In Italy, the protesting of incineration of toxic waste (see video)

Nero Prodi and the eco-bales

Toxic waste, expired medicines or even radioactive waste. Burning them would mean speeding up the death sentences for the people living in the Acerra area, as well as others nearby. As a matter of fact, the area is already being called ...
Beppe Grillo's Blog - http://www.beppegrillo.it/eng/

When will the Paso del Norte region get tired of being lied to and demand the truth

ASARCO illegally burned SECRET toxic/hazardous waste, some with military sources, during the 1990's - and then this was kept secret from us for eight more years after the Federal Department of Justice and EPA made a secret agreement with that company.

To this day we have not been told what the EPA (and TCEQ) are hiding here. It is in our water, our aquifer, our soil and our air.

Late last year the EPA and UTEP made a memorandum-of-understanding (agreement) so that UTEP will do public health and environmental studies under the EPA. Is this more cover-up?

When will the Paso del Norte region get tired of being lied to and demand the truth of what happened here? Our children deserve to know what happened even if people are afraid to face it. There can be no clean-up or health or true environmental science until this BIG LIE has been exposed.

It is time for all of us to ask what it is - what the toxic waste is that no one will talk about.

ASARCO, G.Gordon Liddy's Daughter and TX HB 433 in January 2003

TXHB 433 read: "... ecological terrorist organization" means two or more persons organized for the purpose of supporting any politically motivated activity intended to obstruct or deter any person from participating in an activity involving ...an activity involving natural resources." ("Activity involving natural resources" means any lawful activity involving the use of a natural resource with an economic value, including mining...or processing [i.e. smelting] natural resources.")

That ALEC task force had an ASARCO executive for its private sector chairman when it wrote those words; and, it had G.Gordon Liddy's daughter (yes, the same guy from the Watergate break-in during the Nixon years) as its director (Sandy Liddy Bourne). She continues to work at ALEC in a new job, higher up, she co-publishes on her dad's website and has him speak at ALEC events.

see www.alecwatch.org
and also http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/dfiles/file_169.pdf (ALEC Battle of the States)

Handing out literature on a street corner to let people know that ASARCO El Paso burned toxic waste would fit under the above, sounds like to me. The HB 433 would have put anti-Asarco activists' name/addresses/photos into a database for three years before the persons could appeal their designation as "legal terrorists". Any organization helping them (like Get the Lead Out and others) would also be called terrorist organizations.

To read the full text of this draconian bill written quietly by the ALEC.org Energy, Environment and Agriculture task force in 2001-2 (and then passed to the ALEC Criminal Justice Task Force, to be then as quietly taken by the ALEC Criminal Justice Task force Legislative chairman (Rep. Allen) to his own home state of TEXAS in 2003 and passed off as a "hunting group" sponsored bill) see:
http://www.capitol.state.tx.us/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=78R&Bill=HB433

La Paz Accord JAC bi-national meeting tomorrow Thursday at 11 AM open to the public

The 40th Meeting of the Joint Advisory Committee for the Improvement of
Air Quality in the
Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua / El Paso, Texas / Doña Ana County, New Mexico
Air Basin
DATE: Thursday February 28, 2008
TIME: 11:00 AM - 2:30 PM
LOCATION: El Paso Metropolitan Planning Organization
10767 Gateway W. Suite 605 / El Paso, Texas

IBWC Commissioner Marin states [paraphrased] that IBWC passes "hot-potato" of Asarco Toxic waste

Commissioner Marin states that they notified the DHS and the Army Corp. of Engineers about the "contamination". This implies ALL the contamination, including the toxic waste.

Will SOMEONE tell us what toxic waste is there from the illegal waste handling by ASARCO??

Link to CNN transcript of the ASARCO El Paso Video "scorched earth...."

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0802/21/acd.02.html

Still no mention of the TOXIC WASTE. WOW!!!! How do they ** DO ** this?

No mention about how close the smelter is to our drinking water........

Bill Clinton, AL Gore and the WTI Toxic waste incinerator in East Liverpool, OH

It started up about the same time that ConTop began incinerating illegal secret toxic waste in El Paso TX under the Clinton-years.

Clinton takes a big stinkin' dump on Ohio
By Zwoof
WTI wanted to build America's largest toxic waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio. The incinerator is located 1100 feet from an elementary school. WTI was owned by Jackson Stephans , who donated $200000 to Bush #1 to help this ...
Daily Kos - http://www.dailykos.com/section/Diary

Clinton takes a big stinkin' dump on Ohio

by Zwoof

Sun Feb 24, 2008 at 04:01:50 AM PST

Actually, a big stinkin' toxic waste incinerator...

I've written on this before but I feel that it needs more attention that it received because of the upcoming Ohio Primary.
Short and sweet this time:
WTI wanted to build America's largest toxic waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio. The incinerator is located 1,100 feet from an elementary school.
WTI was owned by Jackson Stephens, who donated $200,000 to Bush #1 to help this project along.
There were problems and the project was not going to be approved during the Bush #1 administration.
When Bush's ratings tanked during his bid for re-election, Stephens donated $100,000 to Clinton #1 as well as extending a 2 million line of credit to the DLC when they were tapped out.
Bill Clinton won and with some serious monkey business (a Hillary crony) at the EPA, the permit was approved.
more down below....

• Zwoof's diary :: ::
• 
  

President Clinton and Vice President Gore visited East Liverpool while campaigning for election in 1992; at that time, Mr. Clinton said that, if he were elected, WTI would never be allowed to operate. But the huge incinerator began burning hazardous waste in 1993.

Mr. Clinton has not returned to East Liverpool since he became President in 1992.

WTI failed part of its test burn in 1993, releasing four times more mercury than allowed. Children at the elementary school were tested for mercury in their urine prior to WTI operation and again six months after the facility started burning as part of a state health study. In the first test, 69 percent of the children tested negative; the follow-up test found that nearly the same number tested positive.

U.S. EPA's own risk assessment of the facility found at least 27 possible accident scenarios that could threaten the lives of the children in the nearby elementary school.

Despite these and other problems, the U.S. EPA issued WTI a full commercial operating license in 1997. The agency has also allowed the facility to nearly double the types of wastes it can burn.

When Clinton became president, he appointed Carol Browner head of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Ms. Browner then sent a small cadre of scientists to court in Cleveland, Ohio, to serve as expert witnesses on behalf of Waste Technologies, Inc. (WTI).

Because a memo to Ms. Browner from one of her staff was leaked to Greenpeace (a plaintiff in the lawsuit trying to shut down WTI), Ms. Browner's staff were forced to admit under oath that after Ms. Browner took office on January 20th, EPA conducted a secret risk assessment on the WTI incinerator.

EPA's secret risk assessment revealed that the incinerator would be 1000 times more dangerous than EPA had estimated in the risk assessment they released to the public.

New EPA appointee Browner recused herself from the issue
She left the matter in the hands of Robert Sussman, Deputy EPA Administrator.

The EPA Deputy Administrator Robert Sussman that eventually approved WTI's application was a law school classmate of Bill and Hillary Clinton.

