Businessman gets 5 years in Synagro case

http://www.freep.com/article/20091113/NEWS01/91113017/1320/Businessman-gets-5-years-in-Synagro-case
[reprinted under fair use]
 
 Nov. 13, 2009 | Updated: 5:07 p.m. Nov. 13, 2009
"Businessman gets 5 years in Synagro case
BY BEN SCHMITT AND JOE SWICKARD
 

FREE PRESS
 
 Detroit businessman Rayford Jackson, a key figure in the Synagro sludge-hauling scandal in Detroit, was sentenced this afternoon to the maximum prison sentence he could receive under his guilty plea -- five years.

 
 
Jackson, 44, had previously pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to commit bribery before U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn, who today rejected a request from Jackson’s lawyer that he be given only two years in prison.

Defense lawyer Richard Morgan said that Synagro “should be standing here, and they’re not.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Bullotta disputed defense claims that Jackson was somehow lured into the bribery scheme. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” he told the judge. He also challenged the claim that, for all its notoriety, the now-canceled Synagro contract with the city would have ultimately benefited Detroiters. “It was all about Rayford Jackson,” Bullotta said. "He stood to make millions.”

In dispensing the maximum sentence, Judge Cohn noted with displeasure the defendant’s refusal to acknowledge his wrongdoing, even after he admitted to his misdeeds. “Mr. Jackson has not displayed contrition and remorse and he has not apologized,” Cohn said.

But the judge added, Jackson, who has refused to cooperate with investigators in the ongoing probe, still has an opportunity to improve his fate. He instructed Jackson that if he decides to cooperate with the feds within the first year of his prison term, the length of his sentence could be revisited.

“There’s still an opportunity for you to express contrition and remorse in the form of cooperation,” he said.

Jackson, a flashy entrepreneur who traveled through Detroit political circles with an attractive young television anchorwoman on his arm, arrived in court this afternoon dapper – and silent – as ever. He wore a dark, double-breasted pinstriped suit and a black bowler with a jaunty feather, which he wore into the courtroom.

Bullotta said Jackson “and Jackson alone decided to bribe Monica Conyers,” the former Detroit city councilwoman who herself is awaiting sentencing in January for her role in the Synagro scandal.

Bullotta said the evidence showed Jackson was operating actively and independently because he did not tell disgraced Synagro official James Rosendall about bribing Conyers until after Jackson had done so. Jackson, the prosecutor said, operated out of “pure greed.”

Jackson is slated to report to prison on Jan. 15.

After the verdict, U.S. District Attorney Terrence Berg said, “I hope this will be a deterrent to anyone considering any type of similar conduct in the form of bribing public officials.”

After issuing the sentence, Cohn took time to commend the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office and likened their efforts to Hercules, who in Greek mythology cleaned the stables of Augean stables full of thousands of cattle in a single day."

[Fwd: TCEQ ASARCO (El Paso) Update]

You are subscribed to receive updates from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regarding the ASARCO site in El Paso, TX. 
We have added the following comment to the ASARCO web page.
On June 5, 2009, the bankruptcy court approved the settlement agreement concerning the El Paso Smelter and the Amarillo Smelter Sites.  On November 13, 2009, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division, issued an order confirming the plan of reorganization put forth by Americas Mining Corporation, the parent corporation of the debtor.  This plan implements the settlement referenced above that places $52,080,000 in an environmental custodial trust to address remedial activities. 

This service is provided to you at no charge by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Visit us on the web at www.tceq.state.tx.us.

GovDelivery, Inc. sending on behalf of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality · 12100 Park 35 Circle · Austin TX 78753 · 512-239-1000

El Paso ASARCO illegally and secretly burned Toxic waste for years

"RCRA makes it a crime for a person to knowingly treat, store or dispose of hazardous waste without a permit. 42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)."

So why isn't someone in Jail, after El Paso ASARCO (and E. Helena MT Asarco) illegally and secretly burned Toxic waste for years?

And, why is there a Swiss Bank named ASARCO A.G. (Asarco S.A., Asarco Inc.)??

