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

Saturday, January 23, 2010

[Fwd: Google Alert - asarco] Dust making People Sick - Asarco suddenly volunteering to clean up INDOOR DUST

With recent (7/09) UTEP research showing how dangerous-dust is being "stirred up" in El Paso, and with the common knowledge in the Paso del Norte region that we all get sick after wind-events (tired, headaches, muscle aches) that cause the high-arsenic-ladened-dusts to float around us more, again ---

El Pasoans, N.M. and old Anapra SHOULD BE GETTING SOME HELP HERE to install effective windows, refrigerated air, electrostatic furnace filters, air-tight-wind-seals, clean-up of indoor dust -- and, even buy-out of homes by those folks who want to move away from the ASARCO El Paso smelter site.


Google News Alert for: asarco
Asarco helps in dust cleanup
Green Valley News [AZ]
By Philip Franchine, www.gvnews.com Asarco officials said they will pay for some cleanup of homes hit by recent dust storms from the mine tailings as they ...
See all stories on this topic
The mine’s cleanup coordinator, Karen Pickett, an Asarco project manager from the Seattle area, told residents she has begun calling contractors to help in the cleanup of homes.... Resident Cindy Swan, 55, a music teacher at Sahuarita Intermediate School, said she has suffered through five migraine headaches since returning from a visit to New York during winter vacation.  “I am a healthy person. Something is wrong. I want to know what I am being poisoned with,” Swan said....Belove said an analysis of the contents of the dust could have been provided shortly after the three recent dust incidents in November and December.

"US Calls Off Asarco Criminal Enviro Probe" WHY!?!?!?!

Something stinks bad about the Supreme Court re-opening the Enron "honest services provision" case; the US Federal Prosecutors dropping the ASARCO RCRA E. Helena investigation; and the existence of an "import/export ASARCO A.G. SWISS BANK" run by an international gambler-- that no one can explain... ALL ACTIONS in effect PROTECTING GRUPO MEXICO who owns over 1/2 the Freight Rail right-of-way in Mexico, is 20% owned by the Carlyle Group -- the Carlyle Group who controls the CSX railroad that feeds the entire Eastern USA seaboard.   The guy who runs Carlyle's USA Realty group used to report to the land-developer who started the San Jeronimo-Santa Teresa First Planned International Community here within 10 miles of the Asarco disaster.

Isn't ANYONE in our Federal Government in a position to do anything about this - or have we (and the Rio Grande) all been sacrificed (ARE being sacrificed) to lives poisoned by the still illegal/secret military/industrial haz-wastes that the EPA/DOJ let us know were burned here (and in E. Helena) for nearly ten years? 
 

Isn't E. Helena angry about this?????????

"US Calls Off Asarco Criminal Enviro Probe

Law360, New York (January 22, 2010) -- Federal prosecutors have dropped their criminal investigation into whether Asarco LLC violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by storing hazardous materials without the proper environmental permits at a former facility in East Helena, Mont.

William W. Mercer, the U.S. attorney for the District of Montana, wrote in a letter dated Wednesday that the government had decided not to indict the company on criminal charges,..."
http://www.google.com/url?sa=X&q=http://environmental.law360.com/articles/145156&ct=ga&cd=x3vO1VWq6RQ&usg=AFQjCNEYWJEvr6i2C7Apgl3GBMV4XaMCVA

Friday, January 22, 2010

Jan. 2010 : "Supreme Court Decision Marks the End of Democracy"

May God help us all preserve our nation when the Federal DOJ will not act to prevent the Asarco Bankruptcy Fraud, our health/welfare is sold down the river to line the pockets of large attorney firms feasting off the fraudulent proceedings, and the Supreme Court not only meets to hear about possibly demolishing the honest services provision of the mail and wire fraud act - but, has marked the end of democracy by allowing corporations like Asarco, Grupo Mexico and Carlye Group to fully fund ANY candidates, without a monetary limit. 

"Supreme Court Decision Marks the End of Democracy-A Special Newsletter from the Texas Climate Emergency Campaign"

"
I hope we shall... crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and to bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~ Thomas Jefferson, letter to George Logan. November 12, 1816

 

The words above were written by Thomas Jefferson, one of the distinguished founding