Please donate (see sidebar) to help recoup costs of the work to uncover and blog the information contained here

"THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING"
--Burke

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

[Fwd: TCEQ ASARCO (El Paso) Update]

CEQ 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

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

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?

Sunday, November 15, 2009

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."

Friday, November 13, 2009

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?









Thursday, November 12, 2009

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
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

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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

Monday, November 9, 2009

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

Saturday, November 7, 2009

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.]

Thursday, November 5, 2009

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/

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Asarco Swiss Bank

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

Friday, October 30, 2009

Asarco makes enough money in just TWO WEEKS to cover its 52 million commitment to El Paso for 110 years of contamination

... not to mention the nearly ten years of secret illegal toxic-waste burning.... (which the bankruptcy and our EPA/TCEQ continue to ignore.   Theft of honest Services.)

Google Blogs Alert for: Asarco
Asarco revenue hit $96.4 million in September
By Andrew Johnson
Asarco revenue hit $96.4 million in September, Since filing for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2005, Asarco has made $5.6 billion in sales, according to the company's latest financial report.


Tuesday, October 27, 2009

China CIC signs MOU with Glencore (August 2009)

"A manager at a trading and investment firm in Asia, which is a client of Glencore, said top management from Glencore visited CIC in Beijing in August [2009] and signed a memorandum of understanding in which CIC agreed to invest in Glencore’s products or bonds....It was not immediately clear how CIC would work with Glencore, the world’s biggest commodities trader, which typically trades its own book. But Glencore also has a derivatives trading venture with Credit Suisse, which has an expanding business offering commodity investment products to customers....(Note: According to the Financial Times, Glencore owns the Moreno Group, one of Argentina’s key soybean companies, and farms more than 300,000 hectares of leased or owned farmland from Australia to Paraguay.)"

http://farmlandgrab.org/7717

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Bankruptcy Court still refusing to reveal liabilities from years of ASARCO secret toxic waste burning in El Paso TX and E. Helena MT

Why the cover-up of Asarco's years of deliberate and secret military and industrial waste incineration?  Why does this still continue!?  ("Asarco paid out millions of dollars on the condition that details of its activities would not be released to the public." - comment from Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Reyes)

"Battle for Asarco to face key test in Texas court
Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:28am IST 

* Grupo Mexico, Asarco and Sterlite head to federal court

* Hearing to set stage for decision on Asarco deal by judge

By Jazmine Ulloa

BROWNSVILLE, Texas, Oct 19 (Reuters) - India's Sterlite Industries... and Grupo Mexico SAB de CV (GMEXICOB.MX: ...) will head to court on Monday to begin the final stage of their year-long face off for control of bankrupt U.S. copper miner Asarco."
http://in.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idINN1836582620091019?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true


Saturday, October 17, 2009

Supreme Court to review Honest Services Law with ENRON case (opinion due in spring)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=awIvclWIyuF4#

Look for keywords "honest services" in this blog's search engine. Other
suggested searches are: "Carlyle", "Asarco A.G.", "Swiss bank".

Will the Supreme Court take away this law, gut its effectiveness, or ---
stand firm?

Friday, October 16, 2009

Asarco Buchan Canada: URANIUM values exceeded health guidelines

Google News Alert for: Asarco
Testing continues
Grand Falls-Windsor Advertiser
They are testing for the presence of lead and other substances such as arsenic and antimony, all left behind by Asarco, the now-defunct mining company which ...

"
That testing, as originally requested by the Town of Buchans, which had concerns about human health, involved an independent consultant's getting 12 samples from the perimeter as well as 12 background samples taken outside the town. The results indicated that, of the heavy metals found, lead, arsenic, uranium, and antimony exceeded human health guidelines, with the lead values being of primary concern.

The sight of the environmental engineers conducting the current round of tests was a welcome surprise to residents like Nellie Chaulk, who came out of her house to find someone taking dirt from her lawn."

TCEQ ASARCO (El Paso) Update

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

We have added the following update and supporting documentation to the ASARCO web page.

All of these documents are also available from the TCEQ ASARCO Documents Download page


Monday, October 12, 2009

Why is there a SWISS BANK called ASARCO A.G. (Asarco S.A., Asarco Inc.)??

"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

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Former construction mgr for Hueco Bolson toxic-waste removal plant (i.e. "Desal Plant") now slated to be IBWC commissioner

How long will the El Paso community tolerate the continued cover-up of Asarco's chemical contamination from its citizens?

The EPA said that Asarco had contaminated the international Hueco Bolson.  Fort Bliss and the EPWU then constructed the Desal Plant on military property, taking the chemical contaminants from the water and pumping these twenty miles away for deep-well-injection on military property.

The EPA and other agencies have not told us what toxic chemicals remain at ASARCO despite an honest Dept. of Justice Attorney releasing a formerly confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only EPA-DOJ Asarco report in 2006 letting the community know about Asarco's secret and illegal activities from the 1990's.  

Our TCEQ Director was replaced by a former military person whose background was clean-up of chemical weapons contamination.  Our City of El Paso new Sustainability ("Green") Director used to be in charge of the clean-up of chemical contamination from Rocky Mt. Arsenal (which sent material to Asarco El Paso TX for illegal incineration according to the EPA).  The Federal State Dept. stated that the IBWC workers are sick and cannot get independent medical care in the entire region -- but nothing has been done.

Now, our IBWC commissioner's background includes building the EPWU/military DeSal plant that removes salt and most chemical contaminants (including Asarco's) from the Heuco Bolson water:

"Drusina was construction manager for over $28 million of infrastructure construction associated with El Paso Water Utilities’ desalination plant."

http://newspapertree.com/news/4303-former-el-paso-city-official-awaiting-presidential-appointment-to-ibwc


APPLE Iphone

The key-maquiladora FOXCON, anchoring the planned-city being built within the ASARCO El Paso "zone-of-contamination", manufactures the APPLE Iphone.

