Bankruptcy court approves raise for Asarco CEO

"Bloomberg News Tucson, Arizona | Published: 10.22.2007 A judge ruled that Tucson-based copper producer Asarco LLC can raise the salary of CEO Joseph Lapinsky from $425,000 to $500,000, pay him an $85,000 bonus, and make him eligible for another performance bonus for as much as 75 percent of his salary payable at the discretion of the board, Bloomberg News reported...."
http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/allheadlines/207336.php

The people paying the cost - are the elderly, the ill, the children and the unborn of this region...

"...Teresa Montoya [Asarco Media Firm] is about the only money I can say EPISD is spending correctly [Montoya now also gets paid by EPISD for media]. There's clearly no conflict, but working for ASARCO or supporting ASARCO could end up being a punishable offense in this town soon! -- David K [El Paso radio host]"   [EPISD has a one million dollar contaminated schools cleanup legal claim against ASARCO (anon)]


City Refuses Asarco Demand to Take Down Video
Asarco should never ever be allowed to re-open in MY city. I have been here since 1978 and know the entire history, their bankruptcy to get out of paying for a clean-up, and their continued distortion of what exactly will be leaking into our skies, and our soils.

What I want to know is who is paying for the slick [Asarco] propaganda brochures which have been mailed to my address 3 times now, and their TV ads????
Whose paying for all that? -- Miki Cutler
http://newspapertree.com/opinion/1742-readers-respond-10-19-07

[The people paying for all of that are the elderly, the ill, the children and the unborn of this region]

New El Paso Asarco Environmental Manager studied Hueco Bolson Aquifer (UTEP)

"A gravimetric study of the thickness of the unconsolidated materials in the Hueco Bolson Aquifer, Juarez Area, Chihuahua, Mexico"
Arturo Burgos, University of Texas at El Paso

Bob Litle worked at East Helena MT Asarco smelter from the beginning of the ENCYCLE Recycling years (1998) to 1996...

"Mr. Litle, 47, has been serving as manager of the East Helena Plant since 1992... was named operations manager at East Helena in 1988."
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Litle,+Shaw,+Castor+named+to+new+posts+at+ASARCO-a018037636

Litle: 2004 contact for GLOBE Asarco Smelter Colorado Dept. of Public Health and Environment Covenant (agreement)

Asarco Globe Plant Site Environmental Covenant Summary
Covenant ID: HMCOV00014
Covenant Information:
Covenant Date: October 4, 2004
Self Reporting: No
Media of Concern: Surface Water: No Groundwater: Yes Air: No Soil: Yes Other: No
Contaminants of Concern: arsenic, cadmium, lead
Property Restrictions:
1. Prohibits use of property - no residential or raising of crops or livestock
2. No child or animal daycare facilities allowed
3. No use of groundwater
4. No excavation or disturbing of soil cap unless previously approved by the Department
5. No excavation of or building on the Former Neutralization Pond

Site Information:
ID: 007063530Name: Asarco Globe Plant SiteAddress: 495 E. 51st AvenueCity: DenverState: COZip Code: 80216Legal Description: County: Adams, Denver
Site Contact Information:
Asarco Globe Plant Site
Name: Bob Litle
Address: 495 E 51st AvenueCity: DenverState: CO Zip Code: 80216
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/

Upper Arkansas River Natural Resource ...

In 1999, Bob Litle was a designated ASARCO representative serving on the Public Participation Work Group for the Upper Arkansas River Natural Resource Damages ... Public Participation Plan (Plan). [It was] intended to outline the process for public involvement set forth in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) entered into by the United States, the State of Colorado, ASARCO Incorporated, Newmont Mining Corporation, Resurrection Mining Company, and the Res-ASARCO Joint Venture (collectively, the "MOU Parties") dated and effective April 15, 1999."
http://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/nrda/Reports/Finalppp.pdf

Bob Litle co-authored paper on Lead exposure for Asarco CA Gulch Site

"Addressing Multiple Sources of Lead Exposure with a Community-Based Environmental Health Program
Kathy Tegtmeyer, MFG, Inc., 4900 Pearl East Circle, Suite 300W, Boulder, CO  80301, Tel: 303-447-1823, Fax: 303-447-1836
Amy Morrison, MFG, Inc., 130 W. 9th St., Leadville, CO  80461, Tel: 719-486-3538, Fax: 719-486-3556
Bob Litle, Asarco Incorporated, 495 E. 51st Ave., Denver, CO  80216, Tel: 303-296-5115, Fax: 303-298-7869 
An integrated environmental remediation and community health program, known as the Lake County Community Health Program, was selected as the remedial action for residential areas within the California Gulch CERCLA Site (Colorado)."
http://www.umasssoils.com/posters2002/heavymetals.htm#Addressing%20Multiple%20Sources%20of%20Lead%20Exposure%20with%20a%20Community-Based%20Environmental%20Health%20Program

