What else might be using the ASARCO El Paso site's right-of-way through the Paso del Norte (Pass of the North) ?

http://www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov/clientsite/keystonexl.nsf/Figure%203.14.2-1.pdf?OpenFileResource

Closure - not Disclosure: ignoring the Poisons from Asarco's secret past...

Since June 2009, El Paso Texas has received about $180 Million in ARRA (american recovery and reinvestment act) Federal funds for projects and groups with property near the ASARCO El Paso secret-haz-waste site.
see:
http://www.reyes.house.gov/LegislationInformation/arra.htm



Despite the release of the DOJ EPA Asarco 70+page confidential for settlement purposes only document proving that ASARCO burned secret hazardous wastes for nearly ten years to make money (NYTimes 10/06), THE HAZ-WASTE from those activities STILL REMAINS SECRET.   Authorities failed to require the ASARCO Bankruptcy Courts to consider the liabilities from this, during the entire ASARCO Bankruptcy case. 

At Asarco Tacoma WA, the Asarco contamination was shown to have covered property for nearly 1000 square miles (and that site was 1/3'rd the size of our site).

Meanwhile, the courts awarded El Paso TX less than 53 Million to clean up ASARCO.

ASARCO Baker-Botts wants $142 million in fees, while millions of people in the Paso del Norte got 55 Million-dollars to clean up ASARCO

"Law360, New York (April 29, 2010) -- Facing terse objections from Asarco LLC over a whopping $142 million fee request, Baker Botts LLP is seeking to compel the reorganized mining company to substantiate claims that the firm is overbilling for 52 months of bankruptcy counsel.

On Wednesday, Baker Botts urged Judge Richard S. Schmidt of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas to order Asarco to provide discovery elaborating on the alleged..."
http://bankruptcy.law360.com/registrations/user_registration?article_id=165207&concurrency_check=false

the Scrap Metal recycling business -- and Radioactive metals -- Did ASARCO El Paso handle Radioactive materials?

There were no radiation alarms or meters at ASARCO El Paso to our knowledge.   We DO KNOW that EPA data shows that the BETA RADIATION LEVEL in El Paso just before the smelter shut down was the HIGHEST IN THE NATION.    Our community still waits for the government to let our community know the levels of polonium around the smelter (polonium is commonly given off by smelters).   We do know that the brine concentrator Asarco El Paso used was rated to handle LLRW (Low level radioactive waste).  We do not know where the stuff went that was removed by the concentrator.   The local regional landfill  about five miles from the Asarco El Paso site (and right along the US-Mexico border) used a radiation meter for a time, and then stopped -- data from that dump shows an increasing Radium gradient in its groundwater along the slope of that dump.

What is our government hiding that our community, that the IBWC workers/State Dept., that the ex-workers, that the La Paz Accord JAC committee -- cannot get the government to disclose to the community EVEN AFTER THE FEDERAL DOJ MADE the EPA-DOJ-ASARCO 73 page confidential for settlement purposes only document, PUBLIC??

"....then there is what came into the small shop owned by Deepak Jain: a piece, or pieces, of metal blamed for an alarming radiation scare this month that hospitalized seven people and caused the police to temporarily cordon off an area barely 10 miles from India’s Parliament. Some experts declared it one of the most troubling cases of radiation exposure in recent years....For years, India and other developing countries, particularly China, have imported different categories of waste from developed countries as a lucrative, if controversial, business...."
http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24478:tainted-waters&catid=46:bloomberg-specials&Itemid=70

"Grupo Mexico, the nation's biggest copper miner, is set to report a sharp jump in quarterly results"

"Google Web Alert for: asarco

PREVIEW-Grupo Mexico profit seen up on Asarco, copper prices - Topix Grupo Mexico, the nation's biggest copper miner, is set to report a sharp jump in quarterly results as it benefits from its acquisition of Arizona's Asarco ... www.topix.com/.../preview-grupo-mexico-profit-seen-up-on-a...

"

Letter sent to newspaper about Asarco hazards

"Asarco hazards

What is wrong with our elected officials? City, state and federal. Asarco's long history of polluting our city did not go away because it is not re-opening. Those same pollutants remain.

The EPA and our own congressman's investigation proves they were illegally disposing toxic chemicals for profit. The trustee, state senator and our city officials are proceeding with plans for the future. Nothing wrong with progress when done honestly -- a power-washing will not rid these toxins.

