20091009 USB informant "harsher-than-expected treatment by the US Justice Department"

Prosecution of UBS informant seen backfiring on US

By Tom Brown of Reuters MIAMI - The key informant in the US tax evasion case against Swiss bank UBS AG faces prison next year, but his harsher-than-expected treatment by the US Justice Department will undermine efforts to expose secretive offshore tax havens, lawyers and whistle-blower advocates say. Bradley Birkenfeld,...

Tags: tax, UBS AG, U.S. Department Of Justice

News items 2009-10-09

Birkenfeld, the UBS Banker who exposed UBS

Whistle-blower advocates seek review of former UBS banker's treatment

"Whistle-blower advocates are asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to review the treatment of tipster Bradley C. Birkenfeld, the former UBS banker who was sentenced to 40 months in prison despite his pivotal help in the groundbreaking case against the Swiss banking giant."

Asarco A.G. Swiss Bank

WHY IS THERE A SWISS ASARCO BANK (Asarco SA, Asarco Inc) represented by a Chicago Attorney (Irving Drobny) who also represents the Royal Family of Vietnam? [see google search for this blog, "Swiss bank ASARCO"]

"Irving Drobny Attorney at Law for The Imperial Nguyen Dynasty by Appointment to The Imperial Grand Council and H.I.H. Prince Regent Nguyen Phuc Buu Chanh of Vietnam"
http://vcml.homestead.com/

BHP Billiton and Tio Tinto Joint Venture (worth a predicted excess of 10 Billion dollars)

"International mining giants, BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT, ASX: BHP) [who in 1/09 assumed 50% of Mitra's Vietnam well equity]  (‘BHP’) and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO, ASX: RIO) (‘Rio’) signed binding agreements in relation to the proposed Iron Ore Production Joint Venture (‘JV’), in the Pilbara mining district, Western Australia. This 50:50 collaboration follows years of on-off negotiations, with many previous JV’s and potential mergers falling by the way-side. BHP and Rio believe the JV’s unique production and development synergies will be in excess of US$10 billion."

http://www.proactiveinvestors.com.au/companies/news/3678/bhp-billiton-and-rio-tinto-sign-binding-agreement-to-create-iron-ore-joint-venture-3678.html

20050000 Milbank Firm and Citigroup

2005 "[Michael] Fitzgerald advised on the first Mexican equity offering to reach the international markets in almost five years. Milbank Tweed was counsel to Urbi Desarrollos Urbanos, which sold 60% of its $180 million initial public offering (IPO) under Rule 144A and Regulation S. The firm went on to advise [Asarco Principle bondholder] Citigroup and Merrill Lynch on Desarrolladora Homex's $160 million New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) listing, the first Mexican company to list on the NYSE since 1999. Milbank Tweed also advised Citigroup Global Markets and Morgan Stanley on the Nasdaq portion of the TOM Online IPO." http://www.iflr1000.com/pdfs/Directories/5/United%20States%20%281027-1093%29%20i.pdf

Vietnam: Mitra Energy group completes seismic acquisition (the land was last licensed in the 1970's)...

"03 Sep 2009  ...Two wildcat exploration wells are planned for the PSC in 2010. In January 2009, Mitra farmed out 50% of its 100% equity in the PSC to BHP Billiton, while continuing to operate the PSC. Vietnamese Governmental approval of the farm-in was granted on 19th August 2009.   A consortium consisting of Mitra (40% equity and Operator), Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company 40% and Singapore Petroleum Corporation 20% was awarded the Block 19 PSC and Block 20 PSC, following the 2008 Nam Con Son Basin bid round. Each PSC covers approximately 4,500 square kilometres"....Source: Mitra Energy

20081121 Milbank firm advised Mitra Group on buyout of Indonesia's largest Petroleum driller

"SINGAPORE, November 21, 2008 –– The international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP has advised PT Mitra Rajasa Tbk (Mitra Group) on its US$638 million leveraged buyout of Indonesia's largest onshore and offshore driller, PT Apexindo Pratama Duta Tbk." http://www.milbank.com/en/NewsEvents/PressRelArchMilbank_Advises_on_US638_Million_Acquisition_Financing_of_PT+Apexindo+Pratama+Duta+TBK.htm

"Bankruptcy Border War Ends With Milbank Win For Grupo Mexico"

google alert

Bankruptcy Border War Ends With Milbank Win For Grupo Mexico A four-year bankruptcy battle for control of Asarco finally ended Wednesday when the Tucson, .... Baker Botts Hits $100 Million Mark in Asarco Bankruptcy ...