"US Chamber Fires Back At Apple In Climate-Policy Dispute
By Siobhan Hughes, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday appeared to take a jab at Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Chief Executive Steve Jobs for defecting from the business organization in a dispute over climate-change policy."
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200910061815dowjonesdjonline000504&title=us-chamber-fires-back-at-apple-in-climate-policy-dispute




Wednesday, October 7, 2009

History : ASARCO on the island of Newfoundland

Google News Alert for: Asarco

Globe and Mail
The mining town where poisoned soil is 'a part of life'
Globe and Mail
It paved the way for industry advancement, but also drew international attention to the tiny town, giving the US mining firm ASARCO (American Smelting and ...
See all stories on this topic

"By 1928, it had constructed a mine and mill, bunkhouses and cottages for married workers, a mess hall, church, school, hospital and hydro-electric plant. The company controlled it all, including a ban on outside vendors and the use of a 37-kilometre railroad track to Millertown.

“You didn't get in unless you worked with the company; you didn't get out unless you had a company pass,” said Mr. Corbett, the mayor. “This was a company town for a long, long time. For years, if a miner passed away, his family was given two weeks to vacate.

Over time, fierce labour strikes were staged over living and working conditions – extra blankets in the bunk house and raises measured by nickels and dimes –"

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Just one ASARCO Bankruptcy Attorney-firm will make almost twice the amount that the entire Paso del Norte Region will get for the whole clean-up


"Baker Botts, Asarco’s law firm, took in $2.5 million in August for its work on the case, bringing the firm’s total payments to more than $104 million during the bankruptcy."

"A doctor tells a rich old man that he's going to die if he doesn't get a new heart soon. The old man tells the doctor to search the world for the best heart available, money is no object. A few days later the doctor calls the old man and says he has found three hearts but they are all expensive. The old man reminds the doctor that he is filthy rich and implores him to tell him about the donors they came from.....'Well this one belonged to a 58 year-old man, smoked three packs of cigarettes a day, weighed over 300 pounds, never exercised, drank like a fish... this heart is going for $500,000!!!' 'Five-hundred grand?!?!', the old man exclaimed, 'why so expensive?'

'Well', said the doctor, 'this heart belonged to a lawyer... so it was never used!'http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Villa/3059/

Google News Alert for: asarco bankruptcy

Asarco keeps profiting in bankruptcy
Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA
Since filing for bankruptcy in August, 2005, four years ago, Asarco has made a profit of about $1.54 billion, while pulling in revenue of $5.47 billion.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Massive secret ASARCO contamination epicenter is less than 15 miles from the SANTA TERESA FOREIGN TRADE ZONE

NMEDD was notified of the ASARCO secret toxic waste problem in 2006 when Gov. Richardson and the NMEDD rep. came to Sunland Park, N.M.  -- now, EPA is considering making NMED's Ron Curry head of the EPA region (TX, NM, OK) even though Curry also is ignoring the contamination.   How irresponsible can our government get?   Our lives along the border count as much as any in Northern New Mexico....

"February 4, 2008
o. 505-476-3747, c. 505-231-1488 Santa Teresa Foreign Trade Zone Expands Expansion will allow creation of “Binational Campus” SANTA FE, NM –New Mexico Economic Development Department’s (NMEDD) Cabinet Secretary Fred Mondragón today announced the expansion of the Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) in Santa Teresa, NM. The expanded FTZ provides manufacturers, suppliers and logistics suppliers in Doña Ana County the opportunity to locate on the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the Santa Teresa-San Jeronimo Port of Entry, near Union Pacific Railroad’s planned $150 million fueling and intermodal facility linking Santa Teresa with Juarez, Chihuahua and U.S. Interstate 10. “This is exciting news for companies doing business in Doña Ana County,” said Juan Massey, Director of NMEDD’s Office of Mexican Affairs (OMA). “By expediting the path to market of certain approved goods and services along the FTZ and eliminating some trade duties and fees, trade will increase to the mutual benefit of New Mexico and Mexico. It’s a true win-win situation.” Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZs) are secure areas under U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) supervision that are generally considered outside CBP territory upon activation. Located in or near CBP ports of entry, they are the United States’ version of what are known internationally as free-trade zones. Authority for establishing these facilities is granted by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board under the Foreign-Trade Zones Act of 1934. The expanded Santa Teresa FTZ encompasses roughly 1,200 acres along the New Mexico-Mexico border, with approximately 2.3 million square feet of existing manufacturing and distribution facilities. “This is a timely initiative, given the imminent fueling and intermodal facility,” said Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia, D-Dona Ana. “This will be a boost to the economy of Doña Ana County.” [the economic cost of the ASARCO contamination on our health bills, schools, police, agriculture, prisons, etc is not considered]  According to OMA Director Juan Massey, the FTZ expansion will allow the creation of a Santa Teresa-San Jeronimo Binational Campus to recapture the original advantages of the New Mexico-Mexico maquiladora (twin-plant) industry with facilities built on the Mexican side of the border within 60 feet of their companion facilities in New Mexico.

Such an arrangement will allow tenants of the campus to achieve previously unattainable levels of economic advantage derived from combining the business climate advantages of both countries. "Santa Teresa will become one of the most important logistics, manufacturing and distribution centers of the U.S.-Mexico border in the near future,” said Representative Mary Helen Garcia, D-Doña Ana. “With the establishment of modern infrastructure, Foreign Trade Zones and the Binational Campus, the New Mexico border will no longer go unnoticed as one of the most competitive staging points for global trade." About Foreign Trade Zones Foreign and domestic merchandise may be moved into Foreign Trade Zones for operations, not otherwise prohibited by law, including storage, exhibition, assembly, manufacturing, and processing. All FTZ activity is subject to public interest review. Foreign Trade Zone sites are subject to the laws and regulations of the United States as well as those of the states and communities in which they are located. Under zone procedures, the usual formal CBP entry procedures and payments of duties are not required on the foreign merchandise unless and until it enters CBP territory for domestic consumption, at which point the importer generally has the choice of paying duties at the rate of either the original foreign materials or the finished product. Domestic goods moved into the zone for export may be considered exported upon admission to the zone for purposes of excise tax rebates and drawback. Qualified public or private corporations that may operate the facilities themselves or contract for the operation sponsors foreign-trade zones. The operations are conducted on a public utility basis, with published rates. Many zone projects include an industrial park site with lots on which zone users can construct their own facilities. For more information, visit www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/cargo_control/ftz/about_ftz.xml About the Santa Teresa-San Jeronimo Binational Campus The creation of the Santa Teresa-San Jeronimo Binational Campus will provide the U.S.-Mexico border the ability to become more competitive against production threats from the Pacific Rim. This binational campus will allow the border region to attract more value-added manufacturers and prevent the further flight of companies to the Pacific Rim. Manufacturing firms will be able to establish operations on both sides of the border within a “stone’s throw” from each other. On the Mexican side of the border, manufacturers will be able to establish the labor-intensive side of their operations and take advantage of the region’s highly skilled workforce. Production inputs from around the world will be imported duty-free into the recinto fiscalizado (controlled enclosure), where they will be transformed into finished products. These products will be transferred (again duty-free) to the staging and distribution operations within the FTZ on the Santa Teresa side of the border. Automated integrated manufacturing, technology research and development companies, software developers, medical equipment manufacturers and electronics manufacturing are some of the sectors that would be attracted to such a business environment. For more information, contact Juan Massey at juan.massey@state.nm.us or (505) 827-0312. #30# "