Sussman had previously acted as legal counsel to the Chemical Manufacturing Association, at a time when two of its biggest clients, Du Pont and BASF, were negotiating contracts to supply two-thirds of the waste to WTI." The Nation Magazine

The plant opponents cited Sussman's appointment to the EPA through the influence of first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose former law firm represented the original founder of Waste Technologies, Jackson Stephans.
Source Archives Cleveland Plain Dealer

The gift to Ohio that keeps on giving..

Recently a new ruling from the Ohio EPA allowed this incinerator, located 1,100 feet from an elementary school, to accept even more hazardous waste (anthrax, radioactive waste, infectious medical waste and mixed hazardous waste from Hurricane Katrina) than the original permit that was shrouded in corruption and approved by the Clinton Administration

I don't think Hillary will stop by East Liverpool asking for votes. They are familiar with Clinton campaign promises.

Previous Diary with pictures and more...

Just a few problems at this incinerator you might want to know about...

Explosion under investigation, Operations suspended at Von Roll WTI

EAST LIVERPOOL -- "An explosion at the Von Roll WTI plant...... One employee was taken by ambulance to East Liverpool City Hospital for evaluation and treatment. Wayne did not release the name of the employee but stated, The Review.

Dec 6, 2006: U.S. EPA fines WTI

EAST LIVERPOOL -- "WTI/Von Roll officials call it a 'legacy issue' going back to 1999, and said they agreed to a $750,000 fine from the U.S. EPA and U.S. Justice Department so they could put the matter behind them. Fred Miller, East Liverpool
Review.

Blast Injures Worker at WTI Plant

PITTSBURGH -- "An explosion at the Waste Technologies Industries (WTI) plant in East Liverpool, Ohio this afternoon has sent a worker to a hospital ....The blast actually blew siding, insulation and other debris outside the plant, injuring injured a worker who was outside at the time" KDKA TV.

Mar 29: WTI fireball rattles windows

EAST LIVERPOOL -- ...At first you could see some flames, then there was a huge loud explosion and a giant ball of fire shot up in the air. It was huge. I've never seen anything like it before,' said Estell. 'There was smoke everywhere. The plant was kind of lost in the smoke for awhile,' she said. 'My windows rattled. It was huge. The noise was huge. . . I screamed for my kids to get back into the house,'" Fred Miller, East Liverpool Review.

Oct 5, 2004: EPA cites Von Roll for clean-air violations

CHICAGO -- "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has filed an administrative complaint. EPA alleges Von Roll discharged more lead and cadmium from its incinerator than is allowed by the Clean Air Act during tests in December 2003 and in March 2004. Excessive exposure to lead may cause anemia, kidney disease, reproductive disorders, and neurological impairments such as seizures, mental retardation and behavioral disorders. Children and the unborn are especially susceptible to low doses of lead. Exposure to cadmium may cause damage to the lungs, kidneys, liver, immune and nervous systems and the blood. Long-term inhalation of cadmium can increase the risk of lung cancer," press release, US EPA .

Tags: environmental, environment, toxic waste, Bill Clinton, failed leadership, Hillary Clinton, Jackson Stephans, WTI, East Liverpool Ohio, Von Roll, Recommended (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

TCEQ ASARCO Hearing Austin, TX, Feb. 13, 2008

TCEQ ASARCO Hearing Austin, TX, Feb. 13, 2008

http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001YOWa6ZPvuA3eX_5rMNmnW6uro6uN07YTS6OjcEtZmzR4a4JFnuxx-geK1viBeOQYFTFt75l2-iFk18_r5XoWHNhzwBhbyOcF1B9O4F4-KI-mzT07FpcKV-M0zxlJwkn9S_faoUlppOfMUx4kpA6a_YmdgaO1jjgDkwhJAgWjDoIS6gXD03ZuL8jYyleMfKuC

Community asks Governor for Honest Services

See Newspapertree article:
http://www.newspapertree.com/opinion/2112-perry-says-margo-asarco-protestors-hold-their-noses

Gioia Tauro (Calabrien, Italy): Protest Against Waste Incineration

"Incinerators are multi-billion dollar pollutors and waste the planet's valuable resources. (...) To continue promoting incineration while agreeing to eliminate persistent organic pollutants is sheer hypocrisy (...) Chemicals released from incinerators cause a variety of health problems, including immune and reproductive system defects, spontaneous abortions, respiratory diseases, diabetes, hormone disruption and cancers. Some fish caught in European Union waters are so contaminated with dioxins they have been declared unfit for human consumption..."

"Society continues to generate more waste and to change this alarming trend; strong political and industrial measures are urgently needed.
Despite what industry and governments would like people to believe, incineration is not a solution to the world’s waste problems, but part of the problem.
Incinerators may reduce the volume of solid waste, but they do not dispose of the toxic substances contained in the waste. They create the largest source of dioxins, which is one of the most toxic chemicals known to science.
Incinerators emit a wide range of pollutants in their stack gases, ashes and other residues. The filters used to clean incinerator stack gases produce solid and liquid toxic wastes, which also need to be disposed.
The only way to improve the situation is to avoid toxic waste production by improving our products and processes.
Public opposition to incineration is growing worldwide. People are recognising that there is no place for the incineration of waste in a sustainable society."

(From a Greenpeace Campaign) "

By nobody@flickr.com (Osvaldo_Zoom)
Incinerators may reduce the volume of solid waste, but they do not dispose of the toxic substances contained in the waste. They create the largest source of dioxins, which is one of the most toxic chemicals known to science. ...
Photos from Osvaldo_Zoom - http://www.flickr.com/photos/osvaldo_zoom/

TCEQ Commissioners Court Slideshow

commissioners court

ummm, what is a TOXIC SAMPLER??

Yep, we all can sure ok that permit as long as those "air samplers" and "TOXIC SAMPLERS as well" are there.....

Mr. Shaw, Commissioner in process of committing a crime(in my opinion) against the people in the Paso del Norte region

CAN'T ANY OF THE COMMISSIONERS SAY TOXIC WASTE CONTAMINATION?

we are watching a crime in progress when a legal court does not address the contamination in the stack and facility and region that exists from the previous ILLEGAL TOXIC WASTE handling and incineration, in my lay opinion

Asarco Attorney rebuttal

"ASARCO is on the good side of average" Asarco Attorney says during the TCEQ Commissioners Court....

Can SHE say TOXIC WASTE?!??

TCEQ commissioners court in action

It is 1:17 (2:17 Austin Time) and no one wants to mention the illegal Toxic Waste CONTAMINATION at the court.

It is easy to say. Only two words.

Just try, Mr. Commissioners, you can say the words. After all, we have to breathe it, eat and drink it.

