Obama Nominee Moreno to DOJ environ. division defended General Electric and polluters (?!?)

"The Obama administration's nomination of Ignacia Moreno to head the environment division of the Department of Justice... as environmental counsel for General Electric -- has raised eyebrows among Environmental Protection Agency attorneys. Before Moreno worked for GE, she spent five years defending other companies in pollution-related lawsuits....Six EPA attorneys interviewed by ProPublica criticized the nomination, but asked that their names not be used in this story because they fear retribution. They said they doubt that anyone who has recently defended GE would be effective in the role...."

 

http://www.propublica.org/article/epa-attorneys-criticize-obama-nominee-706

 

 

 

The EPA said Asarco burned illegal hazardous wastes for years for profit in El Paso

In 1998, the EPA told the Federal Dept. of Justice in a confidential for settlement purposes only document that ASARCO El Paso  had handled and burned secret toxic wastes just to make money, and had done this for years.

Asarco signed the SECRET settlement and "paid millions on the condition that details of its activities would never become public" (Rep. Reyes 2007).

The 1998 document became PUBLIC RECORD in 7/2006 and was released to the NYTIMES for a front page story 10/2006.  Months after that, the principal bond-holder for ASARCO threw 500 Million dollars at the NYTIMES in an effort to gain control of its board.  It failed.   The NYTimes faced financial trouble.  Carlos Slim, richest man in Mexico, bailed out the NYTIMES with a very large loan in 2009.

Asarco Attorney(s) still act as if the confidential for settlement purposes only document is still a secret.  They deny that the secret toxic waste burning happened.  They claim that the GAO report from 2007 proves that it did not happen when actually the GAO report was NOT an investigation of ASARCO but instead looked at military handling of waste across the USA and only one instance at Asarco.

Asarco counts on El Paso not reading the confidential for settlement purposes only document and counts on its clout to keep all mention of it out of the newspapers including your own El Paso Times.

El Paso WAKE UP.

Developing "cross-border" gulf of mexico oil deposits

by Robert Pawlowski - Chevron [who used to own Western Refinery in El Paso TX] Energy Technology Co. and Ricardo Fernandez - Fugro Chance de Mexico

"....One issue not adequately addressed by existing frameworks for US-Mexico cross-border relations is the development of fields that truly straddle the border, or fields whose development has the potential for draining hydrocarbons from one side of the border to the other. In this context, it is interesting to note that the 2001 Trident discovery in US waters is only about 3 mi (4.8 km) north of the border.

The energy security of the United States and Mexico are intertwined. ... For 2009, PEMEX has a record investment budget equal to approximately $19.4 billion (roughly double that of recent years)."

http://offshore-mag.com/offshore/en-us/index/article-display.articles.offshore.volume-69.issue-7.latin-america.offshore-us-mexico.html

WE HAVE BEEN SOLD OUT : Foxconn and Megacon in same industry

http://www.crmz.com/directory/Industry1024C.htm

" Electronic Instr. & Controls"

Federal DOJ document being IGNORED and laws broken as ASARCO toxic land given over to NAFTA concerns

"The court document also revealed that Asarco was authorized to sell 125.9 acres in West El Paso to Megacon LLC for $4.1 million."
http://www.elpasotimes.com/ci_12855969

"Megacon, LLC
Incorporated by [??] , Megacon, LLC is located at 4023 Tampa Rd Ste 2400 Oldsmar, FL 34677. Megacon, LLC was incorporated on Thursday, March 27, 2003 in the State of FL and is currently not active. F & L Corp. represents Megacon, LLC as their registered agent.

Source: Public Record data from Florida Department of State - Division of Corporations" http://www.corporationwiki.com/Florida/Oldsmar/megacon-llc-4503844.aspx

However, there is a "MegaCon" http://www.megacon.com/  that makes electronic parts internationally.  Here are just the Asia companies:  GUANGDONG PROVINCE, PRC  Guamgzhou Gaotian Hign Tech Development Industries Company Limited, PAKISTAN ZEB TRADERS, SINGAPORE Pan-Amp Control Pte Ltd, INDONESIA PT Panamptara Kontrol, MALAYSIA Pan-Amp Controls Sdn Bhd, KOREA Dongnam Engineering, TAIWAN LUNG-TEH SHIPBUILDING CO. LTD

news- Feinstein Says Law May Have Been Broken

"July 13, 2009
By MARIA NEWMAN

Senator Dianne Feinstein, the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence
Committee, said on Sunday that the Bush administration may have broken
the law if the Central Intelligence Agency concealed a covert spy
program from Congress.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that the agency's current
director, Leon E. Panetta, had told the Senate and House intelligence
committees that the C.I.A. withheld the information about a secret
counterterrorism program on direct orders from then Vice President Dick
Cheney."

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/us/politics/13cheney.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

Google Alert - PEMEX Natural Gas

Mexico's Pemex To Take Bids On Corindon Gas Block In Sep: WSJ ...
By oswaldoacosta
MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)–State-run Petroleos Mexicanos will receive bids in September for the Coridon natural gas project in northern Mexico, marking Pemex's latest effort to pay outside oil companies to increase gas production. ...

we pledge to make common cause with the people of the world to bring about justice...

Click for Video

"the pledge to resist:
we believe that as people living in the united states it is our responsibility to resist the injustices done by our government in our names.

not in our name will you wage endless war.
there can be no more deaths.
no more transfusions of blood for oil.

not in our name will you invade countries, bomb civilians, kill more children, letting history take its course over the graves of the nameless.

not in our name will you erode the very freedoms you have claimed to fight for.

not by our hands will we supply weapons and funding for the annihilation of families on foreign soil.

not by our mouths will we let fear silence us.

not by our hearts will we allow whole peoples or countries to be deemed evil.

not by our will and not in our name.

we pledge resistance.
we pledge alliance with those who have come under attack for voicing opposition to the war or for their religion or ethnicity.

we pledge to make common cause with the people of the world to bring about justice, freedom and peace.

another world is possible and we pledge to make it real."

Johnny Cash - God's Gonna Cut You Down

Play Video

"Well you may throw your rock and hide your hand
Workin' in the dark against your fellow man
But as sure as God made black and white
What's down in the dark will be brought to the light

You can run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Run on for a long time
Sooner or later God'll cut you down
Sooner or later God'll cut you down"

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/johnnycash/godsgonnacutyoudown.html

Asarco bidding war (was there ever one?) may be over...

Google News Alert for: asarco

Sterlite not to raise Asarco bid further Business Standard - Mumbai,Maharashtra,India The bidding war for Asarco, the US-based copper miner, may be over with Sterlite Industries contemplating not to increase its offer price further and ... See all stories on this topic

---

"Sterlite is bidding for the assets while Group Mexico is bidding for the company, including its entire liability...There has also been a third bidder in the race. New York-based private equity (PE) fund Harbinger Capital Partners had submitted its bid of $500 million in cash and consumption of certain liabilities in May. The PE fund is a key Asarco bond holder but has not revised its offer. It is not expected to have much support from the creditors."

July 11, 2009 Labor News International Unions Escalate Mexico Solidarity

"On a five-day visit to Mexico this week, a delegation of several dozen labor leaders representing millions of workers from the US, Canada, Europe, South Africa, Australia, and South America renewed their backing of Mexican colleagues locked in conflicts with the federal government and the big transnational corporation Grupo Mexico...... ...Pro-Gomez union forces have charged that dissidents are manipulated by Grupo Mexico and anti-labor elements of the federal government....Accompanying the foreign visitors, Mexican senator and longtime human rights  activist Rosario Ibarra charged that almost 100 oil industry workers have “disappeared” since the advent of the Calderon presidency in 2006, because of labor disputes.

Sources: La Jornada, July 9, 10, 11, 2009. Articles by Patricia Munoz Rios
and Carolina Gomez Mena. International Federation of Chemical, Energy,
Mine and General Workers Unions, July 8 and 10, 2009. Press releases.

Frontera NorteSur (FNS): on-line, U.S.-Mexico border news
Center for Latin American and Border Studies
New Mexico State University Las Cruces, New Mexico
For a free electronic subscription email
fnsnews@nmsu.edu"

Ex-DOJ Official Lied to Senate Committee, Broke Federal Laws

"Written by Jason Leopold Tuesday, 13 January 2009 12:26
A scathing report issued Tuesday by the Department of Justice's
inspector general found that a former top official in the agency's civil
rights division lied to a Senate committee and broke federal law by
using a political litmus test to hire and fire employees--a violation of
the very laws he was charged with upholding."
http://www.pubrecord.org/law/618-ex-doj-official-lied-to-senate-committee-broke-federal-laws.html

Dallas News: EPA echoes activists in challenging Texas' air pollution permits ...