First, they must test for the illegal toxins and incinerated chemicals that took place for almost 10 years. Ten years of contaminating our drinking and irrigation water. Our water remains contaminated, more so around the plant. With the rains breaking records, it concerns me what we are being exposed to.

Asarco shut down, but the dangers remain in the shadows of this dirty, smelly contaminated location. As per the trustee, the clean-up will be that for industrial use, not nearly for any population use. Power-washing? What an insult and not funny in the slightest sense. So what happens to the kids of Anapra and Sunland Park? They don't count?

Carlos Rodriguez
East El Paso"
http://www.elpasotimes.com/opinion/ci_14916023

"Asarco Sues EPA To Nix $34M Superfund Claims"

" Law360, New York (April 19, 2010) -- Asarco LLC is suing the U.S. government to scratch $33.6 million in claims the reorganized mining giant maintains have been wrongly and tardily imposed in connection with the cleanup of a Superfund site in California.

The complaint, lodged April 5 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, claims Asarco doesn’t owe a penny for vast contamination at the Blue Ledge Mine..."

http://environmental.law360.com/registrations/user_registration?article_id=162611&concurrency_check=false

"Hiding behind the Goldman front, negative data is still weighing down copper.." Did this affect Grupo Mexico or ASARCO??

And who is making money on this?

Why won't our government disclose the still-secret poisons remaining in our community (El Paso TX) from what the EPA secretly told the Federal DOJ (1998) had been the burning of secret/unknown hazardous wastes for profit by ASARCO -- done over nearly ten years (and kept confidential from the community through a confidential EPA/DOJ ASARCO settlement agreement for another eight years?!)

"Google News Alert for: asarco

Goldman Fraud Charge Hits Copper Prices Copper Investing News Grupo Mexico will show benefits from its acquisition of Arizona's Asarco, ... Grupo Mexico won back control of Asarco in December, pulling the US copper ..."

"By Leia Michele Toovey- Exclusive to Copper Investing News" "As news over impending fraud charges against leading commodities player Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) hit the market last Friday, copper witnessed considerable downside. Risk averse investors jumped from their positions, sending copper plummeting to a three month low.... Hiding behind the Goldman front, negative data is still weighing down copper..."

Asarco Bankruptcy ends, and bring predictions "... that Grupo Mexico's total copper sales volumes should be propelled 43 percent year-on-year" as METAL PRICES RECOVER

"Google Web Alert for: asarco

PREVIEWGrupo Mexico profit seen up on Asarco copper prices ... WHAT: Grupo Mexico Q1 earnings results * WHEN: Friday, April 23 * REUTERS FORECAST: Net profit seen soaring year-on-year By Mica Rosenberg MEXICO CITY, ... in.reuters.com/article/.../idINN2021866520100420

"
"MEXICO CITY, April 20 (Reuters) - Grupo Mexico, the nation's biggest copper miner, is set to report a sharp jump in quarterly results as ...metal prices recover, a Reuters poll showed.  Seven analysts consulted by Reuters estimated the company's (GMEXICOB.MX...) first-quarter net profit at $383 million, about 20 times year-earlier earnings of $19 million. Grupo Mexico won back control of Asarco in December, pulling the U.S. copper miner out of bankruptcy by winning a drawn-out court battle and outbidding India's Sterlite Industries Ltd...).  ...."In the first quarter that Asarco's results are fully consolidated, we estimate that Grupo Mexico's total copper sales volumes should be propelled 43 percent year-on-year," brokerage Grupo Bursatil Mexicano said in a report."

"Analysts consulted by Reuters expect [Asarco owner --- GMEXICOB.MX] first-quarter net profit will soar almost 2,000 percent"

Predictions of 2000 percent (two thousand!) net profit increases for Grupo Mexico come as the El Paso TX Asarco Trustee and others continue to stonewall the community (and international JAC committee's) request for data and information on the years of secret hazardous waste disposal (incineration) by the ASARCO El Paso (and E. Helena MT) smelters.  

"Google News Alert for: asarco

Mexico peso, stocks gain on US earnings optimism Reuters MX) first-quarter net profit will soar almost 2000 percent after Grupo Mexico regained control of Arizona copper miner Asarco in December by outbidding ...