http://www.edd.state.nm.us/newsEvents/pressReleases/2008/PR-SantaTeresaFTZ-02-04-08.pdf

Gov. Richardson who is ignoring Sunland Park's plea for justice from ASARCO secret contamination) -- behind FOXCONN maquiladora (less than 15 miles from the epicenter)

"Foxconn to Create 30,000 Jobs in Chihuahua Mexico
Monday, July 21, 2008 | New Mexico Office of the Governor

Governor Bill Richardson today applauded the groundbreaking of a major economic development in Mexico adjacent to Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Foxconn, a Taiwanese industrial giant with more than 500,000 employees worldwide, has begun construction on what will be Mexico's largest maquiladora in Jeronimo, Chihuahua.
(
"This is one of many mutually beneficial projects that I and my economic development people have worked with Chihuahua officials to carry out,
" Governor Richardson said."
http://www.pcb007.com/pages/zone.cgi?a=22141

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Paso del Norte children should count as much as Tacoma WA children

Old Anapra Mexico schools and daycares, and El Paso schools and daycares are forgotten -- Asarco's Tacoma example shows that Asarco El Paso TX is being short-changed, ignored and sacrificed.

Google News Alert for: Asarco

37 day care centers will be cleaned of Asarco contamination
TheNewsTribune.com
... playgrounds at 37 day care centers in Pierce and King counties, sites that were contaminated by arsenic and lead from the old Asarco smelter in Ruston. ...
See all stories on this topic

"Cleaning up the properties will wind down a program started in 2005 to identify schools and day care centers in the “plume” of toxic chemicals spewed over Lakewood, Tacoma, Federal Way, Des Moines, Normandy Park, Vashon Island and parts of Seattle for decades, and to clean them up. The stack’s plume fell over 1,000 square miles, but the cleanup program concentrated on the 315 square miles closest to the smelter and most contaminated by its operations."   (in the Paso del Norte region of El Paso, Juarez Mexico and Sunland Park New Mexico, this distance would include the new planned International City of San Jeronimo/Santa Teresa, and the keystone Maquiladora Foxcon.)


Sunday, September 27, 2009

TCEQ Commissioner tries to pull the wool over a resident's eyes about the ASARCO haz-waste burning.

Talked with a new TCEQ Commissioner friday.  He approached me after a speech he'd given, at a break, to say that we were "trying to prove a negative" by saying that the years of ASARCO illegal secret toxic waste burning left terrible poisons here in the Paso del Norte region.    He said that maybe there wasn't anything bad left here. 

Yup, the the EPA said it was illegal incineration of unmanifested toxic wastes for years, for money; and Rep. Reyes said that ASARCO paid millions on condition that the details of what it had done would never reach the public.   They went to great lengths to hide something.  They still are...  "Nothing bad here".

ASARCO had put in the world's two largest con-top furnaces just before beginning the secret military and industrial waste burning.  The EPA and TCEQ kept the secret activity and then their agreement with ASARCO secret for another 8 years.  In five MORE years this community cannot even get dioxin data for the area around the smelter, or PCB data, or mercury data, or even polonium data.  Other communities can get this data - but not ours.

It is beginning to look like Governor Perry appointed someone to be Commissioner who is not willing to be frank with the community.   It wasn't the TCEQ who initially let us know that ASARCO had polluted the Rio Grande and the Hueco Bolson -- it was the EPA.   It was not the TCEQ or the EPA that let us know about the secret waste burning years -- it was a DOJ attorney in Washington D.C. who sent it overnight-weekend mail after a Texas P.I.A. request. 

Just a week ago a regional EPA administrator for our city of El Paso got into my face after a local meeting, and was quite upset - almost yelling.   He finally said, after I refused to argue or engage in such heated dialog -- he finally said that secret DOJ-EPA agreements like that one (the EPA-DOJ Asarco confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only Secret document -- see link at left on Blog) were a dime a dozen in Washington D.C. and that is how they do business.  

What is that old saying... that me-thinks that they protest too much?



Saturday, September 26, 2009

Valero, Citgo get puny TCEQ fines,,Pollute and cause families endless years of agony, then get charge a fine so small it's like buying a cup of vending machine coffee.

"Thursday, September 24, 2009

Valero, Citgo get puny TCEQ fines

Pollute and cause families endless years of agony, then get charge a fine so small it's like buying a cup of vending machine coffee.

Labels: , , , ,

posted by CouldBeTrue @ 9:32 AM"

Friday, September 25, 2009

Guess who won.... "Grupo México is extremely pleased with the resolution from the Corpus Christi Bankruptcy Court and considers it a complete victory for the Parent, ASARCO"

"Google News Alert for: Asarco

Federal Judge Ratifies Superiority of Grupo Mexico's ...
Business Wire (press release)
Grupo México is extremely pleased with the resolution from the Corpus Christi Bankruptcy Court and considers it a complete victory for the Parent, ASARCO ..."

Thursday, September 24, 2009

January 13, 1999 one month before ASARCO closed, the ASARCO site became part of the Empowerment Zone...


The Empowerment Zone (EZ)coincidentally is within the areas hit hardest by the historical ASARCO smoke-plume.