Google Blogs Alert for: asarco

EPA echoes activists in challenging Texas' air pollution permits ... By Senator Eliot Shapleigh The EPA retains approval authority over state programs and can formally object to a state-issued permit, as it threatened to do in the case of Asarco's controversial copper smelter in El Paso. That threat came Feb. ...

gambling debts in Bahamas, Las Vegas, Atlantic City

"Foreign investor Mikhail Katamanin, who in May was hit with a $12-million foreclosure lawsuit on his Highland Park mansion, filed a personal bankruptcy petition June 6 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago....  His debts are described as “primarily consumer,” and the list of creditors includes Atlantis at Paradise Island Resort & Casino in the Bahamas, Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel & Casino and Trump Taj Mahal Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. Chicago lawyer Kori Bazanos, who represents Mr. Katamanin, declined to comment. Related story: Lender asserts claim on lakefront mansion"

http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=34626

"A Caribbean investment company has sued to collect on a $12-million loan ...the property is held in trust by Swiss company Asarco A.G., which Mr. Mikhail [Katamanin] controls, according to the complaint and public records....lawyer Irving Drobny, who represents Asarco, is out of the country until next week, according to employees at his office....The claim also is to be arbitrated in Switzerland, according to the complaint."
http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=34626

Irving Drobny is the same name as an attorney representing the imperial family of Vietnam.  A Chicago Attorney by that same name also serves as legal council for a Dallas Texas firm, "Transpacific Group" or TPEG. [" TPEG, headquarter in Dallas- Texas, with auxiliary office in HCMC, Vietnam, has played a very important role of great and effective business link and supports to enterprises and entrepreneurs in both sides of the Pacific." http://www.tpeginc.com/aboutus.html

PLAIN AND SIMPLE WAS ILLEGAL TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL OF HAZARDOUS WASTE

About Asarco's "clarification"  published in EP Times Tuesday July 7, 2009 (1B):   Rep. Reye's comments about that same GAO report said it all: "Asarco was able to hide its activities from El Pasoans...Asarco paid out millions of dollars on the condition that details of its activities would not be released to the public" (Reyes official statement Nov 13, 2007). 

Asarco still wants us to believe it didn't happen.  But in 2006 the Federal Government broke eight years of silence and gave me a formerly confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only EPA-DOJ Asarco document (NYTimes 10/06).  The EPA told the Federal Dept. of Justice, "THIS ACTIVITY PLAIN AND SIMPLE, WAS ILLEGAL TREATMENT and DISPOSAL OF HAZARDOUS WASTE." and that "IT APPEARS THAT ASARCO BENEFITED SUBSTANTIALLY" (google "secret asarco document" on the internet).  

Asarco signed the consent decree on conditions that details of what they had done would never become public.  The secret is out.  God only knows what poisons rained down on Cd. Juarez and the communities of Sunland Park and El Paso from those years of illegal activity.

Asarco's "clarification" is all about closure and not about disclosure.

The East Liverpool OH Toxic Waste Incinerator was not allowed to handle the stuff that was secretly sent to Asarco El Paso for burning --

[The East Liverpool OH Toxic Waste Incinerator was not allowed to handle the stuff that was secretly sent to Asarco El Paso for burning -- the stuff sent to El Paso had to be very very bad.  Why won't our Environmental Agencies disclose what chemicals are left in our Paso del Norte Environment from those years of secret waste burning at Asarco?]

"NEWS RELEASE
For Release:November 20, 1998

Media Contact: Jim Leach (614) 644-2160
Citizen Contact: Patrick Gallaway (614) 644-2160

Ohio EPA to Answer Questions, Hear Comments on Modified Permit for WTI

Ohio EPA will hold an information session and public hearing on Monday, December 14, 1998, in East Liverpool, regarding hazardous waste permit changes requested by Waste Technologies Industries (WTI) [East Liverpool OH Toxic Waste Incinerator], 1250 St. George Street, East Liverpool, Columbiana County.

The December 14 meeting will be held at East Liverpool Middle School, 810 West 8th St., East Liverpool.

Ohio EPA issued a draft modified permit to WTI on November 13, 1998. If the modified permit becomes final, it would authorize WTI to accept, store and treat lab pack wastes. A "lab pack" is a package of one or more small jars, bottles or cans containing chemicals generated by laboratories, research facilities and other commercial and industrial activities. WTI would only be authorized to accept lab packs containing wastes it is already permitted to accept. Wastes not authorized for acceptance at WTI include:

• shock-sensitive materials;
• chemical munitions controlled by the Department of Defense or residue derived from such munitions[this is the kind of stuff sent to El Paso's Asarco smelter];
• explosives in quanitities greater than two pounds per outer container or primary explosives;
• asbestos, dioxins, mustard gases, compressed gases, PCBs greater than 50 parts per million, war gases, radioactive waste or infectious waste;
• certain flammable wastes; and
• waste streams with concentrations of bromoform, Freon 11 or Freon 12 greater than 500 parts per million each.

At the information session, Ohio EPA will answer questions about WTI's proposed changes and the hazardous waste permitting process. The hearing will follow the information session and will give the public the opportunity to comment on the proposed permit modification for the record. The meeting will start at 7 p.m.

Comments may be sent through January 6, 1999, to: Ohio EPA, Attn: Thomas E. Crepeau, Division of Hazardous Waste Management, P.O. Box 1049, Columbus, Ohio, 43216-1049. All comments will be considered before a final decision is made.

The draft permit and related materials may be reviewed at Carnegie Public Library, 219 East 4th Street, East Liverpool. Materials also can be reviewed at Ohio EPA's Northeast District Office, 2110 E. Aurora Rd., Twinsburg, by first calling (330) 963-1200 to make an appointment."

Was there a secret EPA DOJ "confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only document" for Libby Montana's Grace & Co?

W.R. Grace Bankruptcy Judge Says OK to $250M Libby Settlement

Santa Teresa/San Jeronimo International NAFTA City...

From http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2008/nov/Site-Visit/
November 2008:

"What does it say about border relations when one of the first cheerleaders for Hon Hai Precision Industry/Foxconn's new 9,350-worker plant in San Jeronimo, Chihuahua, Mexico, is the governor of New Mexico? 'This is one of many mutually beneficial projects that I and my economic development people have worked with Chihuahua officials to carry out,' said Gov. Bill Richardson in July. 'This is the kind of economic development that is going to bring the New Mexico-Mexico border to the forefront of international trade and development.'  "

http://www.siteselection.com/issues/2008/nov/Site-Visit/images/Hi-Res-Map.jpg

Verde Group

"William [D., or "Bill"] Sanders, a real estate developer who brought his Verde Realty Group to El Paso [was]...a driving force in developing the Paso Del Norte Group. Sanders, who originally is from El Paso but made his fortune in Chicago, brought a model from that city -- the Commercial Club, a storied organization of great influence in that city. He is the co-founder of the Paso del Norte Group."

http://www.pasodelsur.com/news/plantimeline.html

see:

Verde Santa Teresa Intermodal Park

Swiss Asarco AG attorney

The Chicago Attorney representing the Swiss Asarco Bank's Chicago lake-front home has the same name as the attorney representing the imperial family of Vietnam.
http://vcml.homestead.com/

"May 19, 2009  .... the property is held in trust by Swiss company [bank] Asarco A.G., which Mr. Mikhail [Katamanin] controls....Northbrook lawyer... who represents Asarco, is out of the country until next week, according to employees at his office....The claim also is to be arbitrated in Switzerland, according to the complaint."
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=34091

Hon Hai (Foxconn) Vietnam 5 Billion expansion plan

"Hon Hai (Foxconn) Vietnam mega-site update

August 30, 2007
Taiwanese firm Hon Hai (also known by the trade name Foxconn) recently announced plans for a US$5 billion five-year expansion in Vietnam. This is considerably more than its previous Vietnam investment announcement of US$1 billion. To date, Hon Hai has already invested $200 million in Vietnam.   It is reported Vietnam can provide Hon Hai with 2,000 hectares of land."

http://www.ventureoutsource.com/contract-manufacturing/industry-pulse/2007/hon-hia-foxconn-vietnam-mega-site-update

Smeltertown

"There once was a very small village named Smeltertown on the highway below Asarco.....The village and the school have been torn down. They found lead in the blood of many children and I know some of them died too young because I kept up with them...."

http://familiacortez.com/wordpress/

Copy of a letter sent to EPA Thursday June 25th

"Mr. Luthans,

The report you sent me from 2002 reflects that the EPA (deliberately) used a non-standard EPA-sampling grid.  The EPA did not use the standard grid that the EPA usually did.   Many sites - most within the direction of ASARCO's main plume -- were left out.  That report also sampled City Parks with new sod and dirt.   Also, that report fails to address ground water. 

That 2002 report says that Sunland Park is "safe" --but, back then EPA left-out testing of Anapra/Sunland-Park N.M.; and [your letter] refers to ATSDR as an "expert" when ATSDR has recently been investigated-before-Federal-Congress for faking data.  