"
"Miner Grupo Mexico (GMEXICOB.MX) rose 1.25 percent to 35.78 pesos. Analysts consulted by Reuters expect the company's (GMEXICOB.MX) first-quarter net profit will soar almost 2,000 percent after Grupo Mexico regained control of Arizona copper miner Asarco in December by outbidding India's Sterlite Industries Ltd (STRL.BO). [ID:nN20218665].....However, a recent legal appeal by Sterlite pushed HSBC to downgrade the Mexican miner's stock to "neutral" from "overweight" in a report on Tuesday. (Reporting by Michael O'Boyle; Editing by Leslie Adler)..."

"Gmexico subsidiary SCC has proposed the issuance of up to $1.5 billion in long-term, fixed-rate, senior unsecured notes"

Google Web Alert for: asarco bankruptcy

Research Update: Grupo México, Americas Mining 'BBB-' Corporate ... Americas Mining Corp. has consummated its bankruptcy plan for Asarco LLC. We are removing our ratings on Gmexico and subsidiaries from CreditWatch and ... www.alacrastore.com/.../s-and-p-credit-research-Research_Up...

"Gmexico subsidiary SCC has proposed the issuance of up to $1.5 billion in long-term, fixed-rate, senior unsecured notes, with proceeds to be used for financing capital expenditures and for general corporate purposes....The stable outlook on Gmexico and AMC reflects our expectation that, over the next few years, they will continue to report adequate financial metrics, while AMC's debt levels continue to decrease. On April 6, 2010, Standard&Poor's Ratings Services affirmed its 'BBB-' corporate credit ratings on Mexico-based..."

What Poisons did ASARCO leave in the Paso del Norte Region from the YEARS of secret haz-waste burning??

The International JAC (La Paz Accord) committee passed a resolution asking for chemical testing in this region to determine background contamination amounts.   The community wants full public disclosure of what happened here.  The EPA said to the DOJ that ASARCO had illegally burned secret hazardous wastes for years.  We STILL do not have Dioxin data for this region - or polonium data (two chemicals common to smelters!). 

"AUSTIN, Apr 16, 2010 (El Paso Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services

via COMTEX) --...

Democratic candidate Bill White's campaign released a statement calling on Gov. Rick Perry to intervene in the dispute between Shapleigh and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality....Shapleigh has said the documents could prove that the agency illegally met with Asarco representatives while considering the renewal of the company's air-quality permit."
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/ar_bill-white-joins-shapleigh-presses-for-asarco-files-916248.html

"BRIEF: Court rules Sen. Shapleigh may see Asarco documents"

"By TMC Net, April 15th, 2010 at 4:12 am - PERMALINK

(El Paso Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh is entitled to see certain communications between the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and Asarco, the state Third Court of Appeals has ruled."
http://admin.news.mining.com/2010/04/15/brief-court-rules-sen-shapleigh-may-see-asarco-documents/

What would be in those documents that the public cannot see?

"What would you build at Asarco in El Paso?"

"April 6, 2010 ·
Say you had a lot of money and decided to purchase the Asarco Property, what would you do with that opportunity?  ...

UTEP has been in the news recently with word that they are interested in purchasing the Asarco Property.  Even they are not sure what they would do with all of those acres if they came to purchase it in the future. ...

My name is David and I am living El Paso. 

For more info on Asarco on this blog, visit this link to see all articles containing Asarco.  http://livingelpaso.wordpress.com/?s=asarco"

Texas State Senator from El Paso TX (where EPA said ASARCO illegally burned secret Haz-waste for nearly a decade) "Shapleigh: Historic Rewrite of U.S.-Mexico Policies Now Underway"

http://www.riograndeguardian.com/rggnews_story.asp?story_no=25
"Shapleigh: Historic Rewrite of U.S.-Mexico Policies Now Underway"
By Steve Taylor
10-April-2010

"[Shapleigh] bases his analysis on more than 80 hours of meetings he and other members of the Border Legislative Conference had in Mexico City three weeks ago....with Mexico’s attorney general and foreign secretary, Senate leaders, federal agency chiefs and high ranking officials in the U.S. Embassy.... The visit came just before Secretary of State Hillary Clinton led the highest ranking delegation of U.S. Cabinet members ever to visit Mexico City [March 23]. Shapleigh noted that three months ago approximately 250 experts from Washington, D.C., and Mexico, D.F., representing a dozen agencies were in Juarez, San Diego, Tijuana and other border communities on an important fact-finding mission."