"On January 13, 1999, El Paso was one of 15 cities nationwide, and the only city in Texas, to receive an Empowerment Zone (EZ) designation from HUD under Round II of the federal EZ Program. El Paso's EZ has been named El Corazon de El Paso (the Heart of El Paso) because of its rich historical and cultural significance. Encompassing the central core of the city and a portion of the Ysleta area on the east side of town, El Corazon de El Paso is rich in economic possibilities, yet is also one of the most impoverished urban areas in the United States...."

http://www.elpasotexas.gov/elpasoez/

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Western Refinery uses same Environmental Consultant as ASARCO

Besides its historical ASARCO work, Zephyr is also a consultant that is
applying to be the "Clean-up Trustee" for ASARCO El Paso. They are also
being used by Western Refining to submit comments to the TCEQ "FLARE"
workgroup about flare-air-emissions.

Grupo Mexico stock surges and the PESO firms as Vendata offers to cap ASARCO's owner's liabilities....

Carlyle Group owns 20% of Grupo Mexico.  For more info. on Carlyle's relationships in the Paso del Norte region do a google search on "Carlyle" in this blog's search engine.

"MEXICO CITY, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Shares in miner Grupo Mexico surged on Tuesday after a proposal from a rival in its bidding war to gain control of bankrupt U.S. copper miner Asarco LLC capped the Mexican firm's potential liabilities. Shares in Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX) gained 7.34 percent to 25 pesos as the IPC stock index.... The peso MXN=MEX01 firmed 0.55 pct to 13.31 per U.S. dollar as the greenback hit a 1-year low against the euro and weakened broadly against emerging market currencies ahead of the start of a two-day Federal Reserve monetary policy meeting." Grupo Mexico soars on Asarco outlook; peso firms  Reuters

Friday, September 18, 2009

FNS News: Leading Mexican Environmentalist Killed

"September 18, 2009
Environment News
Mexican Environmental Leader Killed
Editor?s Note:

Internationally-known Mexican environmentalist and forest defender Felipe
Arreaga was killed Wednesday, September 16, while driving his ATV in
Petatlan, Guerrero. The longtime campesino leader was struck by a mini-bus
and died a few hours later in a hospital in nearby Zihuatanejo. Although
Petatlan is the site of a military base, it lacks civilian medical
facilities capable of handling serious injuries. The driver of the
mini-bus fled the scene of the crash, and many circumstances of the
incident are still unclear....Kent Paterson

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

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Railroad Link from planned International City to El Paso

Rail in the Pass presentation video

Rail in the Pass documentation presented to the MPO and others (MPO archived it) (starts page 74)

01/2003 ASARCO highlighted for Intermodal Rail to San Jeronimo/Santa Teresa...


















Above figure is from 01/03. Verde moved here winter of 2003 to do the downtown redevelopment plan.
  • Remember that "Ferromex" is owned by Grupo Mexico, who owns ASARCO
  • that the secret of the toxic-waste was LOCKED UP in the EPA/DOJ/ASARCO CONFIDENTIAL-FOR-SETTLEMENT PURPOSES ONLY DOCUMENT (not revealed until 2006!)
  • that the rail remodeling could not happen if the poisons were ever disclosed.
  • that the Federal EPA came here in 2001 for "testing" and NEVER DISCLOSED THE TOXIC WASTE
TO THIS DAY THOSE CHEMICALS ARE SECRET

http://www.elpasompo.org/Publications/Transit/tabid/185/Default.aspx

Senator Shapleigh writes about examples of successful Regional Metropolitan Governments

"METRO GOVERNMENT IN THE TIME OF DEFICITS"

September 10, 2009

Written by Senator Eliot Shapleigh, www.shapleigh.org

"...local governments are taking a close look at consolidation, whereby city and county governments merge as a single taxing entity and service provider....  In 1962, the city of Nashville, Tennessee and the county of Davidson consolidated all services, including the public school systems, police, fire, water and sewer services, planning and zoning, and public works....

Other examples of successful Regional Metropolitan Governments can be found in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, and Portland, Oregon. ....consolidated governments also experienced a 17% increase in capita income, compared to 11% growth in non-consolidated regions."

Citigroup Bank is a "Key Financial" entity for the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority

Citigroup Bank is a "Key Financial Team member" for the Camino Real Regional Mobility Authority (CRRMA) that builds El Paso TX highways

Citigroup is a primary ASARCO Bondholder

Another Key Financial Team member for the CRRMA is Fulbright and Jaworski, L.P. whose partner Evelyn H. Biery ".... has assisted  the official committees of unsecured creditors in the ASARCO LLC case"

The CRRMA is slated to build an elevated toll road right by ASARCO El PASO over Paisano through the worst of the worst ASARCO contamination and over our drinking/irrigation water supply (the El Paso MPO led by Rep. Joe Pickett voted to ALLOW THIS CONSTRUCTION DESPITE THE STILL-SECRET POISONS)

Would El Pasoans agree that it might be possible that these key members of the CRRMA might have a conflict of interest WITH DISCLOSING THE STILL-SECRET ILLEGAL TOXIC-WASTES THAT THE EPA told the DOJ ASARCO BURNED THROUGH THE 1990's AT THE EL PASO SITE??







Is land-grabbing and development of the Asarco site worth more than finding out what happened to this 3 year old child ??

Is the ASARCO illegal & secret-toxic-waste a legacy issue to this child:

[Westside El Paso] "....Lopez's daughter Danika was born in February 2006 with myriad health problems. She has Goldenhar syndrome, a congenital condition that causes facial deformities and also affected her heart. She has lung problems and was born without several body parts, including fingers, an ear and the bones of one forearm.

Danika spent the first 80 days of her life in a hospital, mostly in intensive care. Her parents' insurance covered her medical costs for a while, but it was maxed out at $5 million when she was about 2...."
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_13280354

" "We've also seen a lot of what is known as 'Goldenhar Syndrome,' that is where there is a missing left eye and left ear. It's very strange...."
http://nucnews.net/nucnews/2003nn/0307nn/030703nn.htm

ASARCO El Paso was shut down in February of 1999 after the EPA registered the highest Beta-radiation levels in the USA in El Paso in 1998 (we are assured that these readings mean nothing by the EPA, and that we are safe).  Four months before the shut-down the TCEQ decided to deny the nuclear-dump-license for the Sierra Blanca site just about 80 miles from El Paso, after press/media events reached international levels.