I am directing these questions to you because you sat on the La Paz Joint Advisory committee all those years, and were responsible --as the  USA Chair of that Air committee --- for our regional air health, and also are the manager for the only EPA staff local to our region.

The Superfund is not likely to have the data.  The TCEQ told the EPA that the testing was outside their jurisdiction and they turned it over to the EPA who in turn hired a private contractor with high-level security clearance.  Also, dirt is not likely to be the best source -- indoor attic dust, slag-from-a-known-date, and pond sediments are the best sources.  Have any of these been tested?  If not, then why not?

You state that the GAO report I gave you ..."is not a report that addresses risks or wastes that may have been generated at the sites and shipped offsite to facilities such as to the ENCYCLE facility and beyond".  ???  It is enough that the same site(s) that the EPA caught sending illegal wastes to Asarco El Paso are listed, because:  the wastes that ASARCO El Paso burned were UNMANIFESTED (and illegal/secret).  The EPA said that Asarco burned these for years.   Until we get honest testing in this region from our environmental agencies (and so far we haven't had testing for most anything at ALL -- including dioxins, PCBs, mercury, polonium, hexavalent chromium, chromium III and others....) we can't tell what ASARCO left here.

That is your responsibility, and not just Susan Websters; and I hope that you would do everything in your power to back us up and find out what is left here in our community from that illegal/unmanifested burning.  We already know from Rep. Reye's comments that ASARCO paid millions on the condition that the details of what it had done would never be made public -- and, we know that in 1998 the EPA told the DOJ in a confidential-for-settlement-purposes-document about Asarco's illegal activities and then proceeded to keep it secret from our community for the next eight years.   The details are still being kept secret.  That document is now public, and we want the details made public, also."

Grupo Mexico raises bid.... again

"In its latest revised offer fifth in 4 months Grupo Mexico has
increased the cash component to USD 1.46 billion from USD 1.3 billion
and also hiked payouts to asbestos claimants to USD 280 million from USD
250 million.... Sterlite wants to buy the assets of Asarco, Grupo Mexico
is interested in the entire company, including its liabilities.
Creditors will play a crucial role in the sale of Asarco"

http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/06/29/MTAwMzE3/Grupo_Mexico_revises_Asarco_bid_offer_again.html

Federal Dept. of Justice asking for public comments regarding ASARCO Hayden operation ...

sb:  Comments:  proposed Settlement Agreement regarding the Asarco Hayden Plant Site in Hayden, Arizona
    Notice of Proposed Administrative Settlement Agreement and Order ...

The Asarco DOJ "settlement agreement" notice (see link above) says that the notice is available on the USDOJ consent decrees site.

If the new Administration in the DOJ wants to instill confidence and credibility to the Federal Dept. of Justice then please begin by being forthright and honest with our community about what chemicals have been left in our Paso del Norte community from ASARCO's years of secret illegal waste-burning-for-profit.

We in El Paso Texas were denied access or knowledge of the "confidential-for-settlement-purposes" EPA document to the DOJ written in 1998 until an honest DOJ person admitted it was public record and released it in 2006 to me.  Before that, only a "Consent decree" was shown to our community -- and the consent decree did not tell us what had happened (Rep. Reyes said that ASARCO paid millions on the condition that details of its activities would not become public).

We are wondering exactly how many of these secret consent decrees have been made about Asarco.  How do we know that the notice-of-proposed-admin.-settlement-agreement-and-order (below) for Asarco Hayden does not have such a secret component?   How can we know for sure that none of the unmanifested/secret toxic wastes that the EPA told the DOJ ASARCO El Paso (and E. Helena MT) had burned for years, for $$$, never went to Hayden?

Right now the Federal Department of Justice trustee is overseeing the Asarco Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi and yet NONE OF THIS SECRET/UNMANIFESTED WASTE HAS BEEN DISCUSSED.   WHY NOT??   The DOJ, EPA and TCEQ held a public meeting in El Paso recently about ASARCO and instead of taking public comments directly, those agencies hired an Attorney from Bethesda MD to intercede for them with the public -- to the point that the DOJ people in attendance did not want to hand over their business cards but asked the moderator to hand out his instead.

It is becoming clear that someone in the Department of Justice did their job to protect us when made sure that the formerly-confidential EPA/DOJ Asarco document became public -- but that others in our Dept. of Justice are not ensuring that this now-public document is heard.   The Asarco Corpus Christi bankruptcy court should be looking at the secret-illegal toxic wastes (that the EPA told the DOJ were unmanifested, secret, and burned for years here for money.)

What ARE these wastes?   What chemicals have been left in our community from this secret illegal action?  

Many groups want to know the answer to this:  

• Sunland Park wants an answer (and has never gotten an answer in two years from NM Environmental Secretary Ron Curry, who now being considered -- in spite of this -- as a possible candidate for EPA Region 6 Administrator)
• The JAC wants an answer (Joint Air-Advisory Committee for the bi-national La Paz Accord) and passed an international resolution
  
• Members of Sierra Club -- national, regional and local want an answer
• Acorn through the former workers at Asarco El Paso, want an answer
• Get the Lead Out, wants an answer

We have not been given an answer to the question of "What ARE these wastes  - what chemicals have been left in our community from this secret illegal action?"

The entire consent-decree process, in my lay opinion, has become suspect from the use of this "secret agreement" between the DOJ and Asarco, which began an eight year environmental/health sacrifice of the Paso del Norte community. 

If the new Administration in the DOJ wants to instill confidence and credibility to the Federal Dept. of Justice then please begin by being forthright and honest with our community about what chemicals have been left in our community from ASARCO's years of secret illegal waste-burning-for-profit.

What does Asarco El Paso have in common with Banking, Railroads, and Privatization of PEMEX?

December 2008
"...Private Equity Seeks to Corrupt Banking System...There’s a lot of pressure on banks to raise capital and there’s a lot of pressure being exerted by the private equity guys to lean on the Fed and U.S. Treasury to bend the rules to let them play in that sandbox. Pushing hard from the private equity camp are Randall Quarles, Managing Director of Carlyle Group Ltd. and a former senior Treasury official and none other than the former Treasury Secretary himself, Chairman of Cerberus Capital Management, John Snow...."
http://seekingalpha.com/article/110306-overly-leveraged-private-equity-deals-deepen-recession

"In 1988, Snow left CSX Transportation (the railroad) to become President and Chief Operating Officer of CSX Corporation (the holding company). As of April 1989, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of CSX. From 1991, he also served as CSX's Chairman. He continued to hold all three posts until he was named Secretary of the Treasury in 2003..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Snow

2008 November: PEMEX privatization

"In a 13G filed with the SEC recently, Mexican businessman Carlos Slim has disclosed a 7.64% ownership stake in Bronco Drilling (BRNC). He now owns 2,200,000 shares of the company...'Bronco Drilling provides contract land drilling and workover services to oil and natural gas exploration and production companies.'...Carlos joins the ranks of many other investors that have taken advantage of the market volatility to increase/establish stakes in companies."
Nov. 2008
http://seekingalpha.com/article/103568-carlos-slim-discloses-stake-in-bronco-drilling

China News service covers PEMEX bids for transport lines and platforms

    "MEXICO CITY, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), the only firm allowed to explore hydrocarbons fields in Mexico, on Tuesday invited bids for contracts on upgrading natural gas production at the Burgos basin in northern Mexico.   The contracts seek to improve automatic production systems, build transport lines and production platforms, expand gas collection centers and set up new gas centers. Only domestic companies are allowed to participate in the biding for gas collection centers and new gas centers.   The 50,000-square-kilometer basin, which spans the three Mexican states of Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon and Coahuila....contributes around 22 percent of the nation's natural gas output."

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-06/24/content_11593108.htm

20090624 Grupo Mexico raises BID to 3.1 Billion dollars

Grupo Mexico raisesAsarco offer to $3.1 bn

"...Mexico’s largest mining company Grupo Mexico SAB increased its offer for bankrupt Asarco Llc. by $240 million (around Rs1,164 crore) to $3.1 billion, spokesman Juan Rebolledo said on Wednesday in a telephone interview.  Grupo Mexico is raising its cash offer by $210 million for Asarco, Rebolledo said. A payment note for asbestos plaintiffs will be increased from $250 million to $280 million, he said..."

Vedanta Resources PLC (one of three companies bidding on ASARCO)...

"UK companies linked to devastating Indian mine [by] Andrew Wasley 19th June, 2009 ....Plans to bulldoze an Indian mountain sacred to local people were controversial enough... before shareholder data revealed that a raft of UK household names, ranging from Jaguar cars to the Church of England, own shares in the company behind the mine, Vedanta Resources plc....