"....Michael Fitzgerald, chairman of Milbank's global securities group and Latin American practice, led a team from the firm advising Grupo Mexico on the financing side of the Asarco deal.... Haynes and Boone bankruptcy partner Charles Beckham Jr., and litigation partner Brian Antweil served as Grupo's local counsel."

GLOBE Asarco plant dirt too hazardous

Document outlining how the Denver Colorado GLOBE Asarco Plant property cannot be used for residential use EVER --- that the groundwater can never be used or the haz-waste covers disturbed.

http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/hm/covenant/pdf/HMCOV00014.pdf

20030600 Asarco Asbestos Litigation report containing data from 1995 and 1999 and on...

http://www.litigationdatadepot.com/ASARCO.pdf
<cid:part1.07080405.00090304@gmail.com>

An ex-worker's grand-daughter told me that the ones who suffered most
from asbestos exposure at Asarco El Paso were the ones who worked
OUTSIDE not inside.

There is a lot we have not been told.

Another ex-worker told a grand-niece who told a friend that he
remembered being paid $1000 by a supervisor to be quiet when inspectors
came, because they had been dumping barrels of chemicals down into the
storm drains to get rid of it. When I told a pro-Asarco guy this once
at a meeting (a very big intimidating guy) he actually backed away from
me really fast, waving his hands in the air saying, "Never happened!
Never Happened!".

interesting link - BETA site that finds EBooks (PDF Files) -- this one for ASARCO related material

http://www.pdfgeni.com/book/asarco-pdf.html
<cid:part1.00060502.08040105@gmail.com>

EPA ASARCO Texas "Factsheet" Agreement is a SHAM and ignores the EPA confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only-document...

EPA ASARCO Texas "Factsheet" Agreement is a SHAM and ignores the EPA-Federal Dept. of Justice ASARCO confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only-document detailing how ASARCO purposefully incinerated unmanifested toxic-wastes for profit for years in El Paso TX and E. Helena MT.    It makes a person wonder why there is a Swiss Bank called "ASARCO" (Asarco SA, Asarco inc) run by a Bank-President who was gambling in Las Vegas, Atlantic City and offshore...

Google Web Alert

ASARCO Settlement Fact Sheet | Compliance and Enforcement | US EPA On August 9, 2005, ASARCO filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States ...

http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/cleanup/cercla/asarco/texas-infosht.html

EPA ASARCO Texas "Factsheet" fails to mention the years of Sham Recycling (the illicit burning of secret hazardous-wastes for profit) -- that the Federal Dept. of Justice Bankruptcy Trustee failed to make the Asarco Bankruptcy court declare liabilities.  NO LIABILITIES FROM THE YEARS OF ILLEGAL SECRET TOXIC-WASTE BURNING WERE EVER CONSIDERED/DISCLOSED DURING THE ENTIRE ASARCO BANKRUPTCY COURT PROCEEDING --- OUR GOVERNMENT ACTED AS IF IT NEVER HAPPENED EVEN AFTER AN HONEST DOJ ATTORNEY MADE THE PUBLIC DISCLOSURE IN 2006 THAT THIS **DID** HAPPEN AND THAT FOR YEARS ASARCO MADE $$ WITH THE SECRET BURNING OF UNMANIFESTED HAZARDOUS-WASTES FROM BOTH MILITARY AND INDUSTRIAL SOURCES.   GOD ONLY KNOWS WHAT WAS INCINERATED HERE AND IN E. HELENA MT. 

Not only that, but the Texas Agreement means that the EPA and TCEQ will never sue Asarco for hazardous wastes as a Civil Action in either El Paso or the Dona Ana County (Sunland Park) area:

"With respect to the El Paso Metals Site (including releases of hazardous substances from any portion of the El Paso Metals Site and all areas affected by natural migration of such substances from the El Paso Metals), the United States, on behalf of EPA, and the TCEQ further covenant not to sue or assert any civil claims or causes of action against Debtors,"
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/cleanup/cercla/asarco/texas-infosht.html

"The Department of Justice and ASARCO filed the settlement agreement with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas Corpus Christi Division on March 13, 2009. The Court approved the settlement agreement on June 5, 2009. The trust agreement associated with this settlement was filed with the Bankruptcy Court on December 9, 2009."
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/cleanup/cercla/asarco/texas-infosht.html

Incorporated herein by reference is a copy of an internal EPA memorandum dated June 28, 2001 [see Scribe link], which contains the following handwritten sentence:  "The TNRCC is concerned that the El Paso sampling plan doesn't undermine the ASARCO Corpus sampling delima (sic)."  An inescapable inference from this sentence is the    fact that ASARCO has compromised employees of both the EPA and TCEQ.   Both ASARCO and the regulators are concealing certain ASARCO contaminants from the residents of Corpus Christi and the Paso del Norte Region.  Every individual who either knows, or should know that ASARCO's contamination is being concealed is exposed to both criminal and civil liability.
 

