The Herculaneum smelter is the only Primary Smelter. The one down the road in Boss is a recycling smelter. They cannot do primary extraction of lead from ore. Only the one in Herculaneum is a primary smelter to smelt out the lead from raw ore. And while the Doe Run Company and the EPA had an agreement for the upgrades to the smelter in 2011 the EPA changed their position and demanded increased reductions in emissions. The equipment and modifications to meet the new targets would have cost Doe Run between 100 and 150 million dollars more than the 35 million they were already spending.
So now we have no Primary Smelters left in the US. There are still several secondary smelters who further refine the lead as it comes from a primary smelter and also recycle lead from batteries. But no Primary extraction smelters.
2 comments:
Actually there is a second (newer) plant less than 20 miles from the old one that is NOT closing!
The Herculaneum smelter is the only Primary Smelter. The one down the road in Boss is a recycling smelter. They cannot do primary extraction of lead from ore. Only the one in Herculaneum is a primary smelter to smelt out the lead from raw ore. And while the Doe Run Company and the EPA had an agreement for the upgrades to the smelter in 2011 the EPA changed their position and demanded increased reductions in emissions. The equipment and modifications to meet the new targets would have cost Doe Run between 100 and 150 million dollars more than the 35 million they were already spending.
So now we have no Primary Smelters left in the US. There are still several secondary smelters who further refine the lead as it comes from a primary smelter and also recycle lead from batteries. But no Primary extraction smelters.
Post a Comment