting for decades to find a new way to produce lead.[61] Doe Run invested $30 million in developing new technology until the plan was put on hold in 2012.[62][63]
In December 2013, Doe Run closed the Herculaneum smelter,[64] though refining operations of specialty alloys continue.[17][21] The company allocated more than $8 million for cleanup of the property following its closure.[65] Between 2010 and 2015, Doe Run spent $289 million on environmental expenditures across its various holdings.[66] The funds have been used in part for remediating old mining sites and for the construction of water treatment plants to treat waste from mining operations.[67][68]
References
- Tomich, Jeffrey (14 December 2013). "Smelter closing means adjustments for lead customers". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Archived from the original on 22 August 2014. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
The St. Louis-based company, which traces its roots back to the St. Joseph Lead Co. in 1864, will also continue its other operations in Missouri.
- Bullock, Richard L. (2010). "100 Years of Underground Applied Mining Research in Southeast Missouri (SEMO)". In Brune, Jürgen F. (ed.). Extracting the Science: A Century of Mining Research. Society for Metal, Metallurgy, and Exploration. pp. 81–93. ISBN 9780873353229.
- Scott, Peggy (6 July 2012). "Doe Run ending long run in Herculaneum". Leader Publications. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
In 1887, the company acquired a 540-acre piece of land along the Mississippi River in Herculaneum for a new lead smelter.
- Salter, Jim (25 December 2013). "Small Missouri town to lose its historic lead smelter". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
- "Throwback Thursday: July 24, 2014". St. Louis Business Journal. 23 July 2014. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
- Thorsen, Leah (14 December 2013). "Doe Run timeline". St Louis Dispatch. Archived from the original on 22 August 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
St. Joseph Lead changes its name to St. Joe Minerals
- Scott, Peggy (6 July 2012). "Doe Run ending long run in Herculaneum". Leader Publications. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
After the partnership fell apart, St. Joe converted the smelter in Boss. Mo., to recycle lead, which it still does today.
- "Doe Run Facility "Powers" Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Industry". SolidWaste.com. 13 August 2007. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
The Doe Run Company's Buick Resource Recycling Division (BRRD) in Boss, Mo. Founded in 1991, BRRD operates the world's largest single-site lead recycling facility
- "Company Overview of The Doe Run Resources Corporation". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
- "Company Overview of Fabricated Products, Inc". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
- Ozols, Victor; Ward, Aaron (12 September 1996). "Doe Run unit buys out Seafab. (Doe Run Resources Corp. subsidiary Fabricated Products Inc. acquires Seafab Metal Corp". American Metal Market.
Seafab Metal Corp., Seattle, has been bought by Fabricated Products Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Doe Run Resources Corp., St. Louis, a major lead producer, sources said.
- "Form S-4 Registration Statement under the Securities Act of 1933 - The Doe Run Resources Corporation". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Archived from the original on 29 August 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
- Beck, Ken (9 August 2013). "Doe Run Is One Part of a Much Larger International Company". Reynolds County Courrier. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- "Doe Run on Peru and sustainable development". International Mining. 30 August 2006. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
The facility was owned and operated by Cerro de Pasco Copper and later by Centromin. In 1997, The Doe Run Company purchased the 75-year-old facility and inherited decades of unchecked environmental liabilities.
- Fenston, Jacob (8 August 2012). "The end of a lead-laced era: polluting smelter to close after 120 years". KBIA. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
the dust from the streets in Herculaneum contained 300,000 parts per million lead. That's 30 percent.
- Thorsen, Leah (15 December 2013). "Smelter's closure is end of an era in Herculaneum". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
The Wardens filed a successful lawsuit with the Missouri Coalition for the Environment that prompted the EPA to adopt tougher air quality standards for lead in 2008. The new standard is 10 times more stringent than the old standard for lead, dropping to 0.15 micrograms from 1.5 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air.
