Statement re: La Oroya, Peru 

ST. LOUIS – From 1997 to 2007 The Doe Run Company (Doe Run) had a subsidiary, Doe Run Peru, that operated a metallurgical facility in La Oroya, Peru.  In the terms of Doe Run Peru’s acquisition of the La Oroya smelter complex, the government of Peru agreed to accept responsibility for remediating pollution from prior operations and to indemnify Doe Run Peru, its parent company, and its affiliates for liabilities arising from that history and the operations of the facility during the period of time the Peruvian government gave Doe Run Peru to upgrade the facility.  To date, the Peruvian government has not held up its end of the acquisition agreement, which is now the subject of pending international arbitration. 

Beginning in 2007, attorneys from St. Louis traveled to Peru and encouraged Peruvian nationals to bring lawsuits against Doe Run, several former Doe Run employees, and other U.S.-based entities and individuals.  These lawsuits were filed in St. Louis, Missouri, and are currently pending in federal court. Neither Doe Run Peru nor the Peruvian government were sued.  

First, an important distinction: Doe Run Peru is a separate and distinct company from Doe Run, and it was Doe Run Peru that acquired and operated the La Oroya complex.  The Doe Run Company did not own, manage, or operate the La Oroya smelter.  That matters enormously when evaluating the fairness and legal validity of this lawsuit. 

Second, and perhaps most important: no entity has done more for the people of La Oroya than Doe Run Peru. Doe Run Peru inherited a facility that had been operating for more than 75 years before Doe Run Peru – first under private ownership and then under Peruvian government ownership – with virtually no environmental controls.  The pollution in and around La Oroya was the direct result of those nearly eight decades of unregulated operation before Doe Run Peru arrived.  No prior owner, and no other entity connected to this community, has invested in the community’s health, infrastructure, or improved environmental conditions the way Doe Run Peru did during its operations there. 

That is worth pausing on. The entities responsible for the conditions at La Oroya — the companies and the Peruvian government that ran that smelter for more than 75 years — are not the ones being sued. During its ownership of the smelter, Doe Run Peru invested more than $300 million in the facility, and dramatically reduced emissions in every measurable category. One has to ask: who is truly responsible for the health of the people of La Oroya? The parties who created those conditions over 75 years of unregulated operation? Or the company that spent over a decade and hundreds of millions of dollars modernizing that facility to current standards? 

The Peruvian government itself has formally protested this lawsuit twice, telling the U.S. State Department that it violates the U.S.-Peru Trade Protection Agreement and Peruvian sovereignty.  This litigation has significant ramifications for any U.S. company doing business in another country and the trade agreements that are meant to regulate those relationships. 

The claims in these lawsuits, and the legal theories on which they rest, have been thoroughly contradicted by the evidence developed over nearly two decades.  During its years of operation, no entity did more for the people of La Oroya than Doe Run Peru.  We are proud of Doe Run Peru’s record and look forward to presenting the overwhelming evidence in our favor at trial.