What about the JAC International-Committee Recommendation to the La Paz Accord group to test for Asarco background contamination in our region?

• What happened to the JAC International-Committee Recommendation (Paz Accord group) to test for Asarco background contamination in our region? 
  
• It is appalling that there is no TCEQ (or EPA) DIOXIN DATA for the communities surrounding this 100 year old custom-smelter which the EPA said illegally burned secret haz-waste for nearly a decade.
• Why can't the EPA or TCEQ tell the JAC committee what poisons remain in our community from that illegal activity.  Polonium is a common by-product of some types of smelting -- so why can't we get reports showing the amounts of Polonium here?
  
• Why are Camino Real Mobility Authority, TXDOT and the City of El Paso planning to build an elevated toll-road over Paisano right by ASARCO --- and over our drinking water supply -- before our Federal State Department ever resolves the 03/2005 State Department's own-observation that the IBWC workers at American Dam (by Asarco and Paisano) are sick and cannot get independent medical review in the region?

ASARCO El Paso/Santa Teresa N.M. area: Senator Shapleigh was in Vietnam

http://www.riograndeguardian.com/rggnews_story.asp?story_no=25
Last Updated: 10 April 2010
Shapleigh: Historic Rewrite of U.S.-Mexico Policies Now Underway

By Steve Taylor

“When 100,000 jobs have left Juarez out of 320,000, what you have is an erosion of the manufacturing base historic in nature... Those are jobs that are not coming back. They are going to Vietnam,” Shapleigh said. The senator was in Vietnam four weeks ago."

    BELOW:  Historic info. from epgtlo blog concerning Vietnam and the Santa Teresa International City that Asarco Owner Grupo Mexico (Mexico Railroad "Ferromex" is controlled by Grupo Mexico).  Grupo Mexico's Ferromex wants to run a new rail line to to Santa Teresa's port of entry from a new seaport called "Punta Colonet" -- and potentially win the bid for the 50 year contract to run that seaport, also.

   1.
      epgtlo: 6/28/09 - 7/5/09 (google custom search)
      Jun 28, 2009 ... Taiwanese firm Hon Hai (also known by the trade name Foxconn) recently announced plans for a US$5 billion five-year expansion in Vietnam. ...
      epgtlo.blogspot.com/2009_06_28_archive.html
   2.
      Vietnam: Mitra Energy group completes seismic acquisition (the ...
      "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 ...
      epgtlo.blogspot.com/2009/12/vietnam-mitra-energy-group-completes.html
   3.
      epgtlo: gambling debts in Bahamas, Las Vegas, Atlantic City
      Jul 8, 2009 ... Irving Drobny is the same name as an attorney representing the imperial family of Vietnam. A Chicago Attorney by that same name also serves ...
      epgtlo.blogspot.com/2009/07/gambling-debts-in-bahamas-las-vegas.html
   4.
      epgtlo: Investor who controls a Swiss Bank called ASARCO "facing ...
      Aug 17, 2009 ... [Irving Drobny also represents the Royal Family of Vietnam]. Mr. Katamanin has made two interest payments totaling about $1.67 million, ...
      epgtlo.blogspot.com/2009/08/investor-who-controls-swiss-bank-called.html
   5.
      epgtlo: "ARCELOR MITTAL starts operations on Puerto de Guaymas "
      20050000 Milbank Firm and Citigroup · Vietnam: Mitra Energy group completes seismic acqu... 20081121 Milbank firm advised Mitra Group on buyou. ...
      epgtlo.blogspot.com/2009/09/arcelor-mittal-starts-operations-on.html
   6.
      Swiss Asarco AG attorney
      ... Attorney representing the Swiss Asarco Bank's Chicago lake-front home has the same name as the attorney representing the imperial family of Vietnam. ...
      epgtlo.blogspot.com/2009/06/swiss-asarco-ag-attorney.html
   7.
      BHP Billiton and Tio Tinto Joint Venture (worth a predicted excess ...
      "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, ...
      epgtlo.blogspot.com/2009/12/bhp-billiton-and-tio-tinto-joint.html
   8.
      Asarco AG 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? ...
      epgtlo.blogspot.com/2009/12/asarco-ag-swiss-bank_26.html

"Asarco Accused Of Foot-Dragging In Interest Feud

Law360, New York (April 09, 2010) -- ASM Capital LP and other bondholders battling Asarco LLC over post-petition interest on their claims have attacked the reorganized mining company for trying to prolong the dispute and sap creditors’ will to carry out a costly fight.