ASARCO is paying just $52 million to "clean up" a secret-toxic-waste-site on the West side of El Paso.  To put that amount of money into perspective, that amount could only pay for medical care for ten children with the birth/heart -defects like what Danika has suffered -- and, only for the first few years of their lives.

In 2006 a Lena Katamanin bought a Highland Park IL property from Swiss Company ASARCO A.G. for $496,000 -- it is now being offered for sale at $980,000

In 2006 a Lena Katamanin bought a Highland Park IL property from Swiss Company ASARCO A.G. for $496,000 -- it is now being offered for sale at $980,000

"Date    Address    Price    Seller    Buyer
Jun 30 [2006]    Single Family1380 S Lincoln Avenue     $496,000     Ag Asarco     Lena Katamanin
(see: http://lakeco.blockshopper.com/months/cities--11/2006/6)

...Owner: Lena Katamanin
Offered for Sale: $980,000
+ AGENT: Elena Maliavina

sales history (2001-present)
Shadow
$496,000 on June 30, 2006
B: Lena Katamanin
S: Ag Asarco
...
2007 property taxes: $12,126.22"


The AGENT Elena Maliavina is listed for the following Highland Park real estate swap in the same Highland Park neighborhood over a single property sold back and forth with the Chicago Title Land Co. Trust with Michael Vdovets



http://lakeco.blockshopper.com/property/1625106001/1380_s_lincoln_avenue/listing/

A Google search shows that a Chicago Michael Vdovets name shows up in connection with a "Center of the Northshore" Chicago IL EPA database... [the "Center of the Northshore" is apparently a condo, bank, restaurant complex being developed on an apparently contaminated site apparently formerly owned by "combined insurance co of america"]
http://www.northbrook.il.us/Government/BoardsCommissions/Passouts/2007/0424APR/documents/TrafficStudy2-21-07.pdf  -- and  --
http://oaspub.epa.gov/enviro/fii_query_dtl.disp_program_facility?p_registry_id=110007556885  )

Illinois EPA data systems.
BOL ID # Facility Name Street City Lat/Lon
0312075243 Center of the Northshore 700 Skokie Blvd Northbrook 42.13993/-87.79413
Site Remediation Program Data
http://epadata.epa.state.il.us/land/inventory/deepSeids.asp?strInvNo=0312075243

A Michael Vdovets from Chicago also shows up listed with Kaiser Development Group LLC
http://www.childrenofisraelfund.org/israel56.asp

His name also appears in conjunction with:
"Consultant:     GaiaTech, Inc.
Point of Contact:     John H. Yang
Address:     200 North LaSalle Street   Suite 2600
      Chicago, IL  60601 "

http://epadata.epa.state.il.us/land/SRP/Results.asp?IEPAID=0312075243




April 09 Pentagon Knowingly Exposed U.S. Soldiers To Toxic Waste: Leaked Memo [THE ASARCO EPA/DOJ/TCEQ EL PASO HEARING WAS MAY 11 - one month later...]

"Pentagon Knowingly Exposed U.S. Soldiers To Toxic Waste: Leaked Memo

Huffington Post   |  Stuart Whatley   |   April 10, 2009



The Pentagon allegedly endangered U.S. soldiers by implementing and covering-up dangerously toxic waste-incineration [... very much sounds like ASARCO EL PASO, which incinerated secret illegal industrial and military wastes for almost ten years...]  practices at Balad Airbase in Iraq during years past, as revealed in a leaked Air Force memo [PDF]...."

Soldiers report: "chronic bronchitis, asthma, sleep apnea, chronic coughs and allergy-like symptoms. Several also have cited heart problems, lymphoma and leukemia." [DOES THIS SOUND LIKE ASARCO EL PASO?]

"The story then goes on to discuss a Pentagon report titled "Just the Facts" which, given the now-leaked memo, reeks of obfuscation. According to Army Times, "Just the Facts" admits the "occasional presence" of possibly harmful toxins but then attempts to write-off the cancerous Balad Airbase miasma as harmless..."

[We are assured in El Paso around ASARCO that having the highest radioactive BETA readings in the U.S.A. winter of '98 just before the smelter closed was "harmless"]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/03/10/pentagon-knowingly-expose_n_173493.html

Monday, September 14, 2009

City of El Paso - will they approve 1 million $ contract to SAIC (high-clearance Government-contractor-company under investigation for fraud; and company that did ASARCO testing)

for more on "SAIC" do a search in the blog search-engine

"SECOND AMENDMENT TO PROFESSIONAL SERVICES CONTRACT
SOLICITATION NO. 2008-010R BETWEEN THE CITY OF EL PASO AND SCIENCE
APPLICATIONS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION (SAIC).....

WHEREAS, El Paso City Council by motion on March 25, 2008 awarded Solicitation
No. 2008-010R for a total amount of $846,545.57 to Consultant for services to prepare a
Regional Growth Management Plan (the “RGMP”) and on even date the City Manager entered
into a Professional Services Contract with Consultant for said services (the “Contract”); and
WHEREAS, on April 14, 2009, the CITY and CONSULTANT first amended the
Contract to provide for additional public outreach services and increased the total amount of the
Contract to $882, 399.32; and
WHEREAS, CITY and CONSULTANT now desire to amend the Contract to provide
for additional services related to presentation and housing analysis activities, to increase the
contract award for payment of said additional services by $156,777.19 resulting in a total
contract award amount of $1,039,176.51, and to extend the overall period of performance and
receipt of project deliverables, as specified herein.....
2. CONSULTANT will prepare and deliver oral presentations of the
major findings of the Regional Growth Management Plan to the City Manager
and
selected staff, to the City Council, and to the Mayor and selected personnel. The
presentation will include both physical and electronic versions of the presentation.
These presentations will be provided during the same week as the El Paso Housing
Forum II."

