JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — An omnibus bill dealing with the Department of Natural Resources is heading to the governor’s desk with some much-debated language capping punitive damages for The Doe Run Mining Company relating to the management and maintenance of mining operations in St. Francois County.
The language, which does not reduce or cap compensatory claims, would place a $2.5 million cap on punitive damages, a number that was lowered from $5 million, which was discussed both during Senate debate and by groups involved.
Supporters, including House members who spoke in-favor of the bill on Wednesday, argue that punitive claims can be frivolous, or do more harm than good, and that much of the damage in question was caused by a completely separate mining operation, which Doe Run purchased decades later.
Detractors, like the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, who lobbied against the language, say that the cap does not allow the damages to serve their purpose as a deterrent to “bad” behavior.
The bill sponsor, Rep. Robert Ross, R-Yukon, said the governor’s office seemed uncertain on the caps earlier in the session, but expressed a willingness to accept a $2.5 million cap.
“The governor indicated he was comfortable with that number,” Ross told The Missouri Times. “Obviously, I can’t say for certain, but that’s what has been indicated.”
Sen. Ryan McKenna, D-Crystal City, said he thinks it is important that Doe Run not close down their operations as they’re the last lead producer in the country. The lead plant is in McKenna’s district, and employs about 300 people there, though 1,600 overall. He said he’s not sure what the governor will do, but said this was a “very, very difficult issue.”
Sen. Brad Lager, R-Savannah, the bill’s handler in the upper chamber, said he would assume the Doe Run language will get the bill vetoed. Lager said while the bill has a veto-proof majority in the Senate, there were 94 votes in the Senate, which is “substantially below” the 110 veto-proof line.
“So now the discussion is do we take a step back and try to pass other stuff that’s not so controversial on other bills,” Lager said.
There are other portions of the omnibus that Lager said he is hoping to find additional vehicles for.
Language in the bill includes provisions to remove land surveying from the DNR and place it under the purview of the Department of Agriculture, extension of fees in certain areas, and the streamlining of permit process for a number of different areas.
“There are some things in that bill that I believe 10 years from now will fundamentally change the way that our state government interacts with the private sector for the better,” Lager said.
Attempts in the Senate were unsuccessful in attaching language favored by Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, related to the abolishment of some solid waste management districts and the use of their state appropriations for administrative costs. Debate followed about cutting initially 50 percent of their appropriations, which was later cut down to 35 percent — a middle-ground between supporters and opponents.
McKenna offered an amendment that creates a 10 person joint interim committee to travel the solid waste districts during the interim and prepare a report for the legislators that discusses what they found.
“I thought the middle ground would be to get a group from those affected in the interim and next year we’ll get a report and file legislation and have it all vetted,” McKenna said. “This was not filed as a bill, it wasn’t vetted through a committee, people who were affected by it didn’t have a chance to be heard other than in individual conversations.”
Ross said he favored revising and reforming the districts, but not abolishing them altogether.
Currently, the bill language that doesn’t include Doe Run has not been filed as another bill or as amendments elsewhere, though House and Senate members have said that’s a priority.
To contact Collin Reischman, email collin@themissouritimes.com, or via Twitter at @Collin_MOTimes. To contact Ashley Jost, email ashley@themissouritimes.com or via Twitter at @ajost.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