TCEQ agenda 1 PM ASARCO discussion

AGENDA Wednesday, February 13, 2008 TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 1:00 P.M. 12100 Park 35 Circle Room 201S, Bldg. E Item 1. TCEQ Docket No. 2004-0049-AIR; SOAH Docket No. 582-05-0593; Consideration of the Application by ASARCO Incorporated (ASARCO) for renewal of Air Quality Permit No. 20345 to authorize its continued operation and all related filings, including the Executive Director's Report to the Commission on the Renewal of Asarco Incorporated's Air Quality Permit No. 20345 prepared pursuant to the Commission's Interim Order of March 10, 2006, public comments, and the Executive Director’s Responses to Comments. The copper smelting plant is located at 2301 West Paisano Road, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas. (PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES WHO PLAN TO ATTEND THE TCEQ AGENDA AND WHO MAY NEED AUXILIARY AIDS OR SERVICES SUCH AS INTERPRETERS FOR PERSONS WHO ARE DEAF OR HEARING IMPAIRED, READERS, LARGE PRINT, OR BRAILLE ARE REQUESTED TO CONTACT OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CLERK AT (512) 239-3300 AT LEAST TWO (2) WORK DAYS PRIOR TO THE AGENDA, SO THAT APPROPRIATE ARRANGEMENTS CAN BE MADE. PERSONS WHO DESIRE THE ASSISTANCE OF AN INTERPRETER IN CONJUNCTION WITH THEIR ORAL PRESENTATION AT THIS TCEQ AGENDA ARE REQUESTED TO CONTACT THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CLERK AT (512) 239-3300 AT LEAST FIVE (5) WORK DAYS PRIOR TO THE AGENDA SO THAT APPROPRIATE ARRANGEMENTS CAN BE MADE.) REGISTRATION FOR AGENDA STARTS AT 12:30 P.M. UNTIL 1:00 P.M. PLEASE REGISTER BETWEEN THESE TIMES. LATE REGISTRATION COULD RESULT IN YOUR MISSING THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT ON YOUR ITEM. THE PUBLIC CAN VIEW LIVE AND ARCHIVED TCEQ MEETINGS ON THE INTERNET AT NO COST, AT: HTTP://WWW.TEXASADMIN.COM/cgi-bin/tnrcc.cgi

TCEQ commissioners agenda link

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/comm_exec/agendas/comm/comm_agendas.html

Asarco protest

Asarco protest

By bullymike(bullymike)
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile.
meanderings - http://www.bullymike.com/

UTEP Prospector at least does mention the NYTIMES article about toxic waste

UTEP Prospector article quotes the NY Times article announcing how ASARCO had illegally burned toxic waste for years... the students make no comment. Wish that the students would ASK WHAT EPA/TCEQ/UTEP are HIDING -- WHAT IS THE TOXIC WASTE that no one will report???!!!

Students fight Asarco
Today about 70 UTEP students will travel to Austin to witness a historic moment for the city: a final hearing by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, to consider renewing Asarco's air-quality permit, allowing or denying the ...
The Prospector - http://www.utepprospector.com

"The New York Times reported that the Environmental Protection Agency filed a $20-million cleanup and penalty settlement with Asarco, Inc. in 1999 for having illegally burned hazardous waste. Asarco Inc. faces thousands of environmental lawsuits according to the Times, and entered bankruptcy in 2005 to avoid cleanup costs of over $20 billion."

Oh where oh where has the-mention of Toxic waste gone...

(to be sung to the tune of "oh where oh where has my little dog gone....")

OH WHERE OH WHERE CAN IT BE?????

(our lungs, our soils, our water...)

EP Times -- what about the TOXIC WASTE??!!

Commissioners shouldn't let Asarco reopen
El Paso Times - El Paso,TX,USA
On Wednesday the commissioners of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality have a choice: They can refuse to allow the Asarco smelter reopen, ...
See all stories on this topic

---

And Pam Giblin neglects to mention that neither the TCEQ or the Bankruptcy court or the EPA or ASARCO is talking about the TOXIC WASTE

TCEQ denies City's request in Asarco hearing
El Paso Times - El Paso,TX,USA
Pam Giblin an attorney for Asarco told the commission that postponing their decision would be a waste of time. "We are all as ready as we are going to be," ...
See all stories on this topic

David K. STILL not talking about the TOXIC WASTE!!!

EP Times Opinion Page Provides Thought Provoking Reading Today
By David K
Developers are involved, but only involved with the land across I-10 where all the big box retail is planned to go... just as soon as they can get the city to get a port of entry put in on the ASARCO land. No developer in his right mind ...
Refuse the Juice - http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/

Time for ASARCO and Environmental Regulators to come clean...

Next Wednesday in Austin the TCEQ will decide whether or not to grant ASARCO (El Paso) their air permit so that they can restart the smelter. No one wants the smelter to reopen - not Mexico, not New Mexico and not El Paso TX. But there is a fraud/cover-up. In the ASARCO bankruptcy proceeding in Corpus Christi they are refusing to discuss the toxic waste handled and burned illegally by ASARCO in the 1990's. And, in the Paso del Norte region no one asks what toxic waste is here from that illegal burning.

They are dividing up the company assets, deciding what damages/liabilities they have to still pay for, and NOT DISCUSSING THE ILLEGAL TOXIC WASTE that got into the Paso del Norte soils, air, the Rio Grande and the international Hueco aquifer.

Meanwhile, just several miles up river from the El Paso smelter the 2nd largest N.M. regional dump is renewing a ten year permit -- and its application would allow it to accept (radioactive) Uranium mining and milling waste into that dump. That radioactivity will outlast the dump's liners. That dirt would be blown all over the region, and the isotopes would flow with the dirt during rain and wind events into the dump's unlined storm ponds to likely flow down the documented Sunland (park) surface fault (that extends along sunland park drive and then the edge of the dump) into the aquifer below. (A whole pile of that waste sits up at Coyote Canyon in Navajo N.M. land, stockpiled by EPA Region 6).

It is time that the community asked what EPA Region 6 is hiding, what Asarco is hiding --- what all these powerful concerns are hiding from us about what ASARCO poisoned us with. Has anyone seen a dioxin report on the Paso del Norte region? No. Has anyone seen a comprehensive beta radiation level plot graphed of our region? No. Has anyone seen a comprehensive chemical analysis of the Asarco pond-dirt that Asarco felt was bad enough that they railed it all the way back to Corpus Christi? No. What about a PCB report/chemical analysis? No. Can the EPA water lab find the chemical report and records for when they came out here in 2001 to try to duplicate Rio Grande samples from an unpublished UTEP masters thesis (running a mini double membrane osmosis treatment system at the Canal street station)? NO.

Are we and have we been sacrificed? YES.

The powers that be must think that we are ignorant stupid people down here in El Paso to sit idly by and simply ask for the smelter to be CLOSED without asking WHAT ARE THEY HIDING and WHAT TOXIC WASTE IS HERE??????????

Poisoned Community

** Why won't anyone talk about the illegal ASARCO toxic waste being concealed by our environmental authorities and Asarco?!?! **

Asarco opposes Grupo's request for examiner in bankruptcy case

"New York (Platts)--4Feb2008

Grupo Mexico's recent request for a court-appointed examiner in the
Asarco bankruptcy case is being opposed by several parties, including US
copper producer Asarco and the United Steelworkers union, who urged a Texas
court on Monday to reject Grupo's application.....

In new filings with the court, Asarco and the USW opposed the examiner
request while the United States, also a party to the case, said it has
"serious questions" about the need for an examiner....

The USW said it "strongly opposes" Grupo's request.