....Also listed as shareholders are Axa Sun Life Assurance Society, Jaguar Cars Pension Plan, Land Rover Pension Trustees Ltd, Unilever Pension Fund and Coors Brewers Pension Fund."

http://www.theecologist.org/trial_investigations/272286/uk_companies_linked_to_devastating_indian_mine.html

why did Acelor Mittal buy the tiny Border Steel mill

... just about 20-30 miles north of the new San Jeronimo/Santa Teresa international city on the BNSF line?

And why did Freeport McMoran buy and then keep the old Phelps Dodge plant just about 20 miles east of the international city, on the UP Sunset line?

Harbert, Harbinger investors in Carso (Carlos Slim )

http://www.equityhive.com/Main/Individual/assetview.aspx?i=1273693

"HARBERT MANAGEMENT CORP * See Remarks 300 5
HARBINGER CAPITAL PARTNERS SPECIAL SITUATIONS GP, LLC * See Remarks
300 5
HARBINGER CAPITAL PARTNERS OFFSHORE MANAGER, L.L.C. * See Remarks
300 2
HMC INVESTORS, L.L.C. * See Remarks 300 2
HMC - NEW YORK, INC. * See Remarks 300 5
FALCONE PHILIP *See Remarks 28,538,734 4
HARBERT RAYMOND J * See Remarks 300 3
LUCE MICHAEL D * See Remarks 300 3
FIREBRAND INVESTMENTS, LLC[part of NYTIMES newspaper] * See Remarks
300 2
GALLOWAY SCOTT Director 300 17,166
HARBINGER CAPITAL PARTNERS MASTER FUND I, LTD. * See Remarks
10,989,217 1
HARBINGER CAPITAL PARTNERS SPECIAL SITUATIONS FUND, L.P. * See
Remarks 10,989,217 4
HARBINGER CAPITAL PARTNERS NY, LLC * See Remarks 10,989,217 1

HELU CARLOS SLIM Affiliates - see Exhibit 99-1. 9,854,000
HARBINGER HOLDINGS, LLC * See Remarks 28,538,434
HARBINGER CAPITAL PARTNERS LLC * See Remarks 28,538,434"

20080900 "proposed RMPA would change the land tenure designation from retention to disposal to accommodate exchange of the selected public land to the State of New Mexico and/or allow for future sale"

from September 2008 (Mimbres RMP change begun in 2005) "PURPOSE AND
NEED FOR THE RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN
AMENDMENT (RMPA) AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
The purpose of the RMPA is to amend the Mimbres RMP to designate
selected public land for disposal.
The need for action is in response to the State of New Mexico's request
to acquire selected parcels within
Doña Ana County, New Mexico that are not currently identified for
disposal in the Mimbres RMP. The
proposed RMPA would change the land tenure designation from retention to
disposal to accommodate
exchange of the selected public land to the State of New Mexico and/or
allow for future sale.
PLANNING AREA
The proposed RMPA involves identifying for disposal 5,992 acres of
public land through exchange or
sale in Doña Ana County, New Mexico (see Map 1-1). The disposal areas
are located approximately 3
miles west of Las Cruces, south of Interstate 10, and approximately 30
miles south of Las Cruces, in the
vicinity of Santa Teresa, New Mexico. The public land is administered by
the Las Cruces District Office.
Disposal of the public land would include to the extent possible the
sale of land and the minerals
associated with that land or exchange of both surface and subsurface
estates. This EA analyzes potential
impacts resulting from amending the Mimbres RMP and designating selected
public land for disposal,
through exchange or sale..."

http://www.blm.gov/pgdata/etc/medialib/blm/nm/field_offices/las_cruces/las_cruces_planning/bennett_ranch_unit.Par.45874.File.dat/DAC_PROPOSEDRMPA_EA_FONSI_SEPT08.pdf
[the land has transferred now 6/09 from the BLM to the State of N.M. for
future sale to Union Pacific Railroad, whose development-plan for this
area just north of the FOXCONN site has been completed]

THIS LAND IS WITHIN A 15 MILE RANGE OF THE EL PASO ASARCO STACKS THAT
THE EPA SAID ILLEGALLY BURNED [unmanifested/secret] HAZ-WASTE FOR PROFIT
DURING THE 1990's...AND THIS TOXIC WASTE HAS *NEVER* BEEN DECLARED

Carlyle sits on the NYTimes board

William E. Kennard was elected to the Board of Directors of The New
York Times Company in 2001.

Mr. Kennard joined The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm, in May 2001
as a managing director in the global telecommunications and media group.
.....Before serving in the government, Mr. Kennard was a partner and a
member of the board of directors of the law firm of Verner, Liipfert,
Bernhard, McPherson and Hand.

http://www.nytco.com/company/board_of_directors/William_E_Kennard.html

AUGUST 4, 2007 Mr. Slim has since worked to put together a rival consortium, which includes Mexican rail company Grupo Mexico and U.S. railroad Burlington-Northern

"Mr. Slim's empire is so vast here now that doing business without him can be difficult. Two years ago [in 2005], Hutchison Port Holdings and U.S. railroad Union Pacific teamed up to bid on a $6 billion port and railway in Baja California to compete with Long Beach port. But Mr. Slim felt the project had been arranged behind closed doors and was against the idea of the country's biggest project going to foreigners. He made his feelings known to the Baja California governor and the project was stalled. Mr. Slim has since worked to put together a rival consortium, which includes Mexican rail company Grupo Mexico and U.S. railroad Burlington-Northern. He says his potential bid is a better option for the country because the railroad will run along Mexico's north and help spur development. Union Pacific and Hutchison both declined to comment."

http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118615255900587380.html#printMode

Carlos Slim has a net worth of $67 billion....

Bill Gates no longer world's richest man

---

" A Mexican online financial Web site estimates that tycoon Carlos Slim has a net worth of $67 billion...."

http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=34280

20090121 NYTimes "taken out a loan from ... Carlos Slim on terms that would shame the worst subprime lender"

"Wednesday, Jan 21 2009 

On the morning of the inauguration, when attention was focused on the peaceful transition of power from George Bush to Barack Obama, the NY Times disclosed that it had taken out a loan from Mexican financier Carlos Slim on terms that would shame the worst subprime lender:

The New York Times Co., which has been struggling with declining advertising sales and is facing deadlines to repay hundreds of millions in debt, is getting a $250 million infusion from Mexican telecommunications billionaire Carlos Slim.

The Times is paying a hefty price for the investment — an interest rate of 14 percent for the six-year notes —
and is giving Slim warrants that he could use to boost his stake in the company to 17 percent from the current level of 6.9 percent.

There is something ironic about the situation. The NY Times Editors have lambasted the mortgage industry for making subprime loans to the hispanic community. Now a hispanic is making a subprime loan to the NY Times. Maybe the NY Times should just say no to the money, or urge the passing of a law prohibiting such loans. Or maybe the NY Times is just waiting for its bailout package."

http://conservativemeanderings.wordpress.com/2009/01/21/ny-times-takes-out-subprime-mortgage/
and
http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2009/01/ny-times-takes-out-subprime-mortgage.html

coincidences?

...meanwhile the longtime-planned expansion of the Canal St. water treatment plant (just downriver from Asarco) to deliver water to Juarez just never seemed to happen-- and after the Conejos-Medanos Aqueduct was announced, TCEQ quietly put up the picture showing ASARCO's plume reaching the Rio Grande the extent of its property....

"Carlos Slim Stages a Border Water Coup [Apr-Jun '09]
http://www.nmsu.edu/~frontera/today.html

In a flashy desert ceremony replete with mariachis and cheering supporters, Chihuahua Governor Jose Reyes Baeza kicked off a huge, new water supply and sanitation project for Ciudad Juarez on November 23. Designed to provide virtually the entire city with potable water while upgrading outdated wastewater treatment plants, the nearly $300 million public works project should be finished by 2009 or 2010, according to officials. Constructed to pipe in groundwater to existing low-income neighborhoods, the new Conejos-Medanos Aqueduct will be the crown jewel of the project. Once completed, the project could serve an estimated 345,000 residents of Ciudad Juarez. Funding for the water systems expansion will come from both the public and private sectors.

"Today we initiate this project of social transcendence," Gov. Reyes said. "Today this dream is made possible thanks to the joint efforts and work of the government, private enterprise and civil society." A much-needed benefit of the project, Gov. Reyes pledged, would be the elimination of the nasty-smelling wastewater spills that make life miserable for residents of neighborhoods like Riberas del Bravo. He called Conejos-Medanos the most important undertaking of his 3-year-old administration.

The water for the project will be drawn from the Conejos-Medanos aquifer that straddles the borderlands. Known as the Mesilla aquifer in the United States, the vital groundwater source supplies the city of Las Cruces, New Mexico, and other towns on the US side with drinking water. According to Ciudad Juarez and Chihuahua state officials, 23 new deep wells will be drilled to provide water for the Mexican side.

