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"THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING"
--Burke

Friday, January 11, 2008

ASARCO hiding data


"...Grupo Mexico SAB's Asarco Inc. unit said it wants an examiner to investigate reorganization talks involving Asarco LLC, the bankrupt copper miner run by a court-appointed independent board of directors.  Asarco LLC is hiding "crucial information regarding claims and valuation," Asarco Inc. said Thursday in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas...."

Grupo Mexico: Asarco hides data
Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA
By Edvard Pettersson


Thursday, January 10, 2008

The story of the dumps around Naples Italy, mounting rubbish, and organized crime

The Campania Italy dump scandal...

"The hunt for Pecoraro Scanio has begun. He’s the guilty one. Not Bassolino, not Jervolino, not the Presidents of the Council for the last 15 years, not the Camorra [organized crime], not the companies of the North that got rid of toxic waste in Campania to save money, not the ones that took the billions of Euro from the European Community for public works that never got done, not the municipal companies that got politicized, not the parties, not the regional cabinets, not the mayors that are a continuation of organised crime, not those who didn’t allow recycling, not the magistrates who didn’t start enquiring, not the journalists who didn’t denounce a thing, not the parliamentarians from Campania who stay in Rome, not the health authorities who should check up on food products, not those who should check up on air pollution.
No one. No damned institution is responsible for a Region that is ruined, with radioactive detritus under the tomato fields and an alarming increase in cancers.
The ones at fault are the Greens, the people who want clean water, clean air, meat, eggs and mozzarella without dioxin. The ones at fault are those who want a park, a tree, a beach without sewage,, functioning purification systems.
The ones at fault are those who want recycling, zero refuse. The ones at fault are those who think that the people of Campania are civilised people like others who can get the same results for the environment as the Danes or the Californians.
The ones at fault are those who tell the truth about incinerators and Cip6, the tax on our Enel utility bill, that has taken away billions of Euro for renewable energy to gift it to the oil barons.
One of the greatest political failures of the Italian Republic has been transformed into a problem of public order. Bassolino reigns with De Gennaro at his right hand.
The ones at fault are Pecoraro the Scapegoat and all the inhabitants of Pianura who were promised that the tip would never be reopened...."

http://www.beppegrillo.it/eng/2008/01/pecoraro_the_scapegoat.html

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Asarco asks court to boost Lehman's pay -- 2.6 MILLION so far.....

"Harbinger said Lehman has been paid $2.6 million for its work so far.

In August, Asarco asked the bankruptcy court to boost Lehman's monthly compensation and increase the fees the firm could earn based on a sale of Asarco's assets or the sale of debt or equity as part of a bankruptcy-exit plan."

Harbinger Blames Lehman in Asarco Case
Houston Chronicle - United States


ASARCO bond holder Harbinger trying to shoot down Lehman Brothers' bid to get paid in ASARCO bankruptcy hearing....

[it isn't called a "feeding frenzy" for nothing... note the Piranha-like effect!... meanwhile word-of-mouth gossip is that ASARCO is advertising in Louisiana for steelworkers to start work in El Paso for ASARCO when it opens....]

"Associated Press - January 9, 2008 3:15 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) - Hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners is trying to shoot down Lehman Brothers Holdings' bid to get paid in Asarco LLC's bankruptcy case..."

http://www.kswo.com/global/category.asp?c=84964


Edgren on ASARCO...

"Seems as if the Asarco types have been breathing their own emissions for too long.

When City Council announced that it would use a new strategy in the fight against Asarco by citing Texas environmental rules, Asarco vice president for environmental affairs Thomas L. Aldrich lashed back with "Never in our 110 years in El Paso has there been such an anti-business council ..."

Uh, hold it right there. Tommy. Better check your gas mask; probably the air-inlet filters are clogged and you're experiencing oxygen deprivation.

Calling this City Council anti-business is like calling Attila the Hun anti-violence. It just ain't so.

This city tosses out tax abatements like confetti at a political convention. It's bending over backward to do everything possible to welcome and make comfortable the new troops and dependents at Fort Bliss. Public-private partnerships with key business entities have been expanded. Downtown revitalization on the scale we're experiencing and anticipating is hardly anti-business. The list goes on and on and on.

Asarco is a 19th century polluter trying desperately to function in a 21st century environment whose inhabitants are cognizant of the huge dangers Asarco-type pollution poses.

We don't want Asarco. We don't need Asarco. No wonder Tommy is a bit churlish these days."

Naples' trash crisis tied to mob, toxic waste

"Expert: Organized crime gets garbage contracts, then mixes in pollutants
updated 10:12 a.m. MT, Wed., Jan. 9, 2008
ROME - The Italian government's plan to resolve Naples' garbage crisis may clear trash temporarily, but mafia control of waste disposal and politicians' inability to guarantee safe dumps means the problem will return, a noted expert on organized crime said Wednesday...

... But Roberto Saviano, a writer and expert on the Neapolitan organized crime syndicate, the Camorra, said such measures do not address the underlying causes of the problem: the mob and politicians who are powerless to fight it."....

"Saviano said the Camorra controls the entire cycle of garbage disposal in Campania, running the dumps, waste transport companies and other businesses, raking in what anti-mafia prosecutors estimate is $880 million per year.".......

...."Saviano said Camorra-run companies routinely win contracts to dispose of toxic waste from northern Italian industries by underbidding competitors, then dispose of it illegally and untreated in Campania's rivers and dumps. Camorra-run companies also mix toxic waste with other materials and resell it as fertilizer, he said."...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22573281/

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

City New Action in Asarco Legal Battle

City starting new legal battle to keep Asarco closed
"El Paso Times - El Paso,TX,USA
By David Crowder / El Paso Times The city of El Paso is starting a second legal action in its battle to keep Asarco from reopening. ..."

"by Rene Leon   City Has Takes New Action in Asarco Legal Battle

The City Council voted on Tuesday to take a new step in its legal fight to keep Asarco closed, but Asarco claims it is just part of an "anti-business" environment.

Posted on January 8, 2008

The El Paso City Council on Tuesday took a new move in its legal battle against the possible reopening of Asarco.

With a unanimous vote, the council moved to allow the city’s outside counsel to file a petition calling for the revocation of the smelter’s air emissions permit issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ...."