Background/ History
The Doe Run Co. is an international lead producer with recycled and primary lead producer operations. The Doe Run Co. - Glover Facility is located on Highway 49 North in Glover. In 1968, Asarco Inc. began primary lead smelter and refinery operations at the site. In 1996, the Glover plant operations included sintering lead ore concentrates to lower sulfur content and direct blast furnace smelting, and refining. Because lead ore is often not pure lead, fluxing agents, such as limestone, are used in the smelting process to react with the impurities and carry them off as slag.
In 1988, Asarco built a retention pond to meet water discharge requirements. The department considered the retention pond to be a regulated surface impoundment, which Asarco disputed. A Consent Decree, filed in Iron County Circuit Court in 1994, required Asarco to cleanup of the pond and investigate and cleanup contamination from past smelter operations. The Doe Run Co. purchased the facility from Asarco Inc. in 1998; however, Asarco retained the environmental liability for releases that occurred during Asarco’s operation. Both Doe Run and Asarco disposed of slag on-site in two separate slag piles, one created by Asarco and one by Doe Run. In 2003 Doe Run indefinitely suspended smelter operations. Doe Run currently conducts limited operations at the site that do not include smelting and refining. The slag piles are currently permitted under the Metallic Minerals Waste Management Act by the department Land Reclamation Program.
Cleanup Summary
Per the 1994 Consent Decree, Asarco investigated the site and found levels of contamination on-site in soils, sediment, surface water and groundwater at levels sufficient to pose a threat to human health. The main constituents of concern included lead, cadmium, zinc, thallium and arsenic. Both Asarco and Doe Run capped their slag piles to prevent further spread of contamination. Asarco continued performing corrective action under the Consent Decree until 2004, when those activities stopped due to Asarco's financial condition. Asarco later filed for bankruptcy. In 2011, Doe Run assumed responsibility for performing the remaining investigation, cleanup, operation, maintenance and monitoring activities at the facility, using the Asarco bankruptcy proceeds. Long-term activities include groundwater, surface water and remedy performance monitoring; maintenance of the slag pile cap, and erosion control.
In January 2005, the department issued an Emergency Permit to Doe Run for the Glover facility. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had issued a Unilateral Administrative Order for a time-critical removal of lead-contaminated soil from residential yards in the Middlebrook Trailer Park area. The trailer park was the site of a former lead concentrate loading facility, which was associated with the Viburnum Trend Haul Roads site. The permit allowed Doe Run to store the lead-contaminated remediation wastes at its Glover site until EPA could approve a Remedial Action Plan. The department accepted Doe Runs closure certification for the hazardous remediation waste storage area in January 2011. Doe Run consolidated, capped and closed the ASARCO slag pile in 2015.