Once laid down, miles of new water distribution lines will add a flow of 1,000 liters per second to Ciudad Juarez's water supply, officials estimate. Manuel Herrera, a spokesman for Ciudad Juarez's Municipal Water and Sanitation Department, said each city resident currently consumes an average 280 liters of water every day, a figure which is 120 liters less than in 2000 when each resident used about 400 liters daily. Herrera affirmed that a concerted effort is underway to cut down on wasteful water use.

"We've arrived at these numbers due to the committed work of society and government," he said. "The results have been very positive."  

The Conejos-Medanos project has implications for nearby US border communities. Greater tapping of the aquifer on the Mexican side will likely impact future water supplies in fast-growing southern New Mexico, where rapid development has become a growing political issue.

For example, the  November 6 Las Cruces municipal election resulted in the election of a new mayor and city councilors considered to hold more growth-cautious positions.

In Mexico, the financing and management of the Conejos-Medanos project is certain to spark controversy.  Standing out in the package is the concession granted to the Carso Infrastructure and Construction company (CISCA). Part of Mexican tycoon Carlos Slim's Grupo Carso, CISCA will invest about $100 million dollars in the project and be in charge of its construction.  In return for the investment, the company was awarded a ten-year concession by the Chihuahua state government to sell water to Ciudad Juarez's municipal government. No further details about the agreement have been publicly released.

Barely unveiled, the Conejos-Medanos project is already drawing critical commentaries on Ciudad Juarez’s Lapolaka.com news website. One writer, for instance, noted the proximity of the project to sections of Ciudad Juarez witnessing land speculation and highway construction connected to new border economic development plans for the planned binational city of Jeronimo-Santa Teresa on the Chihuahua-Mexico border and Anapra across from Sunland Park, New Mexico. Mexican officials did not immediately disclose whether Conejos-Medanos will directly benefit the two envisioned border growth-zones.

In Mexican cities like Aguascalientes, meanwhile, private management of water supplies is generating public criticism of high rates and allegedly bad service. Last year, the Chihuahua City-based Community Technical Consultants banded together with 13 other farm, consumer and environmental organizations to launch a campaign in opposition to water privatization in Chihuahua.

Perhaps in a pre-emptive strike at nascent Conejos-Medanos critics, Gov. Reyes denied that the arrangement with Slim's Grupo Carso would produce economic hardships for water users.

"This will not have a direct impact on the people, on the bill they receive for home water consumption. We all pay water, sewage and sanitation. This is not going to have a negative repercussion on the economy of Juarez residents," Gov. Reyes contended. "The (Ciudad Juarez) water department, with its financial engineering, is going to cover the cost. The private investment has to be paid. The important thing here is that the department, with its financial management exercises every year, will cover this expense without impacting the population."

The Chihuahua state government's high-stakes investment in Conejos-Medanos was readily evident during the kick-off ceremony held at a desert stopping on the Jeronimo-Santa Teresa Highway just outside Ciudad Juarez. The event was attended by Ciudad Juarez Mayor Jose Reyes Ferriz (no relation to the governor), Chihuahua State Supreme Court Chief Justice Rodolfo Acosta Munoz, state elected officials and representatives of the Mexican army. Promised gifts in return for their attendance, hundreds of residents of low-income neighborhoods were transported to the ceremony on private buses. 

"This is a project of life," said Uriel Chavez, one of the attendees, told the governor. "Thanks for thinking about us." Gov. Reyes, in turn, thanked Carlos Slim for making Conejos-Medanos a reality and invited the magnate for a toast of water once the project is done.

Sources: El Diario de Juarez, November 23 and 24, 2007. Articles by Luz del Carmen Sosa. Norte, November 24, 2007. Article by Salvador Castro. Frontenet.com, November 23, 2007. Articles by Felix Gonzalez.  Lapolaka.com, November 23, 24 and 25, 2007. Ecoamericas.com, December 2006. Frontera NorteSur/Environment, September 2000. Las-cruces.org/vote007."

Banco Inbursa (Carlos Slim) bailed out Asarco, Slim also bailed out the NYTIMES after Harbinger went after its board....

"Asarco argued that shortly after Grupo Mexico bought Asarco for $817 million in 1999, it isolated the Southern Peru Copper shares from Asarco, leaving Asarco insolvent [and]... transferred its 54.2% interest in SPCC to Americas Mining Corporation (AMC) in March 31, 2003. Asarco claimed that the AMC dominated and controlled Asarco and forced Asarco to transfer its SPCC shares with the goal of placing the SPCC stock out of reach of creditors.

Asarco claimed that in order to facilitate financing for the SPCC transfer, AMC made "an improper, undisclosed handshake deal with its lender, Banco Inbursa,......whose principal owner is Mexico's richest man, Carlos Slim, "had together purchased approximately 90% of the bonds at deep discounts." "

http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page36?oid=54788&sn=Detail

park was renovated as part of an agreement between mining company, ASARCO, the EPA, and the State of Arizona,

for a map of EPA regions see:
http://www.epa.gov/OUST/regions/regmap.htm

Google News Alert for: asarco

Central Arizona park re-dedicated after getting a makeover ABC15.com (KNXV-TV) - Phoenix,AZ,USA The park was renovated as part of an agreement between mining company, ASARCO, the EPA, and the State of Arizona, according to a news release. ... See all stories on this topic

"The park was renovated as part of an agreement between mining company, ASARCO, the EPA, and the State of Arizona, according to a news release.

Updates to the park include new soil and sod, repainted playground equipment and walls, a new sprinkler system, and new rubber mulch around the climbing equipment.

Hayden Mayor Monica Badillo said during Saturday's festivities, “It’s fantastic that ASARCO finished this project ahead of schedule and was willing to put more funding than was required towards the park.  It shows how much they value the people in Hayden that they were willing to put in the extra effort.”"

1996 Grupo Mexico bid on the Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexcio first concession... (privatization of Mexico rail roads)

"...Privatization of Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico (FNM) is moving
ahead, although at a pace far slower than originally
anticipated--roughly one year behind schedule.

Mexico's Communications and Transport Ministry (SCT) was expected to
award the first concession in mid-October, the Chihuahua al Pacifico
short line, but rejected the bid of Grupo Mexico and South Orient
Railroad Co.--the only consortium that chose not to withdraw from the
proceedings--on Oct. 9 on the grounds that it did not come close enough
to the $50 million value that SCT set. Grupo Mexico/South Orient's ..."

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-18942089.html

"...hearing would continue through Aug. 14 and carry over to Aug. 17-19 if required..."

Google News Alert for: asarco

August hearing set to decide Asarco's fate
"Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA
The confirmation hearing to approve one of the three competing reorganization plans for Tucson-based copper producer Asarco LLC will begin Aug. ..."

ASARCO AG ((Asarco SA) (Asarco Inc)) Registered AUGUST 31 1998

http://www.edoceo.ch/en/asarco_ag_CH02039018381.aspx

http://zh.powernet.ch/webservices/inet/HRG/HRG.asmx/getHRGHTML?chnr=02039018381&amt=020&toBeModified=0&validOnly=0&lang=4&sort=0

The following is excerpted from the above links:
"

26	4.9.2006	Commercial Register Mutation	Asarco AG, in Zürich, CH-020.3.901.838-1, Finanzgeschäfte, Aktiengesellschaft (SHAB Nr. 167 vom 31. 08. 1998, S. 5999). New address: Usteristrasse 11, 8001 Zürich. Issue Nr. 23523 of 29.08.2006 (3532938 / CH02039018381) SOGC publication (PDF-File)
100	31.8.1998	Commercial Register Mutation	Asarco AG, in Zürich , Finanzgeschäfte, Aktiengesellschaft (SHAB Nr. 141 vom 25. 07. 1997, S. 5311). People deleted or signatures revoked: Beltracchi, Angela, von Basel, in Oberengstringen, Mitglied, mit Einzelunterschrift. Peoples registration new or modified: Haberthür, Urs, von Breitenbach, in Oberengstringen, Mitglied, mit Einzelunterschrift.

