ASARCO Settlement Attests to Importance of a Sound Environmental Management System

On January 23, 1998, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reached a consolidated settlement agreement with ASARCO, Inc. requiring the mining and smelting company to implement a comprehensive court-enforced environmental management system (EMS) affecting its operations throughout the United States. The ASARCO Consent Decrees, lodged with federal district courts in Montana and Arizona, are the first of their kind in this country. While the government has on occasion imposed compliance program obligations as part of a civil settlement with an individual facility, this landmark agreement calls for ASARCO to establish an EMS covering thirty-eight facilities with over 6,000 employees in seven states. The "settlement should," according to EPA Administrator Carol Browner, "serve as a model for other companies in addressing their environmental responsibilities. " If approved following opportunity for public comment (see 63 Fed. Reg. 8473 (Feb. 19, 1998)), the ASARCO settlement will resolve disputes over . alleged violations of the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA) (by the company's lead smelting facility in East Helena, Montana) and the Clean Water Act (by the Montana smelting facility and the company's Ray copper mine located in Hayden, Arizona). With regard to the Ray copper mine, ASARCO challenged both EPA's groundwater jurisdiction and the factual basis of its allegations. ASARCO also contested the agency's RCRA allegations as applied to its East Helena smelting operations. Rather than litigate these questions, EPA and ASARCO successfully negotiated an agreement that provides for implementation of compliance measures, corrective action, and several supplemental environmental projects (SEPs), including wetlands and wildlife habitat improvements at the lead smelting facility in Montana, environmental protection and management measures at ASARCO's operating facilities (save for certain subsidiaries and joint ventures not encompassed within the terms of the agreement), implementation of an extensive compliance plan at the company's Ray copper mine, and payment of substantial civil penalties. By the time it has fulfilled