It's unclear when Schmidt will rule on Grupo's request.

--Bob Matyi, newsdesk@platts.com"
http://www.platts.com/Metals/News/6752266.xml?src=Metalsrssheadlines1

Asarco says it will sell its assets to fund Chapter 11 plan

[distributed under Fair Use]

"AP - February 4, 2008 6:15 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) - Copper-mining company Asarco (LLC) says it will sell all of its assets and has established a process for interested buyers to submit offers.......

Tucson-based Asarco didn't identify interested buyers in court papers, but it said it has held discussions with six bidders..."
http://www.kxxv.com/global/story.asp?s=7821223&ClientType=Printable

Mounds of refuse have built up across the Campania region and residents have clashed with police, blocking roads and setting fire to the rubbish.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7220332.stm

residents don't trust the dumps, don't want the dumps because of the illegal materials going into them and the health hazards....incineration has been used by other cities and shut down because of the dioxins (and other toxics) released .... THE ONLY ANSWER IS RECYCLING. RECYCLE RECYCLE RECYCLE.


"...Commission spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich told the BBC News website that she believed the people of Naples supported the Commission's approach.

She said EU funds had been allocated for the building of an incinerator but the authorities were not moving ahead fast enough.
Ms Helfferich said there was no proper management plan for refuse disposal, tackling illegal dumping, and ensuring toxic waste was properly handled"

The Camino Real Landfill can accept URANIUM MINING AND MILLING WASTE

There is a "however" clause hidden in the Camino Real 10-yr renewal (finalized) application that allows it to accept Uranium mining waste.

(There is a bunch of these wastes sitting up north in coyote canyon, n.m. needing disposal)

DO YOU WANT URANIUM MINING WASTE sitting on top of YOUR DRINKING WATER??

YOU GET OVER 60% OF YOUR DRINKING WATER FROM THE RIO GRANDE,
(just about 4 miles below this dump Canal Street treatment plant -- it pumps the
water up the Franklin mt, and mixes/distributes it throughout the city; and, it plans to expand and
pump it through Juarez).

Please spread the word to your friends about the danger to the Rio Grande (that dump's liners won't last forever and
the radioactivity will!!!) and what deception is going-down here in our region. That dump has already accepted demolition debris from
ASARCO in the 1990's that would have been covered with the illegal poisons from their illegal toxic-waste burning (the debris from the zinc plant demolition project that lasted years -- the "S.E.P.").

Ask what ASARCO is hiding - what poisons they burned illegally. Demand to know what our environmental
agencies are hiding from us.

Ask that the Corpus Christi Bankruptcy Court immediately release the draft of their ASARCO REORGANIZATION PLAN --
Find out what it is that they have planned for our community.

Will we be the toxic-waste disposal capital of the nation? Be involved somehow -- try to help somehow!!! This affects ALL of us!

David K. : STILL NOT TALKING ABOUT THE TOXIC WASTE

" If you've got to lie... maybe you're just wrong?

By David K
I finally got around to reading this week's El Paso Inc. and was shocked, I repeat - SHOCKED they mayor took it upon himself to lie about the findings of UTEP's report on ASARCO. Apparently he decided to make the mistake of lumping all ...
Refuse the Juice - http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/
"
why won't David K. and this community start talking about the TOXIC WASTE that ASARCO and our environmental officials are HIDING??

Waste Incineration : South Africa

---

'Clean' waste incineration sparks anger

By Leon Marshall

As Naples continued to choke on its garbage this week, with landfill sites overflowing and the army being called in to help clear the mess on the streets after violent protests, a testy meeting in Pretoria demonstrated how South Africa's own mounting rubbish problem is beginning to rack nerves.

As in the Italian city, the key question is how to get rid of the ever-growing heaps of waste being produced by our growing population and rapid industrialisation.

Egmont Otterman, reflecting the exasperation and representing the Association of Cement Producers, warned the Pretoria meeting: "We dare not procrastinate. What is happening in Naples will happen here."

The meeting was called by the department of environmental affairs (Deat) to discuss the proposed incineration of hazardous waste, which is broadly classified as waste that is harmful to human health or the environment. It includes plastics, paint, pesticides, used oil and tyres. The proposal was that the materials should be passed on to cement factories where it could be used to fuel their kilns.

The solution seemed innovative and simple, but it turned out to be highly controversial. International experts contracted by Deat and representatives of the cement industry said the incineration process was one of complete combustion,[except for pm 10's and pm2.5's] which made it safe.

The ash was harmless and useful for mixing with cement. Although gas such as carbon dioxide was released, it would actually amount to a saving on the volumes produced, because otherwise coal would have to be burnt and the hazardous materials themselves would release greenhouse gases over time.

The experts told the meeting that it had been done for decades in Europe and in the United States where stringent safety standards were applied.

Incineration also had other benefits for cement factories. The materials, especially tyres, would save on the cost of coal. Iron, which can be obtained from burnt tyres, is a necessary additive to cement, thereby contributing another saving.

But several representatives of communities and non-governmental organisations who attended the meeting did not take kindly to the proposal. They feared that noxious substances would be emitted and that local communities, particularly the poor, would pay the price.

Past experience had much to do with their concern. A Tshwane councillor spoke of the many people in his ward who had been hospitalised with respiratory problems. Suspicions fell on the nearby cement factory.

Similar complaints came from a community representative from Lichtenburg in North West.

Others complained that waste sites were invariably placed near poor communities, which had to live with the filth and stench. "We all know," one representative said, "how these overfull and badly managed dumps catch alight and what toxic smoke gets sent into the air."

A Durban South spokesperson told the meeting about the high incidence of cancer and lung disease in his community and claimed that factory emissions and the illegal dumping of hazardous waste were to blame. He said that the incineration of waste would only add to the problem.

They wanted to know what guarantees there were that incineration would not add to their problems.

Non-governmental organisations warned that, even if safety standards were legally prescribed, the problem would be with monitoring and law enforcement.

"We have already seen how this has failed in the case of rivers, wetlands and such. For all the protective laws there are, they just keep getting destroyed. The trouble lies with the lack of enforcement," said Karen Marx of the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa.

Air pollution from industrial plants in general and the issue of incineration became the subject of such heated exchanges that Nolwazi Cobbinah, Deat's chief director in charge of pollution and waste management, had to intervene and added: "We are not fighting - we are here to find solutions."

But the meeting did not end on a good note for the NGOs and community representatives. They charged that the government was intent on going ahead with incineration without answering their concerns.

But the issue of waste goes much further. Besides being an environmental problem, it involves climate change and water security.

The government's attempts to devise a national strategy for dealing with the growing problem go back to 2002. The purpose has been to devise a plan that would include waste separation and recycling, as well as reductions in the production of waste. Incineration is another option, on which consultations have been taking place over the past year.

The tense meeting in the serene surrounds of the South African Biodiversity Institute in Pretoria was part of the consultation.

That there is a growing urgency about getting a national strategy and its supporting legislation in place was clear from Cobbinah's opening statement as chairman: "We are behind schedule. We should by now have had a policy document ready."

Underlying the NGOs' concerns about safety standards is the lack of information on the quantity and types of hazardous and other waste.

