Peruvian Plaintiffs Keep Doe Run Smelter Lawsuit in US Court

A long-running lawsuit against lead-producing giant Doe Run Resources Corp. over environmental injuries its operations allegedly caused in Peru will be fought out in a US court, a federal appeals court ruled.

Doe Run, its parent company The Renco Group Inc., and the other defendants failed to show that the principles of international comity required the lower court to decline federal jurisdiction, the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit said Aug. 1.

The consolidated litigation involves 40 cases and more than 1,420 individual plaintiffs who are Peruvian citizens alleging environmental injury arising from La Oroya Metallurgical Complex, a ...