Glencore and Sterlite-owner in same business

January 2009 "Swiss commodities firm Glencore International AG ....has submitted a written proposal for a joint venture with Asarco LLC, a lawyer for the bankrupt U.S. copper miner said on Tuesday.  Glencore, an Asarco creditor, previously said in court documents that it was interested in joining a bid to buy the assets.   Asarco will consider the proposal along with a stand-alone plan it is putting together, company attorney Jack Kinzie told the bankruptcy court. Kinzie also said Asarco was still negotiating with Sterlite...."
http://www.reuters.com/article/euMergersNews/idUSN1341100020090113

Why is there a Swiss Bank named "ASARCO A.G." created in 1998-9? (Do a search on Katamanin in the blog search engine)


September 2009 SWISS Company Glencore developing open copper mine in Zambia where STERLITE owner is largest producer right now...

"Glencore's Zambia unit to start new copper mine...LUSAKA, Sep 9 (Reuters) - A unit of Swiss company Glencore International AG will develop an open pit copper mine in Zambia....Mopani Copper Mines (MCM), majority owned by Glencore, to develop an open pit mine in the Mindola ore body in Kitwe, 330 km north of Lusaka. ...Mopani was Zambia's second largest copper producer before new mines with higher output like Lumwana mine, owned by Equinox Minerals Ltd and Kansanshi mine, a unit of Canada's First Qunatum Minerals came on stream last year. The largest copper producer in this southern African country of 12 million people is Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), a unit of London-listed Vedanta Resources Plc [STERLITE]."
http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/09092009/323/glencore-s-zambia-unit-start-new-copper.html

ASARCO Swiss Bank

In 2006 a woman with the same last name as the man in charge of a Swiss Bank named "ASARCO" bought a Chicago Highland Park property for around 1/2 million dollars. This property is now being offered for sale after Mikhail Katamanin recently entered into bankruptcy after an offshore company sued him.   Search "Mikhail Katamanin" in the blog search engine to see gambling and additional information.
"1380 S Lincoln Avenue, Highland Park, Ill 60035  Owner: Lena Katamanin
Offered for Sale: $980,000 + AGENT: Elena Maliavina
$980,000.00
sales history (2001-present)

$496,000 on June 30, 2006
B: Lena Katamanin
S: Ag Asarco"
http://lakeco.blockshopper.com/property/1625106001/1380_s_lincoln_avenue/listing/

"Appeals court blocks BLM-Asarco land swap" (lawsuit brought by Cntr for Biol. Diversity, Sierra Club and Western Land Project)

(AP) "By BOB CHRISTIE (AP) – 1 hour ago

PHOENIX —....The ruling in the lawsuit filed by three environmental groups in 2001 overturns a lower court decision backing the exchange long sought by Asarco....It ruled that federal environmental laws required the BLM to compare in detail the likely environmental consequences that would occur with and without a land swap.

"The BLM has not done this. Indeed, it has not even attempted to do this," Circuit Judge William A. Fletcher wrote."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5izWoekhj3D80CKKt36ghgvjPMD6gD9ANB4EO0



Saturday, September 12, 2009

Someone is making money... while the children of the Paso del Norte pay the costs of the Toxic pollution through Medicaid

Who is making the money?   The same people who don't want the "asarco secret document" known?  The people who want to develop the Asarco El Paso site without declaring the illegal and secret toxic waste ?   Grupo Mexico and Asarco must just love it when we ignore the secret illegal toxic waste.  

A retired ASARCO supervisor told me that his only regret was watching the children playing outside in the dirt in the yards near the Asarco site and his fears for their health.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125266583730602707.html#

"Vendata makes fresh bid for ASARCO"
11-September-09
"BY DAVID MCLAUGHLIN       Vedanta Resources PLC made a renewed bid to buy Asarco LLC out of bankruptcy, raising its offer to $2.56 billion ....Asarco said in court documents filed Thursday night that India-based Vedanta has agreed to pay $2.56 billion in cash to take Asarco out of bankruptcy, up from an earlier offer of about $2.29 billion.   The new offer comes after a Texas judge recommended last week that Vedanta's offer should be rejected and that Asarco's assets should go to its parent, Grupo Mexico...."

Friday, September 11, 2009

Child born with missing bones, facial deformities and heart defect

ASARCO is paying just $52 million to "clean up" a secret-toxic-waste-site on the West side of El Paso.  To put that amount of money into perspective, that amount could only pay for medical care for ten children with the birth/heart -defects like what Danika has suffered -- and, only for the first few years of their lives.

[Westside El Paso] "....Lopez's daughter Danika was born in February 2006 with myriad health problems. She has Goldenhar syndrome, a congenital condition that causes facial deformities and also affected her heart. She has lung problems and was born without several body parts, including fingers, an ear and the bones of one forearm.

Danika spent the first 80 days of her life in a hospital, mostly in intensive care. Her parents' insurance covered her medical costs for a while, but it was maxed out at $5 million when she was about 2...."
http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_13280354

" "We've also seen a lot of what is known as 'Goldenhar Syndrome,' that is where there is a missing left eye and left ear. It's very strange. A lot of people believe this has something to do with the radiological problem related to the use [in IRAQ] of depleted uranium [a radioactive isotope].""
http://nucnews.net/nucnews/2003nn/0307nn/030703nn.htm

ASARCO El Paso was shut down in February of 1999 after the EPA registered the highest Beta-radiation levels in the USA in El Paso in 1998 (we are assured that these readings mean nothing by the EPA, and that we are safe).  Four months before the shut-down the TCEQ decided to deny the nuclear-dump-license for the Sierra Blanca site just about 80 miles from El Paso, after press/media events reached international levels.


Wednesday, September 9, 2009

The Paso del Norte: paying Asarco clean-up dollars out of your pocket and mine...

http://www.newspapertree.com/opinion/print/4226-janacek-water-bills-to-el-paso-citizens-will-subsidize-fort-bliss

"On May 27, 2004 the El Paso Water Utilities Public Service Board (PSB) promised DOD that PSB would build the world's largest inland desalination plant on Fort Bliss property to allow Fort Bliss to keep its existing wells in reserve as a strategic buffer"

AND ALL THAT TIME THE FEDERAL DEPT. OF JUSTICE, THE EPA, THE TCEQ and ASARCO KNEW THAT ASARCO HAD CONTAMINATED THE HUECO BOLSON AND THE RIO GRANDE; and, that ASARCO had signed onto a 1998 confidential settlement admitting it had burned secret illegal (and unknown) toxic wastes for profit for years.  In exchange, Rep. Reyes later said, Asarco paid millions on condition that the details of what it had done would never be revealed to the community.

