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

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

History : ASARCO on the island of Newfoundland

Google News Alert for: Asarco

Globe and Mail
The mining town where poisoned soil is 'a part of life'
Globe and Mail
It paved the way for industry advancement, but also drew international attention to the tiny town, giving the US mining firm ASARCO (American Smelting and ...
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"By 1928, it had constructed a mine and mill, bunkhouses and cottages for married workers, a mess hall, church, school, hospital and hydro-electric plant. The company controlled it all, including a ban on outside vendors and the use of a 37-kilometre railroad track to Millertown.

“You didn't get in unless you worked with the company; you didn't get out unless you had a company pass,” said Mr. Corbett, the mayor. “This was a company town for a long, long time. For years, if a miner passed away, his family was given two weeks to vacate.

Over time, fierce labour strikes were staged over living and working conditions – extra blankets in the bunk house and raises measured by nickels and dimes –"

1 comment:

Ramsey said...

Most Canadian reports on this describe ASARCO as having gone under but at least the American part of the company is active and was recently bought out by Grupo Mexico if I'm not mistaken. Was the operation in Newfoundland a subsidiary of the American company - if so we might be able to (at least in theory) assign some of the liability for this mess to Grupo Mexico.