Bob Litle co-authored a paper in 2001 attributing Denver Arsenic soil aberations to Pesticide use, not the Asarco smelter

(click on abstract above to read it full-page) for the full article see:

http://www.envirogroup.com/publications/environmental_forensics_article.pdf

Bob Litle was the Unit Manager for the Asarco Omaha Plant in 1997, before the multimedia consent decree was levied against five Asarco locations...

http://oaspub.epa.gov/enviro/tri_formr_partone.get_details?rpt_year=1997&fac_id=68102SRCNC500DO&ban_flag=Y

Is the new Asarco El Paso manager coming here to do environmental "damage control"? (he is a former spokesperson for environmental damages at Leadville, Omaha, Denver...)

"10/10/2004...
The Denver Coliseum, near Brighton Boulevard and I-70, now sits on land where the smelter once was located, said Robert Litle, environmental services manager for Asarco, a Phoenix-based metals and mining company.
The EPA agreed to scrape and replace dirt from about 850 properties near the old smelter, Litle said; to date, the government has cleaned 389.
Last week's agreement between the EPA and Asarco calls for the company to cover the cost of cleaning 100 of the remaining properties, Litle said.
He estimated that it will cost between $10,000 and $20,000 to remove and replace the soil from each contaminated property.
Asarco has experience doing such cleanups at another nearby location - its former Globe smelter site near East 51st Avenue and Washington Street.
Litle said Asarco cleaned up the yards of about 850 homes near the Globe facility, where smelting operations to remove impurities from gold, silver, lead and copper began in 1886."
http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Litle_Bob_141358057.aspx

see also:
Leadville
http://www.leadvillechronicle.com/home.php?content=article&article=1310&PHPSESSID=7a512db65358e5671b8ff227f5c3e503
Published on: 9/12/2004... Bob Litle, of Asarco, said the treatment of the new water might take some "trial and error" because the water from the Black Cloud is expected to have a somewhat different chemistry.

see also:
www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0  ...
Published on: 10/28/2002  
Bob Litle, an Asarco spokesman, also acknowledged that the company owes the city a total of about $325,000 for two other items.
The company also faces potential responsibility for toxic cleanups in cities throughout the country, especially in Western states.

Asarco LLC announced today that a new management team for their El Paso Plant is in place

"El Paso, Texas - October 18, 2007 .....

Bob Litle, new Plant Manager, has an extensive background in managing Asarco’s core businesses and operations that includes non-ferrous metals, specialty chemicals, environmental operations, and regulatory compliance. A native of Bozeman, Montana, Mr. Litle received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Montana State University

Art Burgos, new Environmental Manager, has critical experience managing environmental programs to ensure compliance with local, state and federal environmental regulations. Mr. Burgos is well-educated, including a bachelor of science in Geological Engineering from the University of Sonora Mexico and a Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures Spécialisées (DESS) (focusing in Mining/Hydrogeology) from the School of Mines of Paris, France. In addition, Mr. Burgos has earned a masters of science in Environmental Geology with a focus on Hydrogeology and Environmental Engineering and Science from The University of Texas at El Paso."
http://www.newspapertree.com/press_releases/195-asarco-announces-new-management-at-el-paso-plant

Arizona Copper smelter FLUE Dust contains elevated amounts of radioactive material from unknown source(s)

" The ADEQ detected elevated levels of TENORM [technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material] in the smelter flue dust at the Magma Copper Company's smelter and concentrator operations in San Manual Arizona. The exact source of the radiation is unclear, and it may originate from the ore concentrates, or the natural gas used in the smelter, or it may come from some other source."

"When the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality shared data with EPA on TENORM emanating from copper mines in mid 1992, the Agency began a study of the occurrence and distribution of TENORM at mines in the southwestern copper belt of Arizona. The following report is the result of that study. TENORM in SW Copper Belt of Arizona (PDF) (124 pp, 2,470 Kb) [EPA 402-R-99-002]"

"Soils and rock in copper mining areas may contain naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORM):uranium, thorium, radium"

see:
http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/tenorm/copper.html

[the Ionics Brine concentrator (distillation unit) at Asarco El Paso was rated to handle LLRW (low level radioactive waste) - we are not told if that feature was needed at Asarco El Paso or not...  Ionics has since been purchased by G.E. and the description of that unit is not available online]

Worldwide Press Freedom Index

"Most democracies improved their ranking, with the United States moving up to 48th place from last year's 53rd, Morillon said. Worldwide Press Freedom Index.....Outside Europe, no region has been spared censorship or violence toward journalists."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101601843.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

"... you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it." - John Quincy Adams

"The Water Supply" from the GIRL SCOUT HANDBOOK 1920

"In the country every home has a private water supply and takes pains to guard it.  In the city there is a common water supply and everyone is responsible for keeping it pure.  Where does the water come from that supplies your city or town?  How is it kept clean?  Who takes care of it?.... Girl Scouts will interest themselves in municipal or neighborhood housekeeping, for that is a responsibility which all share together"....