Some of that secret waste was military waste; and, now the desal plant that would remove 99% of the contaminants from the Hueco-Bolson-water was being built -- and, the contaminants piped over 20 miles N.E. to deep-well-injection sites on Fort Bliss property.

What exactly did Asarco burn?  And what exactly did they contaminate the Hueco Bolson with and in what amounts?  Why were we never told? 
And now, to add insult to injury, the Taxpayer will foot the bill to remove ASARCO toxic wastes from the Hueco Bolson water? (Asarco had dumped chemicals offsite to the sewage plant(s) for years, and then the water was treated as purple-pipe water to re-inject into the Hueco Bolson aquifer to replenish it.)

 
"
May 13, 2005....the PSB General Manager signed an agreement to build the desalination plant on Fort Bliss property.(3) The agreement guaranteed PSB nothing in return."... "On Aug. 18, 2009, PSB announced plans to execute an easement, water supply contract (4) and water purchase contract (5) with Fort Bliss. If Fort Bliss does not pay its fair share of costs, El Paso citizens will be forced to make up the difference. The easement, water supply contract and water purchase contract could cost El Paso citizens as much as $930 million."

ASARCO EL PASO will pay only 52 million dollars to the community for clean-up of its site, under the Corpus Christi Bankruptcy court that is ignoring the liabilities from ASARCO EL PASO's illegal activities (the DOJ Bankruptcy Trustee and the Court are ignoring that the DOJ made PUBLIC the 1998 EPA-DOJ Asarco confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only-document).


"building a border fence is to build an economic platform" and the folks wanting this to happen have been planning for this "model" for years

This model is dependent upon government continuing to hide ASARCO's toxic-waste.    

Quote (see below):  "The option to building a border fence is to build an economic platform which both creates economic and national security in urban cities..."

"But first we start with a question: What is the option to not building the exiting fence? Or is there another option?

bordercommerce.com would answer to this question with the following.

The option to building a border fence is to build an economic platform which both creates economic and national security in urban cities. When the levee is not proving flood protection, then it should also be used in an economic fashion. As part of the re-construction of the levee, which would mean a small height increase and creating a usable deck upon which it will become the foundation for economic development between El Paso and Cd. Juarez for all the approximately 20 miles of border they share.

Investment in this new levee with a deck, connections to this deck, development and / or re-development along these connections, personal ports of entry using this new deck are parts of what will become the new paradigm of securing our border urban cities [i.e "plural"] and creating economic activity to sustain this security.

This is how we answer the question above.

What about Asarco?

Well it is near this three state, two nation focal point where this new vision of the border can begin. Asarco, its land near the river and across the freeway towards Executive drive and bounded by UTEP as well, just happens to be between that area.

Monday, September 7, 2009

puerto de guaymas and Arizona rail route : What you aren't being told in the Paso del Norte













The Ferromex line [yellow] travels to Nogales and Naco. The dark blue line is the UP Railroad (east-west) Sunset Line. UP Railroad is the one that presently goes through the ASARCO contaminated site in El Paso Texas, and that uses crushed slag for ballast on its rails as far away as at least Alpine. UP is presently continuing on its plans for a fuel tank farm and intermodal loading/offloading ramp at the Santa Teresa Airport -- within the 15 mile zone of contamination from the ASARCO stacks....

"It was published in the Official Newspaper of the federation, the Rules of General Character in the matter of Foreign trade 2009, where the multimodal runner Guaymas-Mexicali gets up itself officially. Day 29 of April of this year, left published in the Official Newspaper of the federation, the Rules of General Character in the matter of Foreign trade 2009, where the multimodal runner Guaymas-Mexicali within the Agreement of Agreement for the Development of Multimodal Runners of the country gets up itself officially, supported in article 131 of the Customs Law, will be able to be promoted the international transit by railroad between the customs of Guaymas and running present Mexicali.El multimodal Guaymas-Arizona during the period of January-December of the 2008 registered a movement of 220.000 tons of merchandise in traffic of international transit, which is equivalent to a 206% of increase with respect to previous the immediate year."
(babelfish online translation) http://www.puertodeguaymas.com/noticias/12-notas-del-puerto/96-nuevo-corredor-multimodal-guaymas-mexicali- (see map above, from this weblink)

"In late 2008, the Puerto de Guaymas announced its plan to construct a new container terminal with capacity to handle more than 100 thousand container a year. The terminal will focus on traffic with the US’s southwestern markets and regional markets in Mexico."

Arcelor Mittal (Mexico plant) is providing the steel. This is the company that bought the Border Steel tiny plant just north of El Paso TX, about 30 miles away -- which may still put it in the contamination zone from Asarco.

"ARCELOR MITTAL starts operations on Puerto de Guaymas "

"Starting from the 7:00 hrs. of the day Monday 17 of November beginning the shipment of approximately 60 thousand tons of iron mineral for el Puerto de Guyamas, starting the beginning of operations of the new terminal of the company hurries this way number 1 in the world, Arcelor Mittal whose investment in the port enclosure of Guaymas reaches the 18 million dollars since in the construction of an installation of first level is totally automated as for reception and material shipment to ship cellar what will be able to assist crafts in so single three days of service..."

Arcelor Mittal is the company that bought the tiny "Border Steel" plant just up Inter-State Highway I10 from El Paso, TX.  Arcelor Mittal has a bad environmental-reputation.

http://www.puertodeguaymas.com/home-interior?task=view
 

Sunday, September 6, 2009

"The Perfect Storm at the NAFTA Institute"

"06/13/2009 04:09 pm"
http://www.discussdac.com/blog/tag/economy/

"There’s a perfect storm brewing in and around southern Dona Ana County.

While much of the storm is off in the future, when combined with current conditions it will permanently transform Dona Ana County’s economy.  