"Washington receives payout for damages caused by ASARCO's past ..."

Tacoma WA etc. receive almost four times the amount of money that El Paso Texas will receive for clean-up.
Why won't people talk about the massive secret incineration of illegal hazardous wastes at El Paso and E. Helena Asarco sites that affected millions of people and several states and countries, and the sixth largest river system in the USA?   We are dying down here from rampant cancers while the USA and other Asarco sites turn a blind eye to the fraudulent Bankruptcy  -- or talk about the DOJ Trustee who failed to make the Court consider the secret toxic contamination from the years of illegal illicit hazardous waste burning.  God only knows what they burned down here.

google alert

Washington receives payout for damages caused by ASARCO's past ... "By Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal The state of Washington has received roughly $188 million to help repair environmental damage caused by mining giant ASARCO. It's the largest payout in th." MINING.com News - http://admin.news.mining.com/

"That Tap Water Is Legal but May Be Unhealthy",By CHARLES DUHIGG (and El Paso Alpha/Beta Radiative-Particles water data)

"That Tap Water Is Legal but May Be Unhealthy"

By CHARLES DUHIGG

"more than 62 million Americans have been exposed since 2004 to drinking water that did not meet at least one commonly used government health guideline intended to help protect people from cancer or serious disease, according to an analysis by The Times of more than 19 million drinking-water test results from the District of Columbia and the 45 states that made data available."

For more information on El Paso Water Utilities' water contaminant levels click on: TAP WATER DATABASE

For El Paso Water Utilities (westside):

ALPHA Radioactivity Level.
Although the Legal Limit of 15 (pCi/L) was not exceeded there was an actual measurement that appeared rather close: 13.1 pCi/L from March of 2004.

"2004-03-09	13.1 pCi/L	1	0	13.1 pCi/L"

However, anything over 0 pCi/L (zero) exceeds the suggested health limit by the EPA ("which allows an adequate margin of safety"). One Alpha Particle if inhaled or swallowed (ingested) is more toxic than arsenic. The particle may stay inside the body, and would damage the tissues around it with radiation.

"Contaminant	Average/ Maximum Result	Health Limit Exceeded	Legal Limit Exceeded

Alpha particle activityAlpha particles are a form of radiation released from mining waste pollutants and natural sources.

5.44 pCi/L 13.1 pCi/L

Yes MCLGA non-enforceable health goal that is set at a level at which no known or anticipated adverse effect on the health of persons occurs and which allows an adequate margin of safety. Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.: 0 pCi/L

No 15 pCi/L"

For Beta Radiation particles, the maximum level recorded in December 2005 was 18.1pCi/L which is above the legal standard of 15 pCi/L. Since the AVERAGE result (all the samples-data put together and averaged) was below 13 pCi/L the report for that period did not state that the legal limit was exceeded.

"Testing Date	Average Result	Samples taken that day	Number of Non-Detects	Range of Results
2005-12-07	12.85 pCi/L	2	0	7.6 to 18.1 pCi/L "

Native American Tribal government lands and Interior managed lands to get nearly 200 million from Asarco settlement

Google News Alert for: asarco bankruptcy

KVOA.com ASARCO Settlement Provides $194 Million for Federal, State and Tribal Wildlife ... KVOA.com Along with federal, state and tribal co-trustees, Interior brought claims at more than a dozen sites which were settled during the ASARCO bankruptcy. ... See all stories on this topic

"WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today that an environmental damage settlement with ASARCO LLC, a North American mining conglomerate, would provide about $194 million for the recovery of wildlife, habitat and other natural resources managed by Interior, state, and tribal governments at more than a dozen sites around the nation."