A Deat official explained that a waste information system had been set up to collect this data. But this itself became the subject of a chicken-and-egg argument. For the system to operate properly, the official said, data reporting had to be mandatory, which could only be done through enabling legislation.

The counterargument was that legislation to impose waste treatment through risky means such as incineration could not be legally enforced without proper information on the extent of the problem.

Jorn Lauridsen, an international expert from Denmark who is doing research on waste for the department, told the meeting that the most recent study done in 1997 showed that the country was producing 160 000 tons of hazardous organic waste a year.

His own research showed that a single waste-collecting company in Gauteng in 2006 handled 100 000 tons of such waste.

• This article was originally published on page 6 of The Sunday Independent on January 20, 2008

Published on the Web by IOL on 2008-01-20 08:34:00

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© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

Italy's problem with their city dump at Pianura and another reason for cities to RECYCLE

mothers blame Mafia as toxic rubbish spills over
Guardian Unlimited - UK

" Sheep with eyes staring out from below their mouths have been born in the fields near Caserta, north of Naples, and doctors are seeing girls menstruate at the age of seven. Government-run blood testing of residents for dioxin levels will start next month and now there are plans to do the same in the city, including Pianura.

'In Naples, we could stop the Camorra from putting poison into city dumps by simply recycling,' said Marfella. 'The Camorra is scared stiff of recycling.' "

Investors signing confidential agreements with ASARCO

"
Investors show strong interest in resurgent copper producer
Arizona Republic - Phoenix,AZ,USA
Tucson copper producer Asarco LLC has so far signed confidentiality agreements with 14 investors interested in funding its eventual emergence from Chapter ...

"

David K won't talk about the Toxic waste either ... why not?

"Google Blogs Alert for: asarco

ASARCO - The eyesore effects rich people's property values
By David K
The city spent $50000 of your tax dollars to find out what I've known all along - ASARCO is about rich people wanting to increase their property values in Kern at the expense of good jobs. The city was nice enough to prove my theory. ...
Refuse the Juice - http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/
"

WHAT ABOUT THE TOXIC WASTE?

WHY don't the management ever talk about the toxic waste???

"Google News Alert for: asarco

ASARCO Plant Manager Bob Litle Responds
KTSM-TV - El Paso,TX,USA
Specifically, the majority of the businesses contacted are in favor of ASARCO opening (5-2). In addition, the most recent residential poll that was ..."

Asarco filing deadline moved from February to mid-APRIL

"Copper-miner Asarco seeks delay in filing exit plan

Associated Press - January 16, 2008 1:24 PM ET WASHINGTON (AP) - Asarco says it needs two more months to file its bankruptcy-exit plan. The Tucson-based copper-miner says its parent...
KVOA - News - http://www.kvoa.com/global/category.asp?c=40644

Tucson-based Asarco requests more time to exit bankruptcy
Tucson-based Asarco LLC needs two more months to file its bankruptcy-exit plan and says its parent company, a unit of Mexican mining company Grupo Mexico SA, is behind the delay.
All Headlines - http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/allheadlines/

---

 This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google."

WE ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE

"The landfill here in Pianura was shut more than a decade ago. Now, there is talk of reopening it. Local residents say no. "We understand the emergency," says Salvatore, who lives just across the street. He has a tumor which he blames on exposure to toxic waste. "We can't accept garbage anymore," he says. "We are afraid and concerned about our health.""

...."Nearby, housewife Luciana carefully recycles her trash while surrounded by a mountain of refuse. "Can you really make the difference," I ask her. "Now, it's too late," she says, "but we are all responsible, the politicians, but also people who are uncivilized and did this [i.e. dumping of illegal hazardous wastes within the dump].""

(the mob-run garbage industry in Pianura region, Italy:  http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/studentnews/01/15/transcript.wed/  )

Asarco and Arizona

"Google News Alert for: asarco

Answers to water quality hard to get
Nogales International - Nogales,AZ,USA
We didn't know what we had and didn't know what to do with it" In the mid 1990s, Asarco wanted to purchase parts of Unit 3 and, although Wilson says he does ..."

"

In Italy, clans and their middlemen earned over 65 billion dollars in just four years from waste management

"...Below the surface lies the cause. Campania, according to Legambiente, the environmental group, is the industrial dumping ground of Italy, and Europe. Just as Naples is the port that sucks in counterfeited goods and raw materials for clothing made in Campania and sent round the world, so the region is also where much comes back to be buried. And both are controlled by the Camorra, the Naples mafia.

If all of southern Italy's illegally stashed trash were piled together, estimates Legambiente, it would tower above Everest and weigh 14m tonnes."....

"It is the triangle of death," says Marco the protester....."significantly inc­reased rates" of congenital malformation and cancer in parts of Naples and Caserta."

"Understandably, Campania's residents fear that if incinerators are used, as the government has proposed for years, illegal toxic waste will simply be blasted into the atmosphere. Private "consortiu...... Mr Saviano, who lives under police protection, estimates Camorra clans and their middlemen earned €44bn ($65.5bn, £33.5bn) in just four years from waste management. Such are their skills that Chinese gangs have studied and copied their methods, turning farmland in southern China into poisoned wasteland.

In Italy a whole chain of people is involved and officials are complicit in signing off the paperwork.....

Everyone blames everyone, especially the easily targeted Camorra, but no one is taking responsibility."
15/1/2008 3:53:17 πμ
http://www.euro2day.gr/printerfriendly.asp

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

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

The rotten heart of Italy: See Naples and die (of the stench)

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

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."

Posted by Charlie Edgren on January 09, 2008 at 11:24 AM in Environment | Permalink

Charlie's Angles - http://elpasotimes.typepad.com/politicsopinion/

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/

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...."

Toxic waste

"Google News Alert for: toxic waste

Naples rubbish crisis turns nasty
Independent - London,England,UK
... angry residents and the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia, continues to make money by controlling the illegal dumping of millions of tonnes of toxic waste. ..."

Two Letters

"Readers Respond 1.2.08: "Offensive Blather"

from the NPT Inbox

The first batch of response from the New Year! Readers respond to readers respond, and Asarco, and Leon and Burton.

Posted on January 2, 2008

Readers Respond 12.27.07

.....

As a party in the Contested Case Hearing for the Camino Real Landfill in SP, NM and One Who Stand Against Asarco, we as a regional community must wake up and smell the contaminating industries and the conflicted agencies that allow them to continue to cluster. The cumulative effects of the decades of environmental injustice will continue to harm our quality of life, the air we breathe, and the water we drink.