"
(Federal DOJ Michael Goodstein's letter sending EPA confidential settlement document was July 31 1998)

20090415 Grupo Mexico S.A. de C.V. Obtains Approval To Lay Off Mine Workers

"Grupo Mexico S.A. de C.V. Obtains Approval To Lay Off Mine Workers-DJ
Reuters Key Development - Apr 15, 2009  

Dow Jones reported that Grupo Mexico S.A. de C.V. has received authorization from a federal arbitration board to fire workers at its Cananea copper mine after a 20 month strike, according to the..."
http://www.google.com/finance?cid=675983&morenews=10&rating=1&newsbefore=2009-04-16

20090218 COFECO fines Carlos Slim's Ferrosur and Grupo Mexico's Ferromex 27 Million dollars each...

"Report: Cofeco slaps Ferromex, Ferrosur with US$27mn fines - Mexico
Published: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 17:17 (GMT -0400)

By Business News Americas staff reporters

Mexico's anti-monopoly commission (Cofeco) has decided to fine local rail companies Ferromex and Ferrosur 400mn pesos (US$27mn) each for monopolist...."
http://www.bnamericas.com/news/infrastructure/Report:_Cofeco_slaps_Ferromex,_Ferrosur_with_US*27mn_fines1

Asarco El Paso smelter to be razed and site cleared per Feb. 2009 letter between Aldrich and TCEQ

MR. Thomas L. Aldrich
Vice President Environmental Affairs
ASARCO LLC
5285 E. Williams Circle, Suite 2000
Tuscon, Arizona 85711 
Re: Permit Numbers: 4151, 20345, and Federal Operating Permit No. 2871
Ore Handling and Storage Facility and Smelter
El Paso, El Paso County
Regulated Entity Number:  RN100219021
Customer Reference Number:  CN602815524
Account Number:  EE-0007-G 
Dear Mr. Aldrich: 
 
As requested in your letter dated February 6, 2009 we are voiding active New Source Review permit numbers 4151 and 20345.  We understand the copper smelter authorized by Permit No. 20345 and the supporting ore handling facility authorized by Permit No. 4151 will be razed and the plant site cleared. Accordingly, the pending Permit No. 4151 renewal application, revision request, and notification of qualified change request are also voided. 
Additionally, as requested the pending application for Federal Operating Permit (FOP) No. 2871 for the Asarco El Paso Plant site authorized under Title 30 Texas Administrative Code (30 TAC) Chapter 122 is voided. 
Thank you for informing us of the status of your site.  If you have any questions regarding this notice, please contact Mr. Javier Maldonado, P.E. at (512) 239-6047 or Dois Webb, P.E. at (512) 239-1575. 
  
This action is taken under authority delegated by the Executive Director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. 
Sincerely, 
  
Richard A. Hyde, P.E., Director
Air Permits Division
Office of Permitting and Registration 
RAH/DW/ 

cc: David Cabe, P.E., Zephyr Environmental Corp, Austin

Air Permits Section Chief, New Source Review, Section (6PD-R), Environmental

Protection Agency, Region 6, Dallas

Air Quality Manager, Environmental Services, City of El Paso, El Paso

Air Section Manager, Region 6 - El Paso 

Project Number:  120312, 121726, and 122846

First consolidated settlement

"...On January 23,[1998] the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) and ASARCO Incorporated signed a historic agreement regarding alleged [read Rep. Reyes' quote, above that Asarco paid millions so that the community would not find out...] hazardous waste and water violations at two of Asarco’s facilities. According to the EPA, it was the first time that the Government had agreed to a consolidated settlement with a company regarding violations of different statutes at different facilities...."

http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/mercury/430498.pdf

Quote from Pancho Villa

“It was during one of Villa’s visits to the Chihuahua plant that there emerged the classic remark that went the length and breadth of Mexico. Some one asked him in Spanish if he spoke English. His reply was: “Si. ‘American Smelting’ y ’son-of-a bitch.’ ” It was all the English he knew.” [1916]

http://avalosblog.wordpress.com/2009/06/13/1916-ny-times-refugees-flocking-from-the-interior/

Engineering gorup in 1974 handled the El Paso Lead smelter job, and 50% of the uranium projects....

[in the olden days, lead smelters were used to separate out uranium from the original ores (still are, in Korea)]

"...I left OZ in October of 1974 to take on the PM job for New Jersey Zinc’s Zinc Refinery in Clarksville Tennessee...the company made me Manager and the Vice President of the Non-Ferrous Division....At the time I had what was probably the largest engineering group in the world doing lead-zinc projects as well as uranium extraction projects. We were getting around half the uranium projects on offer and we had the El Paso lead smelter job...."

Otago School of Mines & Metallurgy
1950s Graduates Newsletter
October 2002
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6776971/Newsletter3

Group to join

http://connect.sierraclub.org/Groups/ASARCO

ASARCO Tacoma contaminated over 1000 square miles (and it was a smaller smelter than El Paso's)

"Air pollution from the Tacoma smelter settled on the surface soil over a vast region – more than 1,000 square miles of the Puget Sound basin. Elevated levels of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals polluted soil and groundwater around the region."

http://www.ecy.wa.gov/news/2009news/2009-137.html

Imagine how many square miles the Asarco El Paso stacks contaminated.  1000 square miles is over 15 miles away from the stacks --- and this would include the Santa Teresa international development, Petroleum tank farms, and other industries being built within the "ZONE".

20000620 Public hearing in Austin on the TNRCC (TCEQ); Asarco lobbyist quoted

"June 20-21, 2000 Public Hearing on TNRCC Austin, Texas

109 people singed up to testify at the hearing--many more than at any other Sunset hearing that’s taken place this year. Over 90% testified in favor of changing TNRCC to better protect public health and the environment.  Industry lobbyists uniformly opposed most of the good recommendations made by Sunset staff.

QUOTES FROM HEARING TESTIMONY
For those of you who were not able to make it to Austin to hear the 16 hours of testimony, we’ve provided a sample below for you.  The first quotes are from Mike Davis, an Austin lawyer representing citizens concerned about refinery pollution, and Alfred Williams, a resident of Corpus Christi and neighbor to dangerous refineries.  The second quote is from an industry lobbyist.  His testimony will give you a taste of the language, themes, and quality of debate we’ll be facing in the legislative session on these issues.

Anyone can listen to the hearings by accessing the audio archive on the Sunset web page: http://www.sunset.state.tx.us/ (go to General Information, scroll down to the “public hearing” link and you’ll get to the live and archived audio)
Mike Davis (Slack and Davis law firm)
“My experience in trying to obtain information is that the record keeping system at the agency is abysmal.  What I’ve found is that to get meaningful information about a facility is nearly impossible at the agency.”
“[We compiled Valero’s upset history from 1994-1999--a project that took hundreds if not thousands of hours. Their emissions are routinely] understated by 80-90%.  If you look specifically at 1995, they reported 325,000 pounds of emissions.  When you roll in the upsets in there, they had 4 million pounds of emissions-- a 92.6% understatement-an amount that exceeded their permit level, in a year which, coincidentally, they received the Governor’s Environmental Excellence award.  In 1997 Valero had 53 upsets, in 1998 82 upsets, in 1999 they had 100 upsets.  But there is nothing in the regulatory oversight at TNRCC that does anything to deter that.  There is no penalty...”
 
Alfred Williams
“I live in Corpus Christi Texas.  I’m living in the same location I was when I moved there 30 years ago, and there were no refineries then.  They moved in next to me.  And my problems have gone downhill ever since.  I don’t know how many of you have ever had to leave home at night and you’ve worked all day and you’re tired.  And you have a kid who’s scared to death, or a wife tell you I can’t breathe and you have to call an ambulance and take her to the hospital... And then when you call TNRCC you get a recording.  Any time after 5:00 they’re gone.  Then 2 or 3 days later they come out and say to you, ‘you didn’t smell anything, didn’t nothing happen, you have to be lying because we talked to Valero and they said nothing happened and they must be telling the truth.’”
“I don’t get clean air any more.  I get the left-overs.  I live it day in and day out.  It’s a nightmare.  I’m here today to let you know something has to be done.  TNRCC is not doing it’s job.  I’ve come here today, taken off work to tell you my problems because TNRCC, they don’t have no time for little guys like me.  It’s always what the industry says.  They are always right and you are always wrong.  I have neighbors up the street who say, ‘we don’t call the TNRCC because TNRCC never does anything.’”
 
Kinnan Goleman
(Goleman is currently registered as a lobbyists for the following entities, among others: ASARCO Inc., Celanese Ltd., Deer Park Refinery, Equilon Pipeline Company LLC, Exxon Mobil, Gulf Coast Waste Disposal Authority, Koch Industries, Motiva Enterprises LLC, TXI Operations.)
“What is ‘the public?’ I believe I represent the public...”
“...One entity has the duty and responsibility to protect the public welfare and the public health and the environment--and that’s the TNRCC...Others, even those that may name themselves under some heading such as ‘public interest’ or something, are really just a special interest.  And what we have frequently in permitting and regulatory contexts are two principal specials interests in competition with the TNRCC--the tennis ball being batted back in forth.  The command and control advocates vs. the regulated entities that are seeking increased innovation and efficiency from the TNRCC.”
“A variety of claims of TNRCC prejudice--being biased against citizens-- are contained in the environmental activists’ group material filed with staff and in testimony here today... We have to remember that claims do not equal evidence...a vial of water, even one that has discoloration, may not serve as evidence of any violation or any threat to public health or welfare...Great care needs to be take in making any significant changes as to how TNRCC employs its expertise... as it gathers evidence of non-compliance, just so that people with claims can be appeased.”

http://www.texascenter.org/sunset/hearing.htm
June 2000 Public Hearing
- quoted under fair use, for public good and not for private gain -

TENORM (natural radiation)

"Industrial Sectors with TENORM...The improper disposal, re-use, and recycling of diffuse TENORM has led to circumstances resulting in contamination events and unnecessary public exposures....

