The
job cuts were expected. The plant, which has operated for more than a century
and is the lone remaining lead smelter in the United States, announced in 2010
that it will cease operations at the end of this year.
The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the company “made a business
decision” to shut down the smelter instead of installing pollution control
technologies needed to reduce sulfur dioxide and lead emissions as required by
the Clean Air Act.
The
Doe Run Co. announced last year that it had dropped plans to build a new lead
processing facility in Herculaneum that would have used a new, cleaner lead
production technology. The company cited the
$100
million project as too financially risky.
Employees
were notified of their future with the company or of their impending layoff
between Sept. 30 and Oct. 8 in face-to-face meetings, said Tammy Stankey, a
company spokeswoman.
The
company will keep about 75 employees into 2014 to operate its refinery and
strip mill and to prepare the property “for closure and repurposing.” It
expects to have transferred 43 employees to other Doe Run divisions by this
year’s end, according to a company statement.
Some
operations, such as the water treatment plant, will operate indefinitely, and a
maintenance staff will remain to “maintain essential facilities,” the company
said.
The
company said it had been working with employees for months to help them
transition to new roles and had set up a career center to help with resume
writing, interviewing and job searches.
“We
have a very talented workforce and encourage businesses looking for dedicated,
hardworking and skilled employees to contact us,” Gary Hughes, general manager
of the smelter, said in the statement.
Source: St Louis Post Dispatch, by Leah Thorsen
covers Jefferson and south St. Louis counties. Follow her on Twitter.
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