- "End near for Herculaneum smelter". Daily Journal Online. 20 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
Following the closure of the smelter, 75 employees will be retained in 2014 to assist with continued refining and alloying, and the maintenance of the Herculaneum site.
- Luecke, Jacob (16 June 2015). "Doe Run – the Lead Belt Heavyweight". Missouri Business. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
Inside Doe Run, the loss of the smelter caused the company to revise its business model and drastically reroute its supply chain.
- Barker, Jacob (1 February 2016). "Doe Run cutting jobs due to low lead prices, regulations". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
Citing falling prices and environmental regulations, Doe Run Company said it is slashing lead production by approximately 10 percent and cutting 75 jobs in its Missouri offices and mines.
- Kukuljan, Steph (11 May 2016). "Doe Run Co. sells Mississippi riverfront property". St. Louis Business Journal. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
The Doe Run Co. has sold 18 acres of its former lead smelter site in Herculaneum along the Mississippi River to Riverview Commerce Park LLC, according to a company announcement
- Bruce, Tracey (12 March 2017). "Stack Stays". Leader Publications. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
The Doe Run Co. plans this year to start demolishing the five main buildings that made up its Herculaneum smelting operation.
- "Doe Run shares its view of the lead market". International Mining. 28 May 2009. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
Doe Run is America’s only integrated lead producer and a true lead lifecycle manager
- "End near for Herculaneum smelter". Daily Journal Online. 20 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
- "Doe Run CEO Neil to retire, COO Pyatt promoted". Reuters. 15 June 2012. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
- Thorsen, Leah (15 December 2013). "Smelter's closure is end of an era in Herculaneum". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
Both speak of the value of the smelter beyond tax dollars — the community events Doe Run sponsored, such as basketball tournaments and town celebrations. Doe Run employees donated more than 2,000 hours of community service last year, the company said. Doe Run paid to build the town’s fire station a few years ago.
- Salter, Jim (25 December 2013). "Small Missouri town to lose its historic lead smelter". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
Doe Run helped build a fire station in 2010 and a $6 million bridge last year. The company also funded scholarships, athletic events and other school-related expenses, and its taxes contributed $500,000 in 2012 to the district.
- "USGS Mississippi Valley-type Lead Zinc Deposits " (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2008-10-11. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
- Introduction to Ore-forming Processes By Laurence Robb
- Luecke, Jacob (16 June 2015). "Doe Run – the Lead Belt Heavyweight". Missouri Business. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
On average, lead concentrates contain approximately 45 to 50 percent lead, but Doe Run’s lead concentrates far surpass the industry average, containing more than 75 percent lead, says Steve Batts, general manager of Doe Run’s Southeast Missouri Mining and Milling Division.
- "Lead Giant to Shut Missouri Smelter Early, Pay $72 Million for Violations". Environmental News Service. 12 October 2010. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
- Luecke, Jacob (16 June 2015). "Doe Run – the Lead Belt Heavyweight". Missouri Business. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
The Buick Mine and five other nearby Doe Run mines comprise the world’s second largest lead mining district.
- Luecke, Jacob (16 June 2015). "Doe Run – the Lead Belt Heavyweight". Missouri Business. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
these mines have produced approximately 90 percent of the US lead supply.
- Luecke, Jacob (16 June 2015). "Doe Run – the Lead Belt Heavyweight". Missouri Business. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
Today, when trucks haul concentrates away from the Doe Run mines along Route KK, they now drive southeast toward Cape Girardeau, where the concentrates are loaded onto barges bound for New Orleans. From there, the concentrates are shipped overseas to smelters in places such as Europe and Asia.
- Mayfield, Lance (17 September 2016). "Time for Old Miners' Days". Daily Journal Online. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
October also marks the observance of Manufacturing Day, and gives us a chance to recognize our lead-recycling employees who recycle more than 13.5 million lead-acid batteries each year. This creates secondary lead that can be manufactured into new batteries and other important products.