50-60% of the drinking water for El Paso now comes from surface water (the river: the Rio Grande) from mid-March to mid-October.  This water for the USA is diverted from the Rio Grande at the American Dam next to ASARCO.  The water for the USA (and El Paso drinking) then travels through the 70+year-old cracked upper American canal right past the smelter and railroad.   2.9 miles below the ASARCO smelter, the U.R. WTP (canal street Water Treatment Plant) pulls water out of the canal, treats it, pumps it up the mountain and mixes/distributes it throughout the city.

It is not the anti-Asarco folks dividing the Paso Del Norte peoples....

The pro-Asarco backer, David K., is desperate for picking a fight and
trying to find divisions and differences in the effort to hold a illegal
polluter accountable
(http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/2007/10/this-is-has-bee.html).
There are no differences
when it comes to what spewed out from Asarco from the illegal hazardous
waste incineration. Everyone, including David K., have been exposed.

I have not talked with a single person from El Paso including pro-Asarco
workers, who are not concerned for the children in this region. Or for
the elderly, the infirm or the unborn children. Not a single person.
And like an ex-Supervisor from Asarco told us, the workers in the past
prostituted themselves -- sold the future health of many for the gains
of the "now". That same retired Supervisor now is very sick, all his
fellow workers have died gruesome slow deaths from illnesses, and he
worries a lot about the children.

I hope that David K. will worry about the children, too - that is what
this is all about. I'm sure that he does worry for the health and
well-being of the children of this region: he wants their parents to
have the 300 jobs that Asarco promises. Before Asarco pays the 300 for
employment, I would like to see Asarco pay us, the taxpayers, for the 24
million of cleanup beneath the old upper American canal that IBWC
reported to the TCEQ and ASARCO years ago, though.

Right, David K.? Why should the taxpayers get hit with the costs for
cleaning up a company's mess? That comes out of every working person's
pocket.

We can just ignore the toxic waste and then no-one has to pay the
costs. Except for the children who live with illness, decreased IQ,
explosive tempers, self-medication, asthma, COPD as adults, diabetes,
M.S., cancers, etc.

City Refuses Asarco Demand to Take Down Video

"On Oct. 5, 2005, Asarco lawyers sent the city of El Paso a letter, addressed to City Attorney Charlie McNabb, demanding that the city take down an anti-Asarco video. [video]

On Oct. 15, the city's lawyers, Birch, Becker and Moorman, sent a reply. The city would not be taking the video down."
http://newspapertree.com/politics/1730-city-refuses-asarco-demand-to-take-down-video

Montoya has a contract worth up to $70,000 with the El Paso City Schools

"Teresa Montoya of Montoya PR is a consultant for Asarco. A sharp reader mentioned, and it's been heard on Paul Strelzin's radio show on 1650 AM, that she also is a consultant for the El Paso Independent School District, which has a claim in bankruptcy court against Asarco.

It's true. Montoya has a contract worth up to $70,000. [episd agenda item]

In response to a question regarding the contract, school district spokesman Luis Villalobos issued this statement:

"Montoya PR is a leading public relations firm representing a diverse client base on a local, regional, and national [San Diego,CA office] basis. Montoya PR has a vast amount of experience and expertise in the education field.

"The District is implementing tough, strategic changes and we sought a public relations firm that was an expert in the community to help gather input and communicate our message to the community. Montoya PR is uniquely qualified because they also specialize in image and reputation management and crisis management and damage control. They understand the importance of getting our message out and they are helping us with media opportunities and other mission-critical projects.

"Montoya PR was hired as part of the District’s request for qualifications. Montoya PR came highly recommended by community and business leaders and they have helped us tremendously with getting our message out both internally and externally. Montoya PR has not done any work or been involved in any way on behalf of The District related to their representation of Asarco. ""
http://www.newspapertree.com/politics/1729-the-inner-loop-10-15-07

What I learned in Kindergarten : Clean up your own mess

As long as the environmental regulatory agencies do not look for the toxic waste left here by years of illegal hazardous waste burning by Asarco, any monies made by the companies and people involved are made by sacrificing the health of our elderly, our ill, our children and the unborn.

