![[logo] US EPA](../gif/logo_epaseal.gif){kind=logo}
Fact Sheet
December 2010
Public Meeting for Proposed Consent Decree Announced, The Doe Run Resources Corporation, St. Louis, Missouri
INTRODUCTION
On October 8, 2010, the United States lodged a proposed Consent Decree with The Doe Run Resources Corporation (Doe Run) in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri to resolve violations of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA); the Clean Air Act (CAA); the Clean Water Act (CWA); the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA); the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA); and State law at several Doe Run facilities. Doe Run has agreed to perform response actions and pay a civil penalty to resolve these violations.
The United States invites the public to comment on the proposed Consent Decree. The 30-day public comment period opened on October 15 with the publication of a notice in the Federal Register, and has been extended through December 14, 2010.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Doe Run produces lead and other metals from the New Lead Belt or the Viburnum Trend in southeast Missouri. Production began in the mid-1960s and continues to this day. Ore from the mines is crushed, milled and processed to form lead and other metal concentrates. Lead concentrate commonly contains lead at levels greater than 70 percent (700,000 parts per million). This lead concentrate is trucked over public roadways to the Herculaneum smelter for processing or trucked to the Southeast Missouri Regional Port Authority near Cape Girardeau for shipment overseas.
Plan to Attend Public Meeting
You are invited to attend a public meeting to discuss the proposed Consent Decree between the United States, State of Missouri, and Doe Run. The meeting has been scheduled for Thursday, December 9, 2010, beginning at 7 p.m. at the:
Senn-Thomas Middle School Cafeteria
200 Senn-Thomas Dr.
Herculaneum, MO
If you have question about the meeting, please contact:
Beckie Himes
Community Involvement Coordinator
Office of Public Affairs
U.S. EPA Region 7
901 N. 5th Street
Kansas City, Kansas 66101
Phone: (913) 551-7253
Toll Free: (800) 223-0425
EPA Region 7 is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the meeting, please notify the EPA Reasonable Accommodations Coordinator, Jonathan Cooper, 800-223-0425 or at cooper.jonathan@epa.gov. Speech or hearing impaired individuals should e-mail or call using the local relay service.
TERMS OF PROPOSED SETTLEMENT
Air Requirements
Doe Run will shut down the Herculaneum smelter by December 2013. Until the smelter shuts down, lead production will be limited to 130,000 tons per year. The refinery may continue to operate at the location.
Doe Run will install and operate a pressure drop monitor at the underground concrete batch plant at the Buick Mine/Mill facility.
RCRA Requirements
Doe Run will comply with all conditions of the Buick Resource Recycling facility (secondary smelter) hazardous waste permit.
Doe Run will correct RCRA violations at the Herculaneum facility, including updating the Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasures (SPCC) plan, implementing appropriate training, and improving housekeeping.
Doe Run will correct RCRA violations at Buick Mine/Mill including updating the SPCC plan, implementing appropriate training, documenting hazardous waste determinations, and improving housekeeping and used oil storage and cleanup procedures.
Financial Assurance and Remediation
Doe Run will establish a financial assurance trust fund for the Herculaneum facility and will remediate the Herculaneum smelter facility after the smelter shuts down. Doe Run will also establish financial assurance trust funds for the future cleanup of six active or former mine/mill facilities (Brushy Creek, Buick, Fletcher, Sweetwater, Viburnum, and West Fork). The financial assurance commitments ensure that financing will be available to help fund the cleanup of the smelter property and the six mining and milling sites whenever they are eventually closed.
CWA Requirements
Doe Run will:
- perform extensive sampling of underground and surface waters at its mine/mill facilities, and develop plans to manage underground and surface water to reduce pollutants in wastewater;
- prepare and implement stormwater pollution prevention plans at all of its facilities within six months of lodging date of the Consent Decree;
- install and operate a second lime slurry tank at the headworks of Herculaneum wastewater treatment plant;
- install a truck wash water recycling system at Herculaneum facility;
- evaluate effectiveness of reagents used in the Glover facility wastewater treatment plant and implement any recommended changes;
- evaluate use of sodium sulfide to reduce thallium in the Glover facility wastewater treatment plant and implement any recommendations;
- install and operate an additional sand vertical gravity filter at the Buick Resource Recycling wastewater plant;
- install equipment for recycling non-contact cooling water in the battery desulfurization and crystallization areas at the Buick Resource Recycling facility and install return pumps for the blast furnace cooling water;
- remove and replace substrate in the north biocell of the wastewater treatment plant at the West Fork facility; and
- expedite the review process for resolving issues for NPDES/MSOP permits for 10 facilities (including Herculaneum, Glover, BRR, Brushy Creek mine/mill, Buick mine/mill, Fletcher mine/mill, Sweetwater mine/mill, Viburnum mine/mill, Mine #35 (Casteel), and West Fork) by dropping most of the permit appeal issues, agreeing to use of Special Master to resolve remaining issues, and abiding by the decision of Special Master and waiving further appeal rights.
Additional Injunctive Relief/Projects
Enclosure of Lead Concentrate Storage and Handling - Doe run will install enclosure/ventilation systems at the lead concentrate storage, handling, and loading areas at four mine/mill facilities (Buick, Brushy Creek, Fletcher, and Sweetwater) designed to reduce fugitive air emissions.
Bee Fork Creek - Doe Run will perform assessment and cleanup activities on 8.5 miles of Bee Fork Creek located in Reynolds County, Missouri, to improve the condition of the creek.
Community Projects – Doe Run will perform $2 million in community projects over four years including clean diesel retrofits, school lab clean outs, school energy efficiency projects, ground source heat pumps, purchase of sulfur dioxide (SO2) allowances, wastewater infrastructure projects for the City of Herculaneum and the development and/or improvement of environmental management systems at Doe Run's facilities.
Penalty
Doe Run will pay a $7 million penalty, $3.5 million to the United States and $3.5 million to the State of Missouri.
Transportation Administrative Order
The requirements of the Transportation Order, an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) issued in May 2007, and subsequently modified in September 2010, to address ongoing transportation issues, are enforceable under the Consent Decree. Doe Run has agreed to implement additional specific work practices through a modification to the existing Transportation AOC in an effort to further reduce lead releases to public roads from its transportation activities.COPIES OF THE CONSENT DECREE
This fact sheet is a plain language overview of some of the key terms of the proposed settlement. More detail is available from the settlement document. The proposed Consent Decree is available for review on the following Department of Justice Website, http://www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html, and EPA Region 7 website https://www.epa.gov/region7/cleanup/doe_run/index.htm. The proposed Consent Decree is also available for review during regular business hours at the following locations:
Office of the United States Attorney
Eastern District of Missouri
Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse
111 South 10th Street, Room 20.333
St. Louis, MO 63102
U.S. EPA Region 7
Records Center
901 North 5th Street
Kansas City, Kansas
Again, the United States invites the public to comment on the proposed Consent Decree. The public comment period runs through December 14, 2010.
Written comments, postmarked no later than December 14, 2010, should be directed to:
Assistant Attorney General
Environment and Natural Resources Division
United States Department of Justice
P.O. Box 7611
Washington, DC 20044-7611
E-mail: pubcomment-ees.enrd@usdoj.gov
The United States will consider all comments submitted during the public comment period and determine whether it is appropriate for the United States to request that the District Court sign the proposed Consent Decree.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
If you have questions or need additional information, please contact:
Donald Toensing, Chief
Waste Enforcement and Materials Management Branch
U.S. EPA Region 7
901 North 5th Street
Kansas City, Kansas 66101
Phone: (913) 551-7887
E-mail: toensing.donald@epa.gov