Doe Run Peru President Says Negotiations Progressing on Pama Extension
Company to Reinvest Earnings on Health, Environmental Issues in La Oroya
St. Louis, MO (PRWEB via PR Web
Direct) December 15, 2004 -— Negotiations with the Peruvian government are
progressing and Doe Run Peru is confident an agreement can be reached that will
allow the company to better address health and environmental priorities at its
La Oroya smelter, officials said.
In remarks made to the Peruvian
Congressional Energy & Mines and Environment & Ecology commissions, Doe
Run Peru President Bruce Neil said the company remains firm in its commitment to
work with the community and the government to continue to improve conditions for
the people of La Oroya.
Doe Run Peru announced in February that it would
seek revisions to its environmental operating agreement in Peru, known by its
Spanish acronym PAMA. The proposed plan dedicates additional resources to help
mitigate lead contamination that is affecting children’s blood lead levels in La
Oroya, while also addressing the plant modernization and other improvements
required under the existing plan.
“We understand the concerns of the
authorities and of the people who want a guarantee that we will keep to our
commitments,” Neil said on Monday. “That is why we propose that during these
five years of extension the majority of our free cash flow will be reinvested in
the PAMA projects.”
Free cash flow is an accounting term that refers to the
amount of cash that a company has left over after it has paid all of its
expenses, including investments.
Neil explained to the congressmen that
of the 9 projects included under the current PAMA, Doe Run Peru is completing 8
within expected timeframes and budgets. The company only needs additional time
to complete one of them: the construction of a sulfuric acid plant that
represents a $100 million investment.
Since purchasing the 75-year-old
metallurgical complex from the Peruvian government in 1997, Doe Run Peru has
invested $140 million in technology and facility improvements. Those efforts
have reduced blood lead levels in the workforce by 27 percent and reduced air
lead emissions by 21 percent.
In addition, the company has rebuilt
arsenic and slag disposal systems and landfills, and significantly reduced
discharges into local rivers, eliminating discharges into one river and reducing
effluents into another by half. The company remains committed to the complete
elimination of such discharges by the end of 2006.
The new proposal
includes additional projects to control “fugitive” emissions from open complex
buildings during the next two years, further and significantly reducing levels
of air lead, the principal contamination problem in La
Oroya.
Doe Run Peru’s efforts to address the
health and contamination issues and improve living standards in La Oroya have
generated broad community support, including more than 12,000 signatures by
community members on petitions backing the company’s extension request and
demonstrations in support of Doe Run organized by La Oroya Mayor Clemente
Quincho and leaders of the labor union representing the company’s 3,100
unionized La Oroya employees.
Neil also noted that Doe Run Peru’s
contracts with its financial institutions require it to have a PAMA agreement to
continue operations.
Neil stressed that the company wants to remain in
Peru. “We are committed to working with the authorities and the community to
resolve the health issues and the environmental concerns that exist at the La
Oroya metallurgical complex,” Neil said. “La Oroya is a good place for a
long-term investor. Doe Run wants to continue to be an important part of Peru
and of the Peruvian economy,” Neil concluded.
The Doe Run Company, along
with its subsidiaries, is a privately held natural resource company focused on
environmentally sound mineral production, recycling and metals fabrication.
Based in St. Louis, the company and its subsidiaries serve as North America’s
largest integrated lead producer and third-largest total lead producer
worldwide, employing more than 4,000 people. The company and its employees are
committed to keeping its operations and communities clean and safe while
producing essential raw materials – lead, zinc, copper, gold and silver – that
are needed for everyday life. Doe Run and its subsidiaries have U.S. operations
in Missouri, Washington and Arizona, and South American operations in Peru. Find
Doe Run on the Web at http://www.doerun.com.
Contact:
Barb
Shepard
314-453-7101
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/12/prweb189474.htm