Table 6. Estimated annual production rates and average 226Ra concentrations
Material/Waste Stream     
Production Rate (metric tons per year) & Average 226Ra Concentration, Bq/g (pCi/g)

Metal mining and processing     1.0E+09     0.18 (5)
- Rare earths     2.1E+03     33.3 (900)
- Zirconium, hafnium, titanium, and tin     4.70E+05     1.59 (43)
- Large volume industries (e.g., copper, iron)     1.0E+09     0.18 (5)

...The metals extraction industry typically generates ... less than 0.1 billion MT (.11 billion short tons) of smelter slag. ....Measurements made at a tin smelter showed 238U concentrations up to 1.59 Bq/g (43 pCi/g) and 232Th concentrations up to 0.7 Bq/g (19 pCi/g). Gamma survey measurements at a tin smelter showed radiation levels in slag storage areas ranging from ~0.087 to 4.35 uSv/h (10 uR/h to 500 uR/h), with average levels less than ~0.522 uSv/h (60 uR/h). "
http://www.tenorm.com/sectors.htm#Metal%20Mining%20and%20Processing%20Waste

" My suspicion (I have no facts in this case) is that much of what came from Texas and Louisiana may fit into that broad definition of "NORM" (normally occurring radioactive material) that - though naturally occurring - becomes more concentrated than its natural "dose" on oil field pipe and drilling equipment. I confess, that if I even knew exactly how that material was regulated federally [it was not regulated] and managed in the States of Texas and Louisiana, I have forgotten it over the past decade..".... An EPA Director for the Paso del Norte region , personal email 07/24/08

bankruptcy court gave copper miner Asarco LLC the go-ahead to set up custodial trust

google News Alert

Bankruptcy court allows Asarco to set up custodial trusts Reuters - USA June 8 (Reuters) - A US bankruptcy court gave copper miner Asarco LLC the go-ahead to set up custodial trust settlement agreements which will allow it to ... See all stories on this topic

1996 Petroleum Industry explores disposal of NORM waste by smelting....

"September 1996 ...Radiological Dose Assessment Related to Management of Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials Generated by the Petroleum Industry by K.P. Smith, D.L. Blunt, G.P. Williams, and C.L. Tebes  Environmental Assessment Division Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, Illinois  60439"

Estimated doses to the general public from both smelter stack emissions and use of products made from recycled steel and slag are lower by at least two orders of magnitude than estimated doses related to unrestricted shallow burial of the same quantity of NORM-contaminated equipment. Furthermore, doses resulting from smelting contaminated equipment can be controlled by limiting the contamination level of the initial feed.

At the present time, regulatory limits on the release of radioactively contaminated metals have not been established. .....

The IAEA is proposing a clearance level (i.e., unrestricted release criterion) of 0.3 becquerel per gram 7 (i.e., 8 picocuries per gram [pCi/g])  for Ra-226, Ra-228, Th-228, and Pb-210; metals contaminated 8 with higher activity levels could not be released from the generator to a commercial smelter or other facility. The IAEA has no regulatory authority over the petroleum industry, and the petroleum industry would not be subject to this limit if adopted....

Although smelting currently is not employed to dispose of NORM-contaminated equipment, it has been considered by the petroleum industry as a potentially viable disposal option. For equipment that cannot be easily cleaned and reused (i.e., scrap metal), smelting might be a preferable disposal option to landfilling or indefinite storage. The bulk of this scrap metal is likely to consist of scale-encrusted tubing that cannot be easily cleaned because of its small diameter....

8.4.2  Doses to the Public from Smelter Emissions Dose estimates from smelting 50,000 t of NORM-contaminated scrap metal are presented in Table 6. Doses are presented for the maximally exposed individual, who is located approximately 500 m away from the stack release. The total dose from smelting 50,000 t of contaminated metal is estimated to be on the order of 4 ◊ 10 mrem/yr. Doses to the maximally exposed individual from -4 smelter emissions are estimated to be two orders of magnitude lower than doses estimated for other public end-use scenarios."
 www.evs.anl.gov/pub/doc/anlead2.pdf

Texas Smelter site in Galveston shows low-level radioactive compounds as well as arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead etc......

"Case History: The 170 acre Tex-Tin Superfund site is located near La Marque, Galveston County, Texas. This facility is an inactive tin and copper smelter and contaminants were found in soils, groundwater and surface water, including the Swan Lake ecosystem and associated salt marsh habitats. Major contaminants identified were arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead and nickel as well as low-level radioactive compounds. In September, 1999, the Trustees entered into settlement negotiations with the Responsible Parties (RPs), through the Department of Justice (DOJ). A Consent Decree was signed in August 2000, with DOI-FWS concurrence..."

http://www.fws.gov/southwest/es/contaminants/NRDAR/SiteInformation/Texas/TexTin.pdf

*WHY WON'T THE EL PASO ASARCO SITE PUBLISH CHEMICAL TESTING DATA FOR ALL THOSE SAME COMPOUNDS?*

1991 El Paso Texas was recharging the Hueco aquifer with re-injection of tertiary-treated wastewater....

Brock, R.D., Buska, P.M., and Godsy, E.M., 1994, Hydrogeologic and water quality data from wells near the Hueco bolson recharge project area, El Paso, Texas, 1990 and 1991: U.S. Geological Survey Open File Report 94-329, 85 p.

Abstract Tertiary-treated wastewater currently (1991) is being injected into the Hueco bolson aquifer at a site in northeastern El Paso, Texas, to supplement the quantity of available freshwater. Hydrologic data were compiled and water-quality and bacterial data were collected from existing wells near the Hueco Bolson Recharge Project (HBRP) in August and September 1990 and 1991. Borehole tracer tests indicated upward ground-water flow in nearly all tested intervals of several observation wells. The cumulative volume of injected water was less than the volume produced from wells adjacent to the HBRP area. Water levels in three production wells, located more than 1.5 miles from the injection wells, declined at rates comparable to those observed before injection operations. Water levels in wells located within 0.75 mile of the injection-well pipeline declined at a slower rate after HBRP injection operations had begun. Between 1985 and 1991, water levels in observation wells located within 700 feet of an injection well either did not appreciably decline, or declined at smaller rates than water levels in more distant production wells. Trihalomethane compounds were detected in water from 8 of the 16 observation and production wells sampled in 1990 and in 10 of the 17 wells sampled in 1991. Concentrations trihalomethane compounds in these samples ranged from 0.05 to 1.9 mg/L in 1990 and from 0.05 to 1.4 mg/L in 1991. Concentrations of trihalomethane compounds in samples of injected water from two wells were 27.8 and 34.6 mg/L respectively, in 1991. Dibromomethane and dichloromethane were detected in water from injection wells and from observation wells within about 700 feet of the injection wells. Aerobic bacteria were determined to be the only bacteria type present in ground water except for samples from two wells, which also contained denitrifying bacteria. The populations of aerobic bacteria determined in ground water ranged from 80 to more than 160,000 most probable number of organisms per milliliter of sample.

20090200 Enviornmental, Safety and Health professional at the [El Paso Asarco] plant deflamatory comment after announcement of its closing....

"Bear 13 Solon, OH  #11 Feb 4, 2009

 

I see all these "closet environmentalists" with their STUPID (no, moronic) comments and I can't help but sit here and laugh. El Paso missed out on a golden opportunity and it deserves the dire economic straits that its in...I worked as an Enviornmental, Safety and Health professional at the plant and others around the globe and the El Paso plant was by far the cleanest. You "closet environmentalists" should really re-focus your efforts....maybe, protest our sister city's efforts on curtailing pollution...you bunch of morons!"
http://www.topix.net/forum/source/el-paso-times/TSUM1VJIPTE4ET8UF

Anne Fischel Lin Nelson report for CHEJ

For CHEJ Superfund Report, January 2009
Source – Anne Fischel, Lin Nelson, for the “No Borders” Project (on Communities Living and Working with Asarco)
 
For Financial Impacts Section: Focus on the Asarco bankruptcy story
Tentative Titles – “Toxic Finances Threaten Community Health” or
                           “Corporate Bankruptcy Threatens Rights to Public Health”

(available through Bing search engine, "asarco illegal waste")":
http://acdrupal.evergreen.edu/envirohealth/system/files/CHEJ%20%20Report%20-%20Fin%20Impacts-Asarco-rev.doc

see:
http://acdrupal.evergreen.edu/envirohealth/home

-- The report needs to mention that the bankruptcy fails to consider the 1998 (now public) EPA-DOJ confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only document that proves ASARCO illegally burned unmanifested toxic wastes for profit for years.  And, the report needs to say the whole bankruptcy is a sham unless it considers this waste and what chemicals were left in our communities from those secret activities
 

 

Type 2 diabetes (reported to be very high in El Paso)

""....the study conducted by Ana Navas-Acien, of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland and colleagues found that levels in tap water are higher than this. And the situation is getting worse as people in other countries of the world are exposed to much higher levels of arsenic.....

