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MATA, Doe Run could clash on punitive damages

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo — New provisions sought by The Doe Run Company, a major mining operation in Missouri, could bring them into a fight with the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys.

Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys
Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys

Recently, language was inserted into the now-defunct Department of Natural Resource omnibus bill dealing specifically with language limiting punitive damages related to mining operations currently operated and maintained by Doe Run.

The language would cap punitive damages Doe Run could have to pay in lawsuits relating to a previous companies management and maintenance mining operations in St. Francois County. Doe Run purchased said company after the allegedly-illegal practices of the 60’s and 70’s halted, nearly two decades later, and have been in remediation ever since.

Sharon Jones, deputy director of MATA, said that the damages served an important purpose to keep companies honest.

MATA believes that this is successor liability, and that Doe Run “knew what it was getting into” when it acquired these sites, according to a written statement.

A spokesperson for Doe Run told The Missouri Times that the company has been in remediation for years to correct the damage done by earlier practices, and that they are currently looking for the funds to build an even larger smelter with “incredibly clean” emissions. The consequences of large punitive damage claims, the spokesperson said, could not only halt production of a more environmentally sound facility, but potentially bankrupt the company all together.

While House Bill 881 has stalled in the House, and now Doe Run is looking to attach the exemption language to as many pieces of legislation as possible, hoping to insert the language in statute before any of the 12 cases in the city of St. Louis could harm their attempts to construct a new smelter, or cause major financial troubles. And with the company searching for a bill to attach language to and MATA determined to stamp out any legislation capping punitive damages, a likely showdown in 2014 session is coming.

MATA members, while supportive of punitive damages on principle, also stand to pocket a major financial victory. Should a Doe Run judgement result in a finding in the hundreds of millions for the plaintiff, the firms and attorneys representing them would stand to make a fee in the millions of dollars.

To contact Collin Reischman, email collin@themissouritimes.com, or via Twitter at @Collin_MOTimes.