Join in with all the people yelling out loud for the cause and help take control of our community. To them - CHEERS! To NPT thanks for covering the story, To the EP Times where were/are you? and to the rest of you - How about a New Year’s resolution of meaningful involvement!! Get UP, GET Out and Get Involved. -- Robert

---

"Readers Respond to Asarco - volcanic rock?" If anyone is interested, - i.e. David claims that the hills around ASARCO are black because they are volcanic rock!!! - check out the Google Maps for ASARCO, El Paso, Texas, and you will see, that black is not volcanic rock, but the soot from ASARCO! You will see the black scar on the land and the rocks came from the smoke stacks at ASARCO. Do notbe fooled folks, as ASARCO is known for pulling the sooty wool over the public's eyes, that the real culprit is and always will be ASARCO/Grupo De Mexico. So if the Grupo De Mexico bankers want ASARCO so badly, let them dismantle the system, and smoke stacks and rebuild it in their own backyards and see how they like it. And if they don't do that, then why should they expect Americans to allow it back into smelting duty. It’s all that copper value - greed over public health and welfare. Business as usual - down and dirty. -- Lynda Duke"

Chamizal 1967

President Lyndon Johnson on Air Force One on October 28, 1967 with Senator Wayne Morse, Senator Bourke Hickenlooper flying to Andrews Air Force Base, El Paso, Texas for the visit of President Diaz Ordaz of Mexico.

--also see "Remarks at the Chamizal Ceremony, Juarez, Mexico.
October 28th, 1967" by President Johnson:

The great Mexican patriot, Benito Juarez, said: "Respect for the rights of others is peace." That principle is the foundation stone of our hemispheric relations.....we know that the American States must stand together if we are to assure that the weak are protected, that might does not make right, that our peoples are to have the privilege of democratic choice.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=28509

The Railroad Bridge Sixteen Years later, in 1936

KFOX update on ASARCO permit

"...El Paso Mayor John Cook said in a written statement, “The City hopes the commissioners will consider all of the evidence and do the right thing for the citizens by denying the ASARCO renewal application. The international opposition to ASARCO’s permit requests cuts across all political, partisan and geographical lines – and includes federal, state, city and county elected officials, the mayors of Sunland Park, N.M, and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, local residents, prominent business owners, civic leaders, and health officials. This widespread opposition to the ASARCO renewal application is a result of ASARCO's flagrant record of non-compliance with environmental protection rules and its threat to public health.”"
http://www.kfoxtv.com/news/14946096/detail.html

YES Magazine "The story of Stuff"

Letter to EP Times

"Asarco overstates

Asarco is probably the worst polluter in America. They have burned hazardous wastes and failed to meet the burden of proof that they would not detrimentally contribute to air quality in the El Paso area.

In addition, they are currently being assessed for legitimate IBWC liability claims in bankruptcy court. Common sense tells us that air quality effects soil and water, and that Asarco's proposed allowable per TCEQ permit No. 20345 would harm air, soil and water.

In response to Bob Litle's Dec. 12 letter, The IBWC is, too, an "affected party," because the smelter runs next to the Rio Grande and American Canal: a substantial source of our water. Further, the "legacy of environmental claims," against Asarco, has everything "to do with the permit renewal process," and disconnecting the facts only obscures the truth.

Asarco plant manager Litle's letter does not deny that Asarco is indeed environmentally liable, or even contesting the $27 million in liability. He is merely suggesting that environmental claims were "overstated."

However, by doing so he doesn't deny the actual damage that was done, he only denies the interpretations of that damage, and nothing more.

Scott Comar
Central El Paso"
http://www.elpasotimes.com/opinion/ci_7831774

TCEQ CAN'T ADDRESS THE EVIDENCE *AND* THEY CAN'T AFFORD TO TELL US WHAT ASARCO POISONED US WITH...

"TCEQ Finally Sets Asarco Hearing   by Khushroo Ghadiali

The long-awaited hearing that could determine the fate of the Asarco smelter has finally been set by the TCEQ in Austin.

Posted on December 28, 2007

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ, has announced a hearing date for ASARCO’s appeal. The hearing, scheduled for Feb. 13, will be held in Austin.
This comes after Bruce Manvell, the investigator for the County Attorney's office replied to TCEQ’sletter of Dec 17 asking the TCEQ, in writing, to determine whether criminal prosecution against Asarco is warranted, and to explain why or why not.
NPT seeking a clarification of the letter was told that the agency would not comment any further. A spokeswoman for the agency said "What the executive director said (in the letter) is what we're going to say."   "
http://www.newspapertree.com/news/1953-tceq-finally-sets-asarco-hearing

New Mexico URANIUM mining and milling waste waiting for disposal :: Camino Real Landfill on Rio Grande (Sunland Park N.M.) has hidden clause allowing disposal of URANIUM Mining and milling waste with approval of the State...

[is it a coincidence that Camino Real Landfill hearing experts were lobbyists and experts from the Nuclear disposal industry; and, that a "however" clause in its permit would allow the disposal of toxic uranium mining and milling wastes next-to/on our water supply?]

"...The colorful printout of the abandoned [URANIUM] mines and mill sites was the size of a conference table. The most contaminated site was ranked number one. It ....is known to those who live there as Coyote Canyon [New Mexico].

With the data so clearly showing that Coyote Canyon posed a danger to residents, the EPA moved the Nez family and others into temporary shelters. Workers began cleaning up--basically digging up a foot of soil and stockpiling it at the United Nuclear Corporation site next to the Nezes' property. General Electric, which now owns the property, was supposed to haul the soil away and safely dispose of it.

When I visit Coyote Canyon in August 2007, the Nezes are back home, and the place doesn't look the same. I drive past the hogan where Bertha's father lived. The flags are gone; the dirt surrounding the octagonal structure has been scraped. So has the earth around the Nezes' home and horse corral.

But the massive mound of contaminated earth, which the EPA had covered in heavy black plastic, has not been moved. The plastic is torn and blowing in the wind, along with fine particles of contaminated soil--a threat to the Navajos that seems, in my mind, a metaphor for the nuclear waste problem downstream."
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200801/powerhungry/

DAY 13

There is a small "however" in the PROHIBITED SUBSTANCES section of the Camino Real landfill that would let them (with state authorization - but they can't state what that means) accept radioactive Uranium mining wastes and milling wastes into this landfill.

V.P. Mr. Little actually went home Monday from the hearing and it is Exec. V.P. Mr. Bob (Robert D.) Evans, general counsel to Waste Connnections Inc. who is here since late Monday evening. He has a law degree from Berkley CA and a background in economics. When he went to work for WCN in 2002 he quit his general partnership in a large CA law firm. He has sat through all the testimonies and questions since then.

There is also a UTEP Economist here.

Do you want uranium mining waste in a landfill on the Rio Grande that will supply drinking water? Come and listen. The meeting starts at 8:30 AM at DESERT VIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL in sunland park in the morning. Tonight it is at the Parrish Hall and they don't know how long it will go.

The Judge is Honorable Rudy Apodaca and his hearing-fees are posted on his website.

Landfill hearing

... if you are a reporter and you are not covering this landfill
hearing, you are missing a humdinger of a story.

DAY 12

The V.P. (Mr. J.M.Little) for Waste Control inc. (owner of El Paso Disposal, the Camino Real Landfill, and involved in the Andrews County Nuclear facilty) arrived last evening and has stayed through the day.

Waste Control Inc. (ticker WCN) makes about one billion in revenue a year; and has profits of about 1/4 of that.

This morning NMED (nm envir. dept) cabinet sec. Ms. Cindy Padilla was here to testify and announced that of yesterday she has a different Cabinet position (aging).