"Grupo Mexico’s board of directors now includes directors of Kimberly Clark Mexico (the family business of U.S. Congressman James Sensenbrenner, author of last year’s anti-immigrant bill HR 4437) and the Carlyle Group (whose board included former President George Bush Sr.) In the 1990s, Grupo Mexico’s mushrooming capital gave it the resources to buy one of the oldest and largest mining companies in the United States, American Smelting and Refining Co." (8/11/06)  http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?archiveDate=08-11-06&storyID=24842

"The former president [George Bush, Senior] and ex-CIA director is not unemployed these days. He's been globetrotting as a member of Washington's Carlyle Group, a $12 billion private equity firm ....The Carlyle connection means that George Bush Senior is on the payroll from private interests that have defense business before the government, while his son is president....As Charles Lewis of the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity has put it, 'in a really peculiar way, George W. Bush could, some day, benefit financially from his own administration's decisions, through his father's investments. And that to me is a jaw-dropper.' " http://www.carlylegroup.net

"This what i learned in kindergarten. Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess...." http://www.amazon.com/Really-Need-Know-Learned-Kindergarten/dp/034546639X

Grupo Mexico (asarco/Carlyle group/Bush) pays dead miners families $70,500 each

06 Oct 2007 01:54:44 GMT Source: Reuters - Mexico Congress blames mining company for disaster
MEXICO CITY, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Mining company Grupo Mexico <GMEXICOB.MX> is largely to blame for an explosion that killed 65 men in A northern Mexican coal pit last year, a Congressional commission said on Friday. Negligence on the part of Grupo Mexico, one of the world's top copper producers, allowed a build-up of methane gas and coal dust which exploded deep in the shaft and caused most of the mine to collapse, the commission said in a report on the accident. The lawmakers also said blame for the February 2006 explosion was shared by government labor officials and the mineworkers union, who allowed work to carry on despite evident danger. In April, a manslaughter trial of Grupo Mexico executives ended without prison sentences after one of the defendants paid damages of about $16,500 to each of the victims' families.   In Friday's report, the congressional commission recommended officials and company executives linked to the explosion be removed form their posts and banned from working in the industry. Only two bodies have been recovered since the blast. Industrial Minera Mexico, the Grupo Mexico subsidiary that ran the mine, abandoned the search because of unstable conditions in the mine. Grupo Mexico says it paid each family a one-off sum of close to $70,000 after the accident, plus several monthly payments." http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N05252332.htm

"What are local democrats like Shapleigh doing to promote high paying jobs with benefits that include health insurance for the kiddies?  Well, they are protesting ASARCO is what they are doing."-- a quote from David Karlsruher (David K. El Paso radio host) in his column/blog http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/  [maybe they are protesting a company who hired executives that Mexico congress now recommend be removed form their posts and banned from working in the [mining] industry... (see above)]

The stuff is too toxic for the entire state of New York... Alabama objects... Sierra Blanca TX objects... New York needs to keep their wastes in New York State...

Alabama objects... Texas (and likely Synagro ... now owned by "CARLYLE GROUP", who has shares in Grupo Mexico/Asarco) wants to dump it on the poor in Sierra Blanca (next to El Paso) AGAIN (where is our TEXAS Agricultural Commissioner???):
"Last week I wrote that Alabama deserves better than to become the nation's cesspool after residents in Limestone and Lauderdale counties complained of a terrible odor emanating from free fertilizer used on local farms.  The fertilizer was treated human waste from New York and apparently smelled much worse than a pig barn or chicken operation -- and those are pretty darned bad.

It looks like Mr. Clean paid a visit in the person of Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks who met with Synagro representatives and worked out some new guidelines for human waste fertilizer in Alabama. ...."I feel that we have to either clean up the process or stop the process altogether," he said. "It is my intention to work with the company to help them correct any mistakes that have been made. We will continue to monitor their efforts to ensure that this matter does not continue to grow as a public nuisance."

In addition, the company will stop distributing the product in Limestone County.  The County Commission there was preparing to file an injunction to stop the use of the product.  Since the 1901 Alabama Constitution doesn't give county commissions authority to do much of anything, including zoning and regulating manure spreading, going to court was the only option the Limestone Commissioners had.  Manure regulation: yet another reason to let the people vote on a new state constitution.".....

from:   Sludgewatch-l@list.web.net
http://list.web.net/lists/listinfo/sludgewatch-l