By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – An appeals court in St. Louis says a lawsuit over the Doe Run lead smelter in Herculaneum has no business being in St. Louis.
The Missouri Court of Appeals court says plaintiffs named a Doe Run vice president as a defendant merely to get the suits in the St. Louis court, where juries are often considered friendlier to plaintiffs. The panel ordered the cases transferred to a proper county.
Doe Run operates the nation's largest lead smelter in Herculaneum, about 30 miles south of St. Louis. At issue are a class-action claims alleging property damage and individual suits claiming harm to children from exposure to lead.