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(KMOV) - Studies show nearly all of the children living near a metal smelter in Peru have lead poisoning. The plant's pollution is blamed for causing a public health crisis there.

Until February, the smelter was owned by a St. Louis-based Doe Run.

News 4's Craig Cheatham has spent years investigating Doe Run's operations in Peru. He spoke Monday with a Peruvian archbishop who is urging the owner to reduce the pollution as soon as possible.

Less than two years ago, Peruvian Archbishop Pedro Barreto was getting death threats for criticizing the way the St. Louis-based Doe Run company operated its smelter in the mountains of Peru. He was the target of demonstrations held by company workers who believed he wanted to close the smelter. Barreto has repeatedly urged the company to dramatically reduce pollution pouring out of the plant.

The archbishop and other Peruvian religious leaders are in St. Louis, because until several months ago, Doe Run Peru was a subsidiary of St. Louis-based Doe Run resources. Now, the Peruvian operation reports directly to New York based Renco Group, which is owned by billionaire Ira Rennert.

Rennert owns a $185 million beachfront mansion in the Hamptons of New York. The 100,000 square foot compound has 29 bedrooms and 39 bathrooms.

Rennert, who bought Doe Run in 1994, then purchased the Peru operation three years later, has repeatedly refused to talk about any of his businesses.

In recent years, Doe Run has insisted that it significantly reduced pollution and increased worker safety at the Peru smelter. A recent report by Labor, a Peruvian non-government organization, revealed that Doe Run Peru's own records show pollution in La Oroya and corporate profits are at record highs.

Nearly crying Monday, Archbishop Barreto says Doe Run once complained about his conduct to the Peru representative to the Pope. He says the Vatican stood by him.

Now, as he and other religious leaders push the billionaire's company to reduce harmful pollution much sooner, he believes eventually God will provide an answer to what he calls the “suffering in La Oroya.”

A spokesman for both Doe Run Peru and the Renco Group did not return phone calls.