Meetings will continue to be held at the Catholic church community center Wednesday (end of sunland park rd, north on mcnutt - on the left) and after that it is likely to be at a school, perhaps desert elementary through friday. Usually it is 8 am to 9 pm. Last evening it went through 11 pm. It is cold - wear a warm coat (no heat except a few space heaters and a propane picnic heater).

Profits to the landfill from maquiladoras is declining year to year because of movement of companies to China one expert said; hypothetically it seems as if the landfill will need to find other revenue streams for Waste Control Inc.

They claim that although they deal with radioactive/toxic wastes that they don't need a non hazmat landfill. That is what they say.

Camino Real Landfill Hearing Day 11

Today the hearing ran from 9 am through 11 PM - we got an hour for lunch and one hour for dinner. The propane heater had disappeared but the opposing party went out and bought another.

We covered geological faulting today. NMED (NM Envir. dept) wasn't willing to accept evidence of the surface faulting even when a lot of the research came from Petroleum company and Asarco's own consulting company.

Malaysia : toxic waste in landfill

DAY 10 (Yesterday - Saturday) of the Camino Real Dump Hearing

At the hearing (it was at Desert View for just Saturday) the Judge berated a few people for getting started after 8:30 AM, skipped lunch and ran the hearing through to 10 P.M.   The Landfill attorneys provided soda and pizza at lunchtime.     There was a dinner break. 

The interpreters left at 9:30 pm (a bit hoarse), but instead of recessing, the Judge granted the opposing party's request to go to 10 PM, which meant that the retired attorney had to do Cross Examination at the end of a 14 hour day.  He was given only 30 minutes to cross-examine the Border Health guy.

One El Paso resident told the Judge, during a break, that the Judge was biased (which you don't do to a Judge) and was told to leave. 

Tomorrow the hearing moves back to the Catholic Church community center, just west of Sunland Park Drive where it dead-ends onto McNutt Rd.  It will start at 8 am, I think - although it is possible that the Judge said 9 am, since the sound-crew has to re-install all the equipment.

If you live in Texas or Mexico you should DEFINITELY attend these last few days of the hearing because the lady lobbyist from the opposing team last week pretty much said that all that matters is New Mexico and New Mexicans.   The dump sits up-river from your water supply, and within the 10 mile area-shed of most of the west side of El Paso.  They are not telling us what Asarco dumped there; also said that to let the invoices about Asarco zinc-plant demolition material being dumped there into evidence would be incriminating.

Workers-on-strike came to the meeting and now, since they lost their jobs and are not afraid to speak anymore, were telling about regularly dumping medical wastes and dead animals at the dump.

Day NINE of the Grueling Marathon Hearing

The community of Sunland Park moves into DAY NINE of the grueling
marathon hearing at the Parrish Hall (Community Center), Catholic church
off of McNutt just west of the Sunland Park Intersection.

The audience learned that the people representing the Landfill work for
the nuclear and waste industry, lobbying for dumps in poor and
disadvantaged communities. A N.M. supreme court decision had ruled that
the state must consider the cumulative impact of industries on a
community when siting a new one. The Camino Real dump does not want to
have the impact from ASARCO considered when renewing the Landfill's permit.

The Hearing Days run from 8 to 9 PM daily, including Saturdays. Sunland
Park is represented by a volunteer group and retired attorney.

The hall is unheated except for 2 space heaters and a propane picnic
heater. The chairs are metal and cold for the audience. There is no
pay for the volunteers, or monies for exhibits, copying, gasoline etc.

The opposing team for the Landfill has two law firms with a total of
over 80 attorneys. The witnesses yesterday had two attorneys, and no
medical doctors.

It is possible that the dump leaks water into the aquifer and Rio Grande
and it is not possible to determine what has been dumped there. The
Landfill wants to renew their permit for 10 more years.

Camino Real Dump Hearing: Thursday

Many of the affected parties and attorneys went on a Dump tour, and the proceedings started later at the community center. It was warmer, the Dump attorneys had bought a huge number of seat cushions at WalMart, so that many regular attendees could use those and be warmer than sitting on a metal chair ... but many still came who had no cushions. The central heating fan is off because of long-term construction.

One after another the residents of the region came forward to speak about esophageal cancers, lung cancer, eye surgeries, diabetes (which we now know is regulated by a 2nd hormone produced in bones), asthma, a feeling of being smothered, not being able to swallow, overly/unusual dry skin, and other problems that occur at high rates. They were worried about the dust, the odors, the dripping-fluids from the waste-trucks headed toward the dump (dump doesn't accept fluids), and the drinking-water.

IBWC Filed $27 Million Contamination Claim Against Asarco

"by NPT Staff

NPT presents three bankruptcy court documents related to a $27 million claim for contamination of IBWC property adjacent to Asarco. The IBWC cites a "potential threat to the Rio Grande," a source of drinking and irrigation water for El Paso.

Posted on December 5, 2007

Editor's note: The following is to be heard by bankruptcy court Dec. 7. The three court documents -- linked to below these brief excerpts -- relate to a $27 million claim by the International Boundary and Water Commission against Asarco for contamination on IBWC property.

***
http://newspapertree.com/politics/1883-ibwc-filed-27-million-contamination-claim-against-asarco

Related Documents:

IBWC Nov. 29, 2007

Asarco 1, Nov. 29, 2007

Asarco 2, Nov. 29, 2007
"

Camino Real Dump Hearing

The hearing started this morning and will run 8 AM to 9PM from today through Saturday and then next week Monday through Saturday at the Catholic church community center on McNutt just west of the Sunland Park road intersection. The community center is unheated, the chairs are hard and metal and the center was never designed for 13 hour marathons in the wintertime.

Despite objections from all of us without money and health insurance (for the antibiotics to cure us when we all get sick from this) the hearing continues as planned through this holiday season.

We unpaid and affected community members are facing two law firms - one with 40 local attorneys alone.

Governor Richardson's environmental Justice in action, folks. God help us all.

The Border in 1989, when ENCYCLE began

http://web.njit.edu/~pro3/NJIT/Options/Opt-S05Border/ANAPRA.pdf

(published 2004)

Lead particulates in air at UTEP monitor site

Lead: (quarterly mean in micrograms/cubic meter) El Paso, TX
All the data points are from the East Robinson UTEP monitor site.
This is a chart of the quarterly Pb (lead) readings for the eleven years.

The values begin to get smaller after the smelter closed, in 2/1999

United Press International publishes Forecast: U.S. dollar could plunge 90 pct

By UPI  11/24/07 -- -, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- A financial crisis will likely send the U.S. dollar into a free fall of as much as 90 percent...
The Panic of 2008 will lead to a lower U.S. standard of living, he said."....
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18776.htm

Financial Depression of 1873
Townsend builds the smelter 1887

1929: Great Depression
1929-1933 "At the height of the Great Depression, Smeltertown spanned about 25 acres and the population had grown to about 5,000 residents."

