Peru's Doe Run smelter feels the heat

Concerns about the devastating environmental impact of Peru’s infamous Doe Run smelter have increased with the suspension of the facility's environmental certification by an independent auditor.

The smelter is located near the village of La Oroya in the Central Peruvian Andes processes iron, zinc, copper, silver and gold. Originally established in 1922, the facility, ownership passed to the St. Louis, Mo.-based Doe Run Company when it acquired the plant in 1997 from government-owned company, Centromin.

The auditor, TUV Rheinland of Cologne, Germany, granted the Doe Run smelter an environmental certification in 2006. Although it is not required by the Peruvian government for Doe Run to operate, many customers supplied by the facility who requires such certification.

La Oroya, the site of the smelter, repeatedly ranks on the Blacksmith Institute’s list of the top ten polluted places on the planet, sharing the dubious honor with places like Chernobyl, Ukraine. Last year the company was fined $230,000 for repeatedly exceeding the maximum limit for toxic emissions as well as emitting sulfuric dioxide without supervision or controls.

Numerous studies have shown that the 35,000 residents of La Oroya have been dangerously exposed to toxic emissions from the smelter. According to a survey conducted by the Peruvian Ministry of Health in 1999, blood lead levels among local children are dangerously high.

The suspension of the independent environmental certification comes as the smelter is under increasing pressure by the Peruvian government to accelerate clean-up efforts. An extension of the plant’s environmental management plan approved by the Peruvian government in 2004 is set to expire this year.

Earlier this year, the company was issued a one-year deadline to implement an emergency clean-up plan to alleviate toxic emissions near the smelter. To comply, the company has pledged drastic reductions in emissions by the end of the year. To achieve those goals, the company is installing a sulphuric-acid plant at La Oroya to capture sulphur dioxide and other toxic emissions.

In addition to the environmental concerns the plant is also the focus of labor issues. Workers at the smelter walked off the job on April 5 to to demand better working conditions and a share of profits.

The impact of the work stoppage is unclear since both sides have given dramatically different assessments of the situation. Officials with the union claim that 90 percent of the 1,720 workers are taking part in the strike but the company insists that 70 percent of their employees are at work. Doe Run has insisted the continuity of operations has not been affected by the strike which they claim is illegal.

::Update 14/04 :: The company now says the strike has cut output by 25 percent.