Why won't the Federal DOJ Bankruptcy Trustee require that the Bankruptcy Court considers ALL liabilities for ASARCO -- i.e. the liabilities from years of secretly burning military and industrial toxic wastes for profit?

What in the heck is going on?

When EPA tries to do its job, it is labeled "Activist"

"Gov. Rick Perry, who appoints the state panel's three commissioners,
has called the EPA an activist agency that could derail Texas' economy."

Umm, you mean the plans for Grupo Mexico and Verde groups first planned
international city in the shadow of the Asarco El Paso stacks ---- in
the middle of this toxic disaster and the massive cancer-zone?

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/2009/11/15/1115epa.html

Sham Recycling leads to Sham Asarco bankruptcy and sham decisions

• Why won't the Dept. of Justice Bankruptcy Trustee require that the Bankruptcy court consider the liabilities from the secret military and industrial wastes illegally burned at Asarco El Paso and E. Helena for many years?
• Isn't it illegal to not require full disclosure of the toxic wastes in the Asarco bankruptcy? 
  
• Why won't the news disclose how Carlyle Group owns 20% of Grupo Mexico?
• Why did the EPA report that the Beta Radiation levels in El Paso just before Asarco shut down were the highest in the USA?
  
• The shut down occurred soon after the TCEQ made an abrupt decision to not bring nuclear wastes to this region for disposal, after all.
  
• Why weren't we told the truth for eight years (from 1998 to 2006), and why are the government and attorneys acting as if that secret document is not now public??
  
• Why won't the government disclose what poisons are still here from those activities?
• Why does Grupo Mexico plan to bid on a Pacific coast seaport - to run it for 50 years and bring rail freight through a port of entry about only ten miles from the Asarco El Paso epicenter?  How could such construction and planning be done if the true extent of the toxic-waste contamination were exposed?
• What happened here?!?
  

Google News Alert for: asarco bankruptcy

Grupo Mexico Chairman Gets Long-Awaited Prize Wall Street Journal "A full payment is a rare species in bankruptcy," said Jack Kinzie of Baker Botts LLP, who had argued that Sterlite should take Asarco out of bankruptcy. ... See all stories on this topic

"Ten years after launching a hostile takeover of U.S. copper refiner Asarco LLC and four years after forcing it into Chapter 11 bankruptcy, Mexican billionaire Germán Larrea Mota-Velasco [AND CARLYLE GROUP - THEY OWN 20% of GRUPO MEXICO] finally has what he wanted: control of the copper giant free from the threat of environmental and asbestos litigation.

The Grupo Mexico SAB chairman also will rule over one of the world's largest copper producers in terms of known ore reserves, adding Asarco's mines to properties Mr. Larrea operates in Mexico and Peru."

Sham Recycling leads to Sham Bankruptcy

And still the Dept. of Justice Bankruptcy Trustee fails to make the Bankruptcy Court consider liabilities from the years of illegal secret military & industrial waste burning at Asarco El Paso and E. Helena MT.

Why?!




Google Web Alert for: Asarco

Grupo Mexico should control Asarco, judge rules Nov 14, 2009 ... Grupo Mexico should control Asarco, judge rules, A US District Court judge has ruled Grupo Mexico SAB should regain control of bankrupt ...

"A U.S. District Court judge has ruled Grupo Mexico SAB should regain control of bankrupt Tucson copper miner Asarco LLC.

The ruling, issued Friday night by Judge Andrew Hanen of the Southern District of Texas, comes after months of legal battles between Grupo, Asarco's estranged parent company, and competitor Sterlite Industries Ltd."

Scientists can find Water on the Moon but not ASARCO Toxic Waste in El Paso

It has been  three Years since the Federal Dept. of Justice made public an EPA/Asarco confidential settlement document detailing how Asarco (El Paso, TX and E. Helena MT) secretly burned military and industrial wastes for profit --- and, U.S.A. scientists cannot tell the community what poisons were left here.

Yet, scientists can track water down to the ATOM on the moon. 

