The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Department of Justice announced a settlement Tuesday with ASARCO that requires the company to spend $150 million to install new equipment and pollution control technology to reduce emissions of toxic heavy metals at a large copper smelter in Hayden, Ariz.
The company will also fund local environmental projects valued at $8 million, replace a diesel locomotive with a cleaner model for $1 million, and pay a $4.5 million civil penalty.
The federal action targets hazardous air pollutants, including lead and arsenic, in particulate matter. With the controls in place, the hazardous air pollutants should be reduced by at least 8.5 tons per year, and particulate matter emissions are expected to be reduced by 3,500 tons per year, EPA said.
The new equipment and controls will slash the facility’s sulfur dioxide emissions by 19,000 tons per year, a reduction of more than 90 percent, EPA estimates. The ASARCO smelter is the largest source of SO2 emissions in Arizona.
“Big enforcement actions like this result in big returns for American communities,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “The upgraded pollution controls and advanced monitoring technologies ASARCO will install are key to a modern compliance program that cuts pollution around industrial plants.”
The EPA’s investigation found the company violated federal Clean Air Act standards by failing to adequately control emissions of hazardous air pollutants, such as arsenic and lead, from the Hayden smelter.
Long-term exposure to inorganic arsenic is associated with irritation of the skin and can affect the brain and nervous system. Exposure to lead can cause effects on the blood, as well as the nervous, immune, renal, and cardiovascular systems.
Particulate matter can cause coughing or difficulty breathing, decreased lung function, aggravated asthma, and premature death in people with heart or lung disease.
SO2 has also been linked to adverse effects on the respiratory system.
Fine particles are also the main cause of reduced visibility – haze – in parts of the United States, including national parks and wilderness areas.
Built in 1912 and expanded over the years, the ASARCO Hayden site is a copper ore processing, concentrating, and smelter facility located adjacent to Hayden and Winkelman. The ASARCO plant includes a crusher, concentrator, smelter, and tailings impoundment areas and produces 300 to 400 million pounds of copper and more than a half a million tons of sulfuric acid annually.
ASARCO is owned by Grupo México, a Mexican consortium that owns Ferromex, the largest railroad in Mexico. Grupo México operates mines and smelters, including the one in Hayden, and is the fourth largest copper producer in the world.
Following a 30-day public comment period, a court will rule on the settlement.
