Excavations at the Doe Run Company lead smelter in Herculaneum have uncovered nothing of a toxic nature, despite the insistence of former employees that they had dumped chemicals in the area. State and federal regulators searched the areas former Doe Run employees claimed they had used as dumps. Digging turned up trash and crushed barrels, nothing dangerous. The Doe Run employees first made the accusations in 1992 after being fired following a strike.