For the study, the researchers analyzed 788 adults age 20 and older who had their urine tested for arsenic levels as part of a study conducted by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey in 2003-2004, a nationwide health study that for the first time collected and tested arsenic levels in urine.

The study found that participants with type 2 diabetes had a 26 percent higher level of total arsenic in their urine compared to those not having the disease."

A 2006 Science News article reported the discovery of a new hormone, produced in our bones, that controls blood sugar better than insulin.   Not all water filtration units remove arsenic.

How to live on a former Asarco smelter site

ASARCO former Ruston and Tacoma smelter site --
".... the cities of Ruston and Tacoma make money from the trickle down of millionaires, the developer rides the housing bubble through the crisis, and the EPA finds a new owner to take care of the toxic cleanup. But whatever kills you after three years is your own problem, because after the property is sold it has a three-year warranty. But, they add reassuringly in their FAQ, there will be a homeowners association prepared to manage that risk for you."
http://utopiaorbust.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/photo-message-from-a-toxic-waste-site/

1988 "Only Asarco’s El Paso smelter currently treats concentrates that are considered to have high levels of volatile impurities"

"....[1988 - four years before the ConTop installation...] contamination of the soil surrounding a smelter also is of concern. Fortunately, toxic metals are present only in very small concentrations in most domestic copper ores.  Only Asarco's El Paso smelter currently treats concentrates that are considered to have high levels of volatile impurities. The Anaconda-Butte and Asarco-Tacoma smelters used to treat such concentrates, but they closed in 1980 and 1985, respectively..."

U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Copper: Technology and Competitiveness,
OTA-E-367 (Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, September 1988).

1998: Yet another study that showed it is not just Lead-pottery and Lead-candy-wrappers

"...for three smelter studies: El Paso, Texas Lead Study [19], Helena Valley Lead Study [20],
and Silver Valley-Revisited Lead Study [17]. In the Midvale Community Lead Study [22] ....
The isopleths [i.e. graphs], which show increasing soil-lead concentrations in the vicinity of the smelters,
“support the conclusion that the smelters are the primary sources of lead contamination in the
area.” In addition, the Heavy Metal Exposure Study [60] found that “there was a general trend
toward increasing levels of environmental metal burdens with proximity to the smelter.” The
evidence for the emitter being the contributing source of the lead, therefore, stems from
increasing soil-lead concentrations with decreasing distance from the emitter."

February 1998
EPA 747-R-98-001a
FINAL REPORT
SOURCES OF LEAD IN SOIL:
A LITERATURE REVIEW
Prepared by
Battelle Memorial Institute
Technical Programs Branch
Chemical Management Division
Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics
Office of Prevention, Pesticides, and Toxic Substances
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Washington, DC 20460

"In 1999, Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D. C. published a report on .... uranium and radioactive chemicals in the “Copper Belt” of Southern Arizona."

Excerpt:

"Levels in excess of the federal MCLs and state guidelines were found in groundwater and surface water samples, as well as soil and sediment samples at abandoned and active copper mines. TENORM exceedences were also found in groundwater at active and inactive copper mines. Uranium byproducts were recovered from heap leach dumps and in-situ operations that feed SX-EW and ion exchange circuits at several copper mines. Radioactivity was discovered in copper mineral processing waste streams. Elevated levels of radioactivity were also found to occur in the process solutions and process wastes."

For entire report, see: www.epa.gov/radiation/docs/tenorm/402-r-99-002.pdf  "

http://www.savethesantacruzaquifer.info/Superior.htm

Asarco Bankruptcy Hearing friday

"A hearing is set for Friday (June 5) on the competing offers"
http://www.hedgeco.net/news/news_land.php?i=http://www.azbiz.com/articles/2009/06/03/news/doc4a2022be4f4fc331210698.txt

"Vedanta tumbles on Asarco bidding war"

Google alert:

Vedanta tumbles on Asarco bidding war · Finance Yard By Financial Times .....Read the full story on the Financial Times.

"....Vedanta, through its Sterlite subsidiary, has the right to match any higher bid under the terms of its deal with Asarco’s administrators. However, the group had less than $2.9bn in cash at the end of March so an equal offer would probably require raising fresh capital.

“We are concerned that the higher bid by Grupo México could lead to Vedanta overpaying for the Asarco assets,” said GMP analyst Matt Fernley, who cut Vedanta to “hold”. He valued the Asarco assets at just $1.8bn."

Semi-privatization of PEMEX through "service contracts" - coming up in JULY

"Mexico's state oil company PEMEX this month or next will have the model ready for new service contracts..."Risk sharing and production sharing arrangements are still not legal by constitutional standards in Mexico. [The performance-based contracts] try to emulate risk sharing and production sharing without violating constitutional restrictions," González said."

PEMEX service contract model to be ready by July

"Americas Mining Company Wins Right to Appeal Judgement in ASARCO Ruling without Posting Cash Bond"

Americas Mining Company Wins Right to Appeal Judgement in ASARCO ...

"...U.S. Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the Fifth Circuit District Court in Brownsville, Texas yesterday granted Grupo Mexico the right to post an alternative financial guarantee to secure its Motion for Stay. In its opinion, the Court said it would allow AMC [subsidiary of Grupo Mexico] to place in escrow shares of Southern Copper Corporation [Peru] stock rather than a cash bond, as was requested by ASARCO, to secure the enforcement of any judgment at appeal. The appeal is expected to take at least a year...."

updates from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regarding the ASARCO site in El Paso, TX.

Under the heading "Custodial Trustee and Future Remedial Work" a paragraph has been updated to read :

"A proposed settlement agreement was filed with the bankruptcy court by the state of Texas and ASARCO. Under the proposed settlement agreement, ASARCO's El Paso smelter property will be placed in an environmental custodial trust and managed by a custodial trustee. Though the custodial trust approach has not yet been approved by the bankruptcy court in the ASARCO case, the TCEQ wishes to identify a potential trustee in the event that one must be chosen quickly as a result of the bankruptcy process. Any interested party is required to respond to the Request for Information (RFI), which is posted http://esbd.cpa.state.tx.us/bid_show.cfm?bidid=82052. The deadline for submittal of responses to the RFI was June 1, 2009. The TCEQ received 25 submittals and is proceeding with evaluations."

You can also view this update on the main ASARCO web page.

Poker game raises the bid -- but, what are the stakes?

"MEXICO CITY, June 2 (Reuters) - Copper miner Grupo Mexico said on Tuesday ....it would contribute $1.55 billion to Asarco, lifting the total amount of cash on hand in the Asarco estate available for distribution to its creditors to $2.9 billion."

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN0225032620090603

"Americas Mining Company, a Grupo Mexico Affiliate, Amends Reorganization Plan to Retain Equity Interest in ASARCO LLC"

"[June 2, 2009 Business Wire]....the competing plan under consideration by the Court, offered by India-based Vedanta, offers only $1.1 billion in cash and a non-interest bearing so-called “copper note,” which Vedanta values at $200 million, backstopped only by a $100 million letter of credit. As previously announced, AMC has funded an escrow with $1.3 billion to backstop its plan. A third plan, offered by Harbinger Capital Partners, amounts to $500 million in cash with interests in litigation against Vedanta and AMC that may never be realized...."
http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090602005819&newsLang=en

"Insurer Objects To Grupo's Asarco Plan Disclosures"

"Insurance company Century Indemnity Co..... lodged its objection Friday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas, claiming that the Mexican parent company’s disclosure statement fails to provide adequate information..."

http://insurance.law360.com/registrations/user_registration?article_id=104141&concurrency_check=false

20090504 Grupo Mexico could potentially win $2.6 Billion dollars if Sterlite loses their ASARCO bid (that's a lot of money)

"NRI billionaire Anil Agarwal-led Sterlite Industries faces a potential $2.6-billion lawsuit if it loses out in the race to acquire America's third-largest copper producer Asarco to the target firm's parent company Grupo Mexico....."

"Asarco's independent board and Sterlite sought the approval of certain conditions under which Asarco would grant a release from the potential $2.6 billion lawsuit to be brought against Sterlite for having breached the original purchase agreement to buy Asarco's assets.

However, Judge Schmidt (of bankruptcy court) ruled that such release will not take effect if it is the Grupo Mexico Reorganization Plan the one that is eventually confirmed and approved, in which case Asarco, under the control of Grupo Mexico, would be able to pursue the aforementioned suit against Sterlite," Grupo Mexico said....."
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/sterlite-may-face-26-bn-suit-if-asarco-bid-fails/00/29/60437/on