Freeport-McMoRan’s El Paso Operations Receives Environmental Excellence Award

September 8, 2015 /3BL Media/ - The Freeport-McMoRan El Paso copper refinery and copper rod plant is located in El Paso, Texas. For the second year in a row, the El Paso operations received a Certificate of Excellence from El Paso Water Utilities for its handling of wastewater. This is the sixth time the operations have received the award since the award program began in 2002.

Freeport-McMoRan’s El Paso operations received the award for being in full compliance with the rules and regulations of El Paso Water Utilities Industrial Pretreatment Program, which works to protect the city of El Paso's water resources and the environment by requiring a wastewater discharge permit and frequent monitoring of various pollutant levels.

The site obtained the permit in 1994 and must reapply every two years to keep it current. The El Paso operations is inspected annually and is required to provide samples throughout the year to show compliance with the standards.

To date, the site has received zero violations.

For more information about how Freeport-McMoRan protects water resources, see http://www.fcx.com/sd/env/water_manage.htm

Please see the 2014 Working Toward Sustainable Development Report for more information on all of their social, economic and environmental efforts.