"There is water on the Moon, scientists stated unequivocally on Friday...."The water findings came through an analysis of the slight shifts in color after the impact, showing telltale signs of water molecules that had absorbed specific wavelengths of light. “We got good fits,” Dr. Colaprete said. “It was a unique fit.” The scientists also saw colors of ultraviolet light associated with molecules of hydroxyl, consisting of one hydrogen and one oxygen, presumably water molecules that had been broken apart by the impact and then glowed like neon signs."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/14/science/14moon.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print

El Paso ASARCO illegally and secretly burned Toxic waste for years

"RCRA makes it a crime for a person to knowingly treat, store or dispose of
hazardous waste without a permit. 42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)."

So why isn't someone in Jail, after El Paso ASARCO (and E. Helena MT Asarco)  illegally and secretly burned Toxic waste for years?

And, why is there a Swiss Bank named ASARCO A.G. (Asarco S.A., Asarco Inc.)??

Why won't the Federal DOJ Bankruptcy Trustee require that the Bankruptcy Court considers ALL liabilities for ASARCO -- i.e. the liabilities from years of secretly burning military and industrial toxic wastes for profit?

What in the heck is going on?

Selenium groundwater data Asarco El Paso 8/09

[click on image to enlarge table]
taken from data at
http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/assets/public/remediation/variousremediationsites/split_sampling_results_by_tceq_aug2009.xls

Re: Is there selenium data for Asarco El Paso?

 

The sampling data is currently on the ASARCO web page.  The direct link to the sampling page is http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/remediation/sites/water.

 

Thanks

 

Lorinda D Gardner

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

El Paso Regional Director

lgardner@tceq.state.tx.us

915.834.4951

<<11/11/2009 2:06 PM >>>
Hi, Lorinda,
Please see the article below about selenium in E. Helena.  They also handled and burned the illegal and secret toxic wastes during the 1990's.

Is this data available on the recent disk you mentioned? 

I have not gotten a copy.

[name removed]

Google News Alert for: Asarco

Report: Arsenic in East Helena water came from soil, not smelter The Missoulian Asarco Environmental Manager Jon Nickel says the residential wells showed an average of 9.6 parts per billion of arsenic - just under federal drinking water ... See all stories on this topic

Our troops now protected against breathing toxic wastes from open burn pits

"Rep. Tim Bishop, Democrat of New York, and Rep. Carol Shea Porter, Democrat of New Hampshire....successfully lobbied for the inclusion of provisions to limit the use of these toxic pits in the National Defense Authorization Act, which the president will sign into law this afternoon. Under this new law,open-air burning of medical and hazardous waste will be prohibited except where the Defense secretary deems there is no alternative, the DOD must justify the use of burn pits to Congress, and it will develop a plan to eliminate the use of burn pits entirely."[http://www.shea-porter.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=380&Itemid=67]

Asarco-paid-contractor says that E. Helena Arsenic in the water doesn't come from Asarco...

What was that classic line in the Erin Brochovich movie?  When the housewife sits down with Erin, who had just told her the water-data-results?   The housewife looked confused and said something about how the company men had sat at her table and told her that her water was completely safe.... then, she looked out through her window at her children swimming in the pool and she ran crying out into the yard, yelling for her children to get out of the water.

"Iver Johnson, who is heading the onsite cleanup effort for the state Department of Environmental Quality, said nearly 30,000 tons of hazardous waste have been removed from the site this year."

Google News Alert for: Asarco

Report: Arsenic in East Helena water came from soil, not smelter The Missoulian Asarco Environmental Manager Jon Nickel says the residential wells showed an average of 9.6 parts per billion of arsenic - just under federal drinking water ... See all stories on this topic

TCEQ Permits may not comply with Federal Requirements....

"Until such time as the TCEQ adopts rules, submits them to the EPA for SIP review, and receives EPA SIP approval, any action taken on pending applications which are implicated in Federal Register notices may result in additional permitting requirements or enforcement in the future because of the uncertainty of EPA action on the proposed Federal Register disapproval notices. The TCEQ is working expeditiously to address the Federal Register notices to resolve federal enforceability concerns."

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/permitting/air/announcements/20091109

E.Helena Air safe from ASARCO stack demolition? Have they DISCLOSED THE SECRET TOXIC WASTES THEN?!