- "Doe Run Facility "Powers" Lead-Acid Battery Recycling Industry". SolidWaste.com. 13 August 2007. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
98.8 percent of lead in lead-acid batteries can be recovered through recycling; BRRD is one of the few facilities in North America that accepts and recovers lead from cathode ray tube (CRT) glass, found in many computer monitor and television screens.
- "Doe Run lead recycling facility receives award". Recycling Today. 7 November 2016. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
The plant recycles close to 175,000 tons of refined lead-containing products per year. The facility operates a hammermill to break down batteries, furnaces to smelt recycled lead material and secondary lead refining and casting facilities
- Schneyer, Joshua; Pell, M.B. (11 January 2017). "Reuters: Beyond Flint, Thousands of Areas in U.S. Struggle with Lead Poisoning". Insurance Journal. Archived from the original on 12 January 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
- "The Doe Run Company to Modify its Glover Facility for Future Business Opportunities". www.doerun.com (Press release). St. Louis, Missouri: Doe Run Company. Archived from the original on 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
- Sheeley, Andrew (2017-01-31). "In the Ozarks, state parks trump public health". Salem News Online. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
- "USFWS: NRDA - Southeast Missouri Lead Mining District". www.fws.gov. Retrieved 2018-09-24.
- Mosby, David E.; Weber, John S.; Klahr, Frances (Jan 2009). "FINAL PHASE I DAMAGE ASSESSMENT PLAN FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI LEAD MINING DISTRICT: BIG RIVER MINE TAILINGS SUPERFUND SITE, ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY AND VIBURNUM TREND SITES, REYNOLDS, CRAWFORD, WASHINGTON, AND IRON COUNTIES" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-09-24. Retrieved 2018-09-23.
- Thorsen, Leah (2018-04-07). "After Doe Run: Former company town adjusts to a new reality". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on 2019-04-27. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
- Miller, Jon (1 March 2007). "Peru: Life Under a Toxic Cloud". PBS Frontline. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 13 March 2017.
When Doe Run bought the complex from the Peruvian government during a privatization drive under then-president Alberto Fujimori, it signed an agreement to reduce emissions to acceptable levels within 10 years.
- Poisoned city fights to save its children
- Serrano, Fernando (2005-12-06). Environmental Contamination in the Homes of La Oroya and Concepción and Its Effects in the Health of Community Residents (PDF). Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (Report). Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-07-22. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
- Fraser, Barbara (2006-03-18). "Peruvian mining town must balance health and economics" (PDF). The Lancet. 367 (9514): 889–890. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(06)68363-3. PMID 16550643. S2CID 6910328. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-07-22. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
- Kramer, Anna (2011-11-30). "La Oroya, Peru: Poisoned town". Oxfam. Oxfam. Archived from the original on 2018-07-22. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
- Doe Run Peru Appeals Fine on La Oroya Emissions
- "The World's Worst Polluted Places" (PDF). The Blacksmith Institute. September 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2007.
- Gismondi, Giovanna (2017-11-24). "The Renco Group, Inc. v. Republic of Peru: An Assessment of the Investor's Contentions in the Context of Environmental Degradation". Harvard International Law Journal. 59 (Fall 2017). Archived from the original on 2018-07-22. Retrieved 2018-07-22.
- Thorsen, Leah (15 December 2013). "Smelter's closure is end of an era in Herculaneum". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
Testing on Herculaneum streets in 2001 found dangerously high levels of lead, up to 300,000 parts per million in places.
- Fenston, Jacob (8 August 2012). "The end of a lead-laced era: polluting smelter to close after 120 years". KBIA. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
Within a quarter mile, 56 percent of kids had high levels of lead in their blood. At a half-mile, it was 52 percent.
- Thorsen, Leah (15 December 2013). "Smelter's closure is end of an era in Herculaneum". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
They moved to Festus in 2004 after selling their house to Doe Run through a voluntary buyout negotiated two years earlier by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.
