Freeport-McMoRan to Pay $6.8 Million To Resolve Arizona Mine Pollution Charges

Freeport-McMoRan Corp. and Freeport-McMoRan Morenci Inc. have signed a consent decree obligating them to pay $6.8 million to settle federal and state claims that hazardous substances escaped from mine tailings at the Morenci copper mine in southeastern Arizona (USA v. Freeport-McMoRan Corp.).

Tailings at the open-pit mine were exposed to wind and rain that contributed to the movement of the hazardous substances, including sulfuric acid residue and metals, according to the federal and state plaintiffs.

The natural resource damages complaint was taken to the U.S. District Court for Arizona by the Justice Department and the Arizona attorney general ...