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City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., on behalf of the New York City Pension Funds, today called for a review of Freeport McMoRan’s environmental policies and practices in West Papua, Indonesia.

“Freeport McMoRan’s poor environmental record needs to be examined,” Thompson said. “Since Freeport McMoRan profits from its operations in Indonesia, the least the company can do is ensure that it is not causing environmental damage to the rivers and in any way harming the people of Indonesia.”

Freeport McMoRan, one of the world's largest producers of copper and gold based in New Orleans, Louisiana, has extensive mining operations in West Papua, Indonesia, and those activities account for more than 90 percent of the company’s income.

The City’s Funds are calling on shareholders - at the company’s annual meeting next year - to urge Freeport McMoRan to review its environmental policies and practices in Indonesia with particular focus on environmental damage that may be caused by these operations.

The Funds, which hold 544,458 shares of the company’s common stock worth almost $29 million, want a report on that review to be given to shareholders by September 2007. The Funds are the: New York City Employees’ Retirement System, the Teachers’ Retirement System of New York  City, the New York City Police Department Pension Fund, the New York City Fire Department Pension Fund, and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System.

Reports have indicated that Freeport McMoRan has dumped nearly 230,000 tons of waste each day, releasing large quantities of sediments and toxic heavy metals such as copper, cadmium, mercury and arsenic into what was once a pristine river system in Indonesia.

Within the last several months, new allegations of environmental violations have been levied against Freeport McMoRan. In March, Indonesia’s Minister of the Environment charged that the company was operating in violation of the government’s water quality regulations. In May, the Indonesian Friends of the Earth issued a report alleging that Freeport McMoRan had violated Indonesian environmental laws and regulations.

Further, in June, the Norwegian Ministry of Finance ordered the divestment of Freeport McMoRan stock from the Norwegian national pension fund, citing “serious damage to the river system and parts of the nearby riverine rainforest and…considerable negative consequences for the indigenous people residing in the area of Freeport’s operations.”  The government also found that “the environmental damage caused…is extensive long-term, and irreversible.”

“As shareholders, the New York City Pension Funds have a right and a responsibility to call for a review of Freeport McMoRan’s environmental practices in light of the recent allegations of environmental violations,” Thompson said. “Freeport McMoRan may be adversely affecting Indonesia’s environment, the Funds’ long-term share value, as well as its societal license to operate in Indonesia.”

In January 2006, on behalf of the Funds, Thompson wrote to Attorney General Gonzales requesting that the Department of Justice conduct a formal review to determine whether Freeport McMoRan’s payments to members of the Indonesian military violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Thompson also wrote to SEC Chairman Cox requesting a review of Freeport McMoRan’s 2004 and 2005 proxy statements to determine whether the company had made false or misleading statements in relation to those payments.

The trustees for the Pension Funds are:

NYCERS: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum; Borough Presidents Scott Stringer (Manhattan), Helen Marshall (Queens), Marty Markowitz (Brooklyn), Adolfo Carrion (Bronx), and James Molinaro (Staten Island); Lillian Roberts, Executive Director, District Council 37, AFSCME; Roger Toussaint, President Transport Workers Union Local 100; and, Carroll (Carl) Haynes, President, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Local 237.
TRS: New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark (Chair); Deputy Chancellor Kathleen Grimm, New York City Department of Education; and, Sandra March, Melvyn Aaronson and Mona Romain, all of the United Federation of Teachers.
Fire Department Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta (Chair); New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; Stephen Cassidy, President, James Slevin, Vice President, Robert Straub, Treasurer, and John Kelly, Brooklyn Representative and Chair, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York; Peter Gorman, President and Captains’ Rep., Nicholas J. Visconti, Chiefs’ Rep., and Stephen J. Carbone, Lieutenants’ Rep., Uniformed Fire Officers Association; and, Joseph Gagliardi, Marine Engineers Association.
Police Pension Fund: Mayor Michael Bloomberg; New York City Finance Commissioner Martha E. Stark; New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly (Chair); Patrick Lynch, Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association; Michael Palladino, Detectives Endowment Association; Edwin Mullins, Sergeants Benevolent Association; Anthony Garvey, Lieutenants Benevolent Association; and, John Driscoll, Captains Endowment Association.
BERS: mayoral appointees Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, Alan Aviles, Philip Berry, David Chang, Tino Hernandez, Augusta Souza Kappner, Richard Menschel and Marita Regan; Borough President appointees Martine G. Guerrier (Brooklyn), Vivian Farmery (Manhattan), Michael Flowers (Queens), and Joan Correale (Staten Island); and employee members Thomas J. Malanga of the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 891, and Milagros Rodriguez of District Council 37, Local 372.