On January 23, The Doe Run Co announced that all eight of its air monitors near the company’s Herculaneum, Missouri, USA, smelter, successfully met the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for lead during the fourth quarter of 2008. This marks the third consecutive quarter of attainment since Doe Run completed installation of the 60-plus engineering and administrative control measures outlined in the 2007 State Implementation Plan (SIP).
That plan was developed through long-term discussions among Doe Run representatives, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and multiple engineers and consultants. The SIP’s goal is to improve air quality and bring the area into consistent attainment with the NAAQS for lead.
Currently, the EPA’s specified air quality standard for lead is 1.5 micrograms/m3 of air (averaged over a calendar quarter). According to data collected by Doe Run and reported quarterly, the company’s eight air-monitoring stations in Herculaneum ranged from 0.2 to 0.9 micrograms of lead per cubic metre of air in the fourth quarter.
The SIP is a process used throughout the US to improve air quality and help achieve federal air standards. Doe Run’s 2007 SIP contained a number of diverse engineering and administrative control measures that took two years and more than $8 million to complete.
