A group of lawmakers is urging Obama administration officials to oppose a multinational U.S. company's efforts to sue Peru in a mining dispute, citing the company's environmental and health record.
The request, made in a letter last month to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, pits the lawmakers against a secretive billionaire and big U.S. political donor—and, in some cases, against themselves.
Four of the letter-signers—Reps. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., Lynn Woolsey, D-Calif., Ed Towns, D-N.Y., and Danny K. Davis, D-Ill.—have switched sides in a controversy involving Doe Run ...
Continue readingEight lawmakers signed a letter for Renco
Eight members of Congress signed on to a January letter asking the heads of the Treasury and State Departments to take measures to intervene on behalf of a U.S.-owned company in the middle of a controversial dispute with Peru. Until now, Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., was the only known signatory of the letter sent to Secretaries Tim Geithner and Hlllary Clinton.
The missive, along with another from Rep. Spencer Bachus, came after the Renco Group, owned by billionaire mining magnate Ira Rennert, began a lobbying campaign spending more than $300,000 since November 2010 to influence Washington ...
Continue readingAs dispute heats up, Renco continues lobbying for its Peruvian smelter
The U.S. mining conglomerate Renco Group spent over $80,000 in the first quarter and retained five lobbying firms in a push to convince Washington to help its embattled smelting company in Peru, according to lobbying filings. This comes after the company spent $245,000 on fees to outside lobbyists to work on the issue of Doe Run Peru in the final two months of last year.
Meanwhile, this month Renco initiated arbitration against Peru, and in its notice to commence proceedings in December, it asked for no less than $800 million in damages for what it alleges are ...
Continue readingIn response to Renco lobbying, activists mount their own campaign
A coalition of environmental advocates has launched a letter writing campaign directed at government officials who intervened in a dispute between Renco Group and its Doe Run Peru subsidiary and the government of Peru. The campaign came after the Sunlight Foundation reported that Renco had hired eight former government officials in less than three months to lobby on its behalf.
Two members of Congress, House Financial Services chairman Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., and Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., wrote letters to executive branch officials summarizing Renco Group's position in the dispute with Lima. The letters request that the U.S ...
Continue readingCurrent and former officials intervene on billionaire’s behalf in battle with Peru
Facing a battle with the Peruvian government over a smelting operation that has caused severe environmental damage to a town... View Article
Continue readingAs Renco lobbies and Peru deliberates, Doe Run Peru remains idle
Doe Run Peru, a subsidiary of U.S.-based Renco Group and the subject of an ongoing battle between that firm and the government of Peru, has a bumpy history in La Oroya since it acquired smelting operations from the government of Peru there in 1997. The firm directly provided 3,500 jobs in Peru, gained the support of many workers and local people, and claims to be a more responsible environmental caretaker than its state-owned predecessor.
Yet emissions of lead, sulfur dioxide, and other chemicals were far above the Peruvian air standard while the smelter was operating. In 2005 ...
Continue readingCurrent and former officials intervene on company’s behalf in battle with Peru
Battling the government of Peru over an inactive metal smelter in one of the most polluted places on earth, billionaire Ira Rennert’s Renco Group hired eight former government officials from five lobbying firms in a span of 82 days since November.
Renco signed up a former member of Congress, a former trade official, former congressional staffers and a campaign manager for a high-ranking Senate Republican to plead its case in Washington. In a little less than two months of lobbying, two of those firms have reported receiving $225,000 in fees while attempting to enlist Congress and the Obama ...
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