A chorus of roughly 12 different investment funds objected to Asarco’s recent bid to extend discovery deadlines in their dispute over post-petition interest on the unsecured claims, contending that the..."

"Asarco Accused Of Foot-Dragging In Interest Feud - Law360
ASM Capital LP and other bondholders battling Asarco LLC over post-petition interest on their claims have attacked the reorganized mining company for trying ...
bankruptcy.law360.com/articles/160979"

City of El Paso TX unanimously votes $600,000 ---awards contract for Asarco [development] study

...while community members and ex-asarco workers/IBWC federal workers go without independent medical review,  jobs, compensation -- and, the community STILL does not have access to basic data on dioxins, polonium/actinides, and the other poisons remaining here --

WHAT IS GOING ON?   Even the International La Paz JAC committee recommended a background contamination study be done (hasn't been - and, that resolution was passed a year ago)

And, when we ask for this data, the ASARCO El Paso clean-up Trustee (after four months) still does not address its absence.

This is appalling.  El Paso is starting up a MEDICAL SCHOOL, and wants to move UTEP into Tier ONE status --- and, the Federal State Dept. says (3/05) that the FEDERAL WORKERS by ASARCO can't get independent medical review?   

UPDATE: City Council awards contract for Asarco Study - El Paso ... From elpasotimes.com EL PASO - The city is moving forward with a new long-range plan that will look at what to do with about 460 acres of Asarco-owned land ... www.upi.com/Top_News/Local/2010/04/07/UPDATE.../60-03e88dd058

TCEQ (as oversight to the Project Navigator remediation process)failsto notify local community groups] about ASARCO El Paso Trustee Legal Motion

As of today 8-April-2010 there has been no acknowledgment or reply from the Trustee or TCEQ to this 26-March letter.   Instead, they wrote (5-April-10) to say he was on vacation.    The "memo" referred to is not the complete confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only document and leaves out about 60% of the content from the original sent from the Federal DOJ in 2006 (NYTIMES 10/06):

"Currently Roberto Puga is out on vacation and will respond to your email when he returns.   Also, I did want to let you know that the Department of Justice memo is now available on our website at http://www.recastingthesmelter.com/?page_id=16.

 

Regards,

Elizabeth Schell"

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	Re: TCEQ (as oversight to the Project Navigator remediation process)failsto notify local community groups
Date:	Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:10:45 -0600
To:	Roberto Puga <rpuga[at]projectnavigator.com>, Lorinda Gardner <LGARDNER[at]tceq.state.tx.us>

Mr. Puga,
This motion is significant.  Why wasn't the environmental community notified?   What this motion asks is, "to clarify... that ANY CLAIMS... by third parties WERE EXTINGUISHED BY THE BANKRUPTCY" --- AND -- "that the CONSENT DECREE and Settlement Agreement... approves the conveyance ... [of] the properties to the TX Custodial Trustee free and clear of any and all liens, CLAIMS, or encumbrances...."

The lay-community of El Paso TX, Cd. Juarez and Sunland Park should not be left in the dark on such motions -- it is very sad that a bankruptcy newsletter "abstract"  is all that enabled us to spot what was happening, here.

You, as the Trustee filing this motion, failed to mention the ten years of illegal secret haz-waste incineration that the DOJ Bankruptcy Trustee also failed to require the courts to look-at.   Ignoring the haz-waste during the bankruptcy was an illegal act by the DOJ Bankruptcy Trustee, and although I am not an attorney, your motion "overlooking mention" of the secret toxic waste while still requesting clarification of such looks very suspect.

You fail to mention in that motion that the CONSENT DECREE had a confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only section that ASARCO secretly-signed-off with the DOJ and EPA on condition that details of what it had illegally done would never become public.   That section is now public-domain and none of the details of what occurred should remain secret under FOIA.

Our community wants to know -- and, the International JAC committee from the La Paz Accord also recommends disclosure - what secret toxic wastes ASARCO left here from those years of illegal activity.   We have a right to know.

As the trustee, you have a legal-responsibility, since you should have known about the secret haz-waste, to disclose it to this community.  

I would like a copy of the answer to your ["Texas Custodial Trust"] motion from the court.

If you have a bibliographic summary of the Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr Houston Law Firm handling the TX Custodial Trust, I would like a copy also.