Grupo Mexico's stock values begin rise

Google News Alert for: asarco bankruptcy

Mexico's Stocks Rise, Peso Weakens Early Thursday; IPC +0.7% Wall Street Journal MX) were trading 2% higher at MXN30.60 after the company said Wednesday night that its US subsidiary, Asarco, has exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. ... See all stories on this topic

ASARCO bankruptcy settlement brings millions to the great state of Montana, home of W.R.Grace Libby Disaster and E. Helena (also burned the secret illegal toxic wastes for years)

Google Alert
"ASARCO bankruptcy settlement brings millions to MT | MINING.com News
By Montana's News Station
Governor Brian Schweitzer has announced that Montana has received nearly $195 million to clean up ASARCO's contaminated sites in the state. "
MINING.com News - http://admin.news.mining.com/

TCEQ News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   CONTACT: LISA WHEELER

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2009  PHONE: 512-239-5003 / PAGER: 512-606-3681
TCEQ Commissioners Welcome New EPA Region 6 Administrator

EPA and TCEQ to discuss new public participation rules

  

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality commissioners today hosted recently appointed EPA Region 6 Administrator Dr. Alfredo “Al” Armendariz at the commission headquarters in Austin. The purpose of the visit was not only to welcome the new administrator to his new position but also to discuss the various rules regarding Texas’ successful air program. Yesterday, commissioners approved for publication a new rule package seeking to expand public participation in the state’s air permit process.

 

"Texas' air quality permitting program is already one of the most robust in the nation,” said Chairman Bryan W. Shaw, Ph.D.  “The TCEQ has taken proactive, aggressive measures to improve air quality in Texas. Air emissions and pollution concentrations in our state are at their lowest level in the past 20 years, while Texas continues to maintain a strong, growing economy.”

 

"I have always viewed public participation as a vital component in the permitting process," said Commissioner Buddy Garcia.  "I appreciate Dr. Armendariz spending time with each of us today, and I look forward to working with him to show the rest of the nation how Texas has been successful and will continue to lead on environmental issues.”  

 

“Texas already has a meaningful and engaging public participation process that directly impacts permits and provides significant environmental safeguards,” said Commissioner Carlos Rubinstein. “I welcome the rule changes that will provide even greater public participation and transparency.”

 

A public hearing to accept comment on the proposed rule revisions will take place January 25, 2010, at 10:00 a.m. in Building E, Room 201 S, at the TCEQ campus, 12100 Park 35 Circle, in Austin.   The comment period will end on February 16.

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

Grupo Mexico: Asarco :: W.R. Grace : Libby Montana disaster

"PHOENIX (AP) -- Mexico City-based mining giant Grupo Mexico SAB has completed its [re-]acquisition of Tucson, Ariz.-based copper miner Asarco LLC.

The transaction Wednesday ended a years long battle waged by Grupo Mexico to reacquire the firm it first bought in 1999 but lost to bankruptcy in 2005 after Asarco was overwhelmed by huge environmental remediation costs." http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Grupo-Mexico-closes-deal-to-apf-372850306.html?x=0&.v=1

------------
"One thing that continues to puzzle some of my contacts in Justice and EPA headquarters is how and why Mercer and David Uhlmann, the then-chief of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section, got away with pursuing criminal indictments [in 2005] against [W.R.] Grace [for the Libby Montana asbestos disaster]." [and LOST the court case]
http://andrewschneiderinvestigates.com/2009/04/26/the-district-court-website-for-judge-donald-molloys-own-domain-offers-link-and-info-on-filing-charges-of-judicial-misconduct-thank-you/

Asarco cleaned up Spic and Span when it should be the Federal DOJ that is getting cleaned-up

-- Asarco cleaned up Spic and Span with help from the Federal Department of Justice who failed to acknowledge a confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only  document that their fellow DOJ attorney released to a public information request, and that let us know the EPA had told the DOJ in 1998 Asarco had burned unmanifested/secret hazardous-wastes for profit, for years.   The Federal DOJ Bankruptcy trustee FAILED to make the Bankruptcy courts act on this evidence and failed to hold ASARCO accountable for the liabilities from this secret and toxic hazardous-wastes (both industrial and military origins).

What is our nation of laws coming to when huge corporations like ASARCO (its  parent company is partially owned by the Carlyle Group) are allowed to use our courts to "clean up" their financial image by ignoring basic facts which should have been considered in the bankruptcy-setting?

Everyday working people - the same taxpayers that bailed out the banks - are now in-effect bailing out ASARCO and its creditors because a few Government's employees allowed this company escape its culpability (as we speak, the Supreme Court has re-opened the ENRON case to reconsider the "honest services provision" of the mail and wire fraud act that holds such government employees accountable (why?)).

Google Blogs Alert for: asarco bankruptcy

RapidShare Introduces Americas Reseller Program By Rapidshare Ag November 24th, 2009 Exec says new Asarco to be profitable, competitivePHOENIX — A top executive with the company set to take over Asarco LLC says the Tucson-based copper miner will emerge from a grueling four-year bankruptcy court ... PR Hub - http://blog.taragana.com/pr/