US mining company Doe Run has been expelled as a member of Peru’s National Society of Mining, Oil and Energy (SNMPE) for not complying with its environmental responsibilities.

According to environmentalists, Doe Run is one of the companies which produce the worst pollution problems in the world. The SNMPE explained that the mining company has not shown “any willingness to comply with its environmental commitments and its obligations to the country, its workers, the La Oroya population and its creditors.”

The Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines said that Doe Run had only carried out 52% of its environmental programme in La Oroya in 2006. However, another US$160 million (£104 million) investment is needed to conclude the outstanding plan. The company had notified the Peruvian authorities it would be unable to comply with a clean-up programme it took on when it first started working in Peru.