Yeah, and the EPA etc. all said that ASARCO had not burned secret hazardous wastes -- and then in 2006 a DOJ attorney released a confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only EPA document about ASARCO... and, we found out from this document (it was SEALED FOR 8 YEARS) that the EPA and DOJ had known ALL THAT TIME that Asarco El Paso and E. Helena MT had burned illegal and secret toxic wastes for profit for years...

Google News Alert for: Asarco

KFBB NewsChannel 5 Air Quality Report from ASARCO Smokestack Demolition Revealed KFBB NewsChannel 5 By KFBB News Team It has been nearly three months since three ASARCO smokestacks were demolished in East Helena, and now results of an air quality report ... See all stories on this topic

Why aren't the TCEQ and EPA letting El Pasoans know about the MERCURY levels around the ASARCO plant?

Asarco Tacoma stack contaminated a hundred square miles...

and the Asarco East Helena stacks?  "The EPA said tests showed that an area of about 100 square miles had been affected to some degree by Asarco emissions." 
http://www.helenair.com/news/article_782a2871-8aa9-56d9-9752-0664afd8c9d5.html

So doesn't this suggest that the Asarco El Paso smelter likely has affected 100 square miles, too?  That would be any land (and water) 30 miles out from the Asarco site -- almost clear up to Las Cruces, and definitely throughout Santa Teresa.

So why aren't our environmental regulatory agencies telling us about this in El Paso and Sunland Park?  (TCEQ, NMED and the Federal EPA)?

Dept. of Health and Human Services

The ATSDR is the "Dept. of Health and Human Services". Umm. Isn't
this the agency that we have evidence covered up the Asarco
contamination in Sunland Park N.M., and that was recently investigated
by a Federal investigative committee for fraud?

DEQ confirms that East Helena MT ASARCO stack demolition was "safe" (E. Helena burned unmanifested toxic wastes, too)

The way that authorities are getting around the safety issue is to NOT LOOK for the unmanifested toxic wastes that both Asarco El Paso and Asarco E. Helena handled and burned (nearly ten years of the incineration).

So, how much credibility does this safety assurance have with the public now?  None.   The conflicts of interest preventing full disclosure are so common that to this day we do not have Dioxin data, PCB data, mercury data, polonium data, or uranium data for the El Paso Asarco stack area --- and, to this day no citizen group has been given split samples/funds to take these samples to a non-conflicted scientist/lab.

Google News Alert for: Asarco

DEQ confirms demolition of East Helena stacks done safely Great Falls Tribune By Tribune Staff • November 7, 2009 Air sampling tests show that the demolition of three smelter stacks at the ASARCO smelter in East Helena in August did ... See all stories on this topic

"Air sampling tests show that the demolition of three smelter stacks at the ASARCO smelter in East Helena in August did not produce negative health effects, the state Department of Environmental Quality said Friday....The DEQ asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency to review the air quality samples for potential impacts to public health.  Exposure to chemical contaminants identified in the sample would not be expected to result in acute health outcomes because of the low concentrations of chemicals in the plume and the short duration of inhalation exposure, the agency's Dan Strausbaugh and Dr. Michelle Watters said...." [the news report did not give any chemical name(s) or amounts.]

Dr. Al Armendariz named Region 6 Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

"November 5, 2009 by citizensarah

Environmental Groups Applaud EPA Choice

New Regional Administrator could signal change in direction for polluted state

DALLAS – Environmental advocates across several states are applauding the Obama Administration’s choice of Dr. Al Armendariz to lead Region 6 of the Environmental Protection Agency, which includes Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Armendariz, an engineering professor at Southern Methodist University, has worked with diverse constituencies ranging from corporations to citizens groups and has published dozens of studies on myriad environmental issues throughout his career. His appointment garnered high praise from the environmental community."
http://texasvox.org/2009/11/05/dr-al-armendariz-named-region-6-administrator-of-the-environmental-protection-agency/

Asarco Swiss Bank

Why is there a Swiss Bank called Asarco A.G. (Asarco SA, Asarco Inc.)??