Monday, November 18, 2013

Doe Run workers to be cut at end of December



Doe Run workers to be cut at end of December
October 16, 2013 11:00 pm    By Leah Thorsen
HERCULANEUM • About 145 employees of the Doe Run lead smelter have learned they will lose their jobs at the end of December because of the plant’s closure, the Doe Run Co. said Wednesday. An additional 73 contractor jobs also will be eliminated.

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.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Alex A. Beehler was a special assistant for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the environmental and regulatory affairs director for Koch Industries.

Note: David H. Koch is the EVP for Koch Industries, and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
James S. Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.
Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.
Newton N. Minow is a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory
Please note: This link for the members of the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.
Lester Crown is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
William A. Nitze is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and was an assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Aspen Institute (think tank), the Center for American Progress, and the Climate Reality Project.
George Soros is the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and was a supporter for the Center for American Progress.
 Ezekiel Emanuel is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, Rahm I. Emanuel’s brother, and was a faculty member at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Rahm I. Emanuel is Ezekiel Emanuel’s brother, a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the Chicago (IL) mayor, and was the White House chief of staff for the Barack Obama administration.
Richard A. Cantor is a trustee at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and was an executive secretary for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Carol M. Browner is a director, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, was the energy czar for the Barack Obama administration, a director at the Climate Reality Project, and an administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Lee M. Thomas was a director at the Climate Reality Project, and an administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Orin S. Kramer was an administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, is a director at the Climate Reality Project, and a friend of Albert A. Gore Jr.
Albert A. Gore Jr. is a friend of Orin S. Kramer, the chairman for the Climate Reality Project, and a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
L. John Doerr is a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
William A. Nitze is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and was an assistant administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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