1930's : "[Asarco's] company's recovery was aided by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's silver-purchase plan and his devaluation of the dollar, which caused the prices of precious metals to rise."
http://www.answers.com/topic/asarco-incorporated

since 2001 a Russian smelter has illegally smelted radioactive scrap

"ECOMET-S has illegally melted thousands of tons of radioactive scrap metal from the LNPP as well as 150 tons of scrap metal from the Chepetsk Mechanical Plant (the city of Glazov, Udmurt Republic, Volga basin)."
http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/index.html?http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/561/5360.html

from 1989: Tin smelter at Hull in Britain discharges radioactive polonium (LEAD) from stack

"DISCHARGES of radioactivity and other forms of pollution from Europe's biggest tin smelter at Hull in Britain are not to blame for causing abnormally high numbers of childhood cancers in villages close to the site, according to Britain's pollution 'police'.

Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution cleared the Capper Pass complex on Humberside, pictured here, of blame last week in a report that describes one of the most detailed investigations ever undertaken by the organisation's air pollution and radiochemical inspectors.

The chimney at the plant, which is 180 metres high, discharges radioactive polonium-210 [LEAD/Pb] as well as a cocktail of other toxic pollutants including antimony, arsenic, cadmium, lead, tin and zinc.

The inspectorate says that, on the basis of environmental data, predictions of dispersion patterns, radiological assessments and epidemio-logical studies, there is no evidence to link unusually high incidence of leukemia in the area with radioactive pollution from the plant. The report concludes that with the exception of cadmium, the concentrations of pollutants would not be expected to damage health.

From issue 1658 of New Scientist magazine, 01 April 1989"

Smelting radioactive material

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 14:38:05 GMT
" Johannesburg - South Africa's Environment Minister Marthinus van Schalkwyk on Friday gave the green light for the construction of a smelter for radioactive nuclear waste at the site of the Pelindaba nuclear facility outside Pretoria. The facility would be used to process about 140,000 tons of waste of varying levels of radioactivity, said van Schalkwyk. No "viable alternative" for treating nuclear waste in South Africa had been found, he said in his written decision. Some of the radioactive metal equipment used in South Africa's secretive apartheid-era uranium enrichment programme, under which it developed six and a half nuclear bombs, are to be melted down. The green light for the smelter came despite objections from residents and anti-nuclear and environmental activists. South Africa recently approved plans to resume uranium enrichment. The country has a nuclear-fired electricity plant at Koeberg near Cape Town."
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/100620.html

1976 Jun 01 Feasibility study of a portable smelter for scrap metals

"The use of a portable smelter to process uranium-contaminated scrap metals was studied.^Objectives were to convert scrap metal located at many diverse sites into a form which would be suitable for unlicensed sale and reduce the problems associated with storing the scrap.^The Foundry Design Company study indicated the portable smelter concept was feasible from an equipment and transportation standpoint.^Capital costs for a 5-ton/hour (steel) nominal capacity unit were estimated to be $2,349,000.^Technical evaluation indicates that all the common metals considered, i.e., iron, nickel, copper, and aluminum, are amenable to uranium decontamination by smelting except aluminum.^An economic evaluation of the processing of the 30,000 tons of steel scrap to be generated by the Cascade Improvement Program by a portable smelter was made based upon information supplied by Foundry Design Company, plus the assumption that the product metal could be sold for $120.00 per ton.^This evaluation indicated a net return of $2,424,000 to the government could be realized.^The Health and Safety study indicated no major problems of this nature would be encountered in operating a portable smelter.^The legal review indicated the proposed operation fell within the authority of existing regulations.^Consideration of possible conflicts with regard to competition with the private sector was suggested.^(DLC)"
http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=7269860

Prenatal Arsenic Exposure Detected In Newborns

Prenatal Arsenic Exposure Detected In Newborns

ScienceDaily (Nov. 23, 2007) — MIT researchers have found that the children of mothers whose water supplies were contaminated with arsenic during their pregnancies harbored gene expression changes that may lead to cancer and other diseases later in life. In addition to establishing the potential harmful effects of these prenatal exposures, the new study also provides a possible method for screening populations to detect signs of arsenic contamination.

This is the first time evidence of such genome-wide changes resulting from prenatal exposure has ever been documented from any environmental contaminant. It suggests that even when water supplies are cleaned up and the children never experience any direct exposure to the pollutant, they may suffer lasting damage.

The evidence comes from studies of 32 mothers and their children in a province of Thailand that experienced heavy arsenic contamination from tin mining. Similar levels of arsenic are also found in many other regions, including the US Southwest.

The research was led by Mathuros Ruchirawat, Director of the Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of the Chulabhorn Research Institute (CRI) in Thailand, and Leona D. Samson, Director of MIT's Center for Environmental Health Sciences (CEHS) and the American Cancer Society Professor in the Departments of Biological Engineering and Biology at MIT. The first author of the study is Rebecca C. Fry, a research scientist at CEHS. Coauthors include Panida Navasumrit of the CRI and Chandni Valiathan, graduate student at MIT's Computational and Systems Biology Initiative.

The team analyzed blood that had been collected from umbilical cords at birth. The exposure of mothers to arsenic during their pregnancy was independently determined by analyzing toenail clippings -- the most reliable way of detecting past arsenic exposure.

The team found a collection of about 450 genes whose expression had been turned on or turned off in babies who had been exposed to arsenic while in the womb. That is, these genes had either become significantly more active (in most cases) or less active than in unexposed babies.

"We were looking to see whether we could have figured out that these babies were exposed in utero" just by using the gene expression screening on the stored blood samples, Samson says. "The answer was a resounding yes."

Further, the team found that a subset of just 11 of these genes could be used as a highly reliable test for determining whether babies had been born to mothers exposed to arsenic during pregnancy. Since blood samples are already taken routinely for medical tests this may provide an easier way of screening for such exposure.

The gene expression changes the group found in the exposed children are mostly associated with inflammation, which can lead to increased cancer risk. Recognizing the damaging effects of the arsenic exposure, "the government has provided alternative water sources" to the affected villages, Fry says, which means that following these children as they grow older (they are now toddlers) has the potential to show how long-lasting the effects of the prenatal exposure may be. However, she adds, this may be complicated by the fact that many people are still using the local water for cooking.

It's not yet clear how long the changes may last. "We will be testing whether these gene expression changes have persisted in these children," Fry says.

This is the first time such a response to prenatal arsenic exposure has been found in humans. But it is not entirely unexpected, Samson explains, because "in mice, when mothers are transiently exposed to arsenic in the drinking water, their progeny, in their adult life, are much more cancer-prone."

Further research could include studies of possible ways of reversing or mitigating the damage, perhaps through dietary changes, nutritional supplements, or drug treatments to counteract the gene expression changes.

Also, the group plans to do follow-up studies in different locations and with larger groups of subjects to confirm the value of the 11 "marker" genes as a reliable indicator of arsenic exposure. The researchers also aim to determine whether the gene expression changes are specific to arsenic.

This study is an example of the CEHS's efforts to promote collaborative interdisciplinary research into global environmental health issues, specifically in the developing world.

The research will be reported in the Nov. 23 issue of PLoS Genetics.

This research was funded by the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences and the Chulabhorn Research Institute.

Adapted from materials provided by Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2007, November 23). Prenatal Arsenic Exposure Detected In Newborns. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 23, 2007, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/11/071122225245.htm

 

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071122225245.htm

 

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