Specifically I’m talking about the following:

  • The Santa Teresa International Border Crossing
  • The Dona Ana County International Airport
  • Access to I-10 and I-25
  • The relocation and expansion of Union Pacific’s railroad station
  • What will be one of the largest electronic manufacturing campuses in the world [FOXCONN]
  • And a new port in northern Baja

Considering the dramatic affect that this list will have on our future, we need to be very aware of what is currently happening and where we are going.

Punta Colonet

Located in northern Baja, this new port will become to Mexico what the New York and New Jersey port is to the United States.  In other words, this port will be massive.[Grupo Mexico is bidding on the 50 year contract to run the port and run the rail to Santa Teresa]

While it may seem logical that a port of this size would look to enter the U.S. at the closest international border crossing, southern California’s congestion and the strategic location of Santa Teresa may make it more efficient right here.   

So what do they see in southern Dona Ana County?

Union Pacific


Union Pacific is relocating its fueling station out of downtown El Paso and into Santa Teresa with plans on expanding into a block swap and inter-modal station [the station's planning is done, the BLM land swap with N.M. is done, and the next step is for N.M. to "auction the land" off (i.e. to U.P.)]

Why does this matter?  It matters because it will make railroad trade coming out of this area more efficient.  The railroad will someday be able to avoid both downtown El Paso and downtown Juarez, and the open land offers room for growth and minimal utility conflicts.

Our location is currently the northern end of the Sunset Line which starts in San Diego.  The route then opens up to the north, east and southeast.  When you factor in the interstates, the international airport and the border into the equation, Santa Teresa could become one of the most efficient locations to start your trade in the United States.

Foxconn

The world’s largest manufacturer of electronics sees the potential for profit here.

In fact, they have invested in 240 hectors west of Juarez where they’re planning a manufacturing campus complete with dormitories, restaurants and recreation areas.  They are planning to employ 10k employees in the next 2 years, and word on the street is they are looking to employ 30k in the long run.  By the end of their first year they will already employ over 5k.

Where are we going?

When you combine the expansions of these companies into Dona Ana County with the airport, the border crossing, and the interstates you get something that exists nowhere else in the United States or Mexico.  It truly is the perfect storm for the future of U.S./Mexico trade. [and it is being built within the 15 mile toxic-zone of ASARCO's stacks, without *anyone* declaring what the decade of illegal secret military/industrial waste-burning left in the Paso del Norte...and, without any effort to clean up dioxins, pcb's, polonium (radioactive lead), actinides (radioactive), etc.]

As manufactures look for the most efficient place to produce and distribute to the U.S. the Juarez/Santa Teresa area is destined to be at the top of the list.

To make this work we need to pay more attention to security on the border and consider more self imposed security measures.  We also can’t forget that there are legitimate concerns with NAFTA in the United States, and we cannot ignore that manufacturers choose Mexico for its cheap labor.

While I am not about to enter into a lengthy examination of the pros and cons of NAFT in this article, it seems like only yesterday (actually 1998-1999) that I was studying the affects of NAFTA with Neil Harvey at New Mexico State University.  Funny the way it is that today I am continuing to study this from a more unique position.

Dona Ana County's Role


And from my position today I’m looking at what Dona Ana County can do to benefit.  Most pressing is the need for the county and Sunland Park to step up the efforts to finalize the utility and land management organization that will serve Santa Teresa.

In addition, the county needs to coordinate with other organizations.  They include the New Mexico Department of Economic Development, the New Mexico Border Authority, the International Business Accelerator and the Mesilla Valley Economic Development Alliance (among others).

Together we need to continue to recruit and market ourselves to the industries that are looking for a U.S. base of operations.  And we need to be prepared to offer housing and commercial space for companies looking to work on the U.S. side of the border.

To succeed it will take the hard work of each organization listed above and we all need to be committed to finding the right way to benefit from our unique position in this perfect storm."
[reprinted for fair use]

 

El Paso Inc. Feb. 11 2007 "letter-to-the-Editor"

El Paso Inc. Feb. 11 2007 letter to the Editor profiling the repair of the buckled-panel at the old upper american canal across from the Asarco smelter ore handling site

Dear Mr. Fenton,

Thank you for the article and photo about the repair of the old upper
American canal's broken panel, showing the Jobe Concrete truck pouring
cement for the new panel, near the American Dam (established by
International Treaty for the delivery of waters to Mexico and the USA).
http://www.elpasoinc.com/showArticle.asp?articleId=971

We know from the IBWC's reports that 24 million dollars worth of
hazardous waste is in the soil beneath those panels right there. Some
of it is odorless and tasteless. We know from the EPWU's water reports
above and below that buckled-panel that it is leaking into that water
still flowing past the feet of those men, who are now exposed to it.
Those men are not wearing masks, most are not wearing gloves -- no one
is wearing white environmental suits. Some of those men will wash their
clothes at home or in commercial laundromats, and family members (maybe
pregnant wives or growing kids) will handle the contaminated clothing.

We know that between mid-March and mid-October that El Paso will get its
drinking water from this canal; and, that contamination still leaks
through the old-joints and the weep-holes into the canal where
ground-water touches the liner. The contamination will pass along over
70 miles of agricultural irrigation canal. The farmland below Asarco
has been called an "arsenic time-bomb" in at least one research paper.

Our community knows that Asarco burned illegal hazardous waste for
nearly a decade just a stone's throw away from this liner.
Smeltertown, in the background of this photo on the EP Inc., had 18
inches of soil removed nearly 40 years ago, for just the Pb (lead)
content alone.

The panels in that old canal were made over 70 years ago of 3 inches of
concrete laid over re-bar, just like in that photo - and layered in two
directions. They should be made of 4 inches of reinforced concrete.
This is a patch-job it appears, and the rest of the 3 miles and 400 or
so panels are still in danger of failing. The panels' failure was
predicted years ago.

The State Department in spring of '05 reviewed the various IBWC sites
and said that the employees at American Dam next to old-smeltertown were
sick, and that they were not getting independent medical review from
this region.

How long will our regulatory agencies responsible for our well-being
continue to conceal its conflicts of interests from this community and
pass along the responsibilities to the next generation---
"pass-the-buck", in cancers, lead exposure, arsenic trioxides and
actinide exposures?