- Fenston, Jacob (8 August 2012). "The end of a lead-laced era: polluting smelter to close after 120 years". KBIA. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
the company agreed to buy out the 160 homes closest to the smelter.
- Thorsen, Leah (15 December 2013). "Smelter's closure is end of an era in Herculaneum". St. Louis Post Dispatch. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
The company has spent millions of dollars to clean up Herculaneum. It has replaced the soil in 781 yards at a cost of more than $14 million, and spends an additional $9 million a year to improve environmental performance.
- Fenston, Jacob (8 August 2012). "The end of a lead-laced era: polluting smelter to close after 120 years". KBIA. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
Around that same time in 2002, Doe Run met the Clean Air Act lead standard for the first time ever, since it was set in 1978
- Salter, Jim (25 December 2013). "Small Missouri town to lose its historic lead smelter". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
The company also spent nearly $12 million in 2007 to reduce air pollution at the smelter.
- Thorsen, Leah (14 December 2013). "Doe Run timeline". St Louis Dispatch. Archived from the original on 22 August 2014. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
Doe Run decides to close its lead smelter in Herculaneum in 2013 and pay $65 million to correct violations of environmental laws.
- Fenston, Jacob (8 August 2012). "The end of a lead-laced era: polluting smelter to close after 120 years". KBIA. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
Doe Run kept making these plans, and then taking all the steps the plans required, but still managing to exceed national air quality limits. "They met what they said they would do, but it just didn't work."
- Luecke, Jacob (16 June 2015). "Doe Run – the Lead Belt Heavyweight". Missouri Business. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
The company made headlines in 2010 when it announced its intentions to build a new type of lead refinery. This facility wouldn't create the sulfur dioxide and lead air emissions that had attracted EPA scrutiny to the former Herculaneum smelter. The new plant would use an innovative technology called electrowinning. Doe Run's proprietary electrowinning process is a self-contained, wet chemical process that selectively dissolves lead concentrates into a solution and then extracts lead from the solution using an electric current. The process nearly eliminates lead emissions.
- McGuire, Kim (21 March 2012). "Doe Run's new technology could end need for lead smelter". St. Louis Dispatch. Archived from the original on 11 October 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
The company has been pursuing a new way to produce lead for almost 20 years. By the end of this year, it will have invested almost $30 million to bring the new technology to fruition
- Luecke, Jacob (16 June 2015). "Doe Run – the Lead Belt Heavyweight". Missouri Business. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
While Doe Run would like to invest in this technology of the future, the company finds itself instead spending hundreds of millions of dollars on environmental compliance.
- Fenston, Jacob (8 August 2012). "The end of a lead-laced era: polluting smelter to close after 120 years". KBIA. Archived from the original on 8 June 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
In June, Doe Run made it final – the company won't be rebuilding in Herculaneum with a new cleaner plant, as they had earlier planned on.
- Luecke, Jacob (16 June 2015). "Doe Run – the Lead Belt Heavyweight". Missouri Business. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
But in late 2013, Doe Run closed the Herculaneum smelter under an agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA had targeted the smelter citing violations of the federal Clean Air and Clean Water acts.
- Salter, Jim (25 December 2013). "Small Missouri town to lose its historic lead smelter". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 6 September 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
After the smelter closes, the company has agreed to spend more than $8 million more for cleanup of the property.
- Luecke, Jacob (16 June 2015). "Doe Run – the Lead Belt Heavyweight". Missouri Business. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
"Since 2010, we have spent $289 million on environmental expenditures," Pyatt says.
- Luecke, Jacob (16 June 2015). "Doe Run – the Lead Belt Heavyweight". Missouri Business. Archived from the original on 16 September 2017. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
Doe Run's environmental expenses include remediating old mining sites and treating the water it uses to comply with standards...
- "Treating Missouri Waterways with Care". doerun.com. The Doe Run Company. 2015. Archived from the original on 22 July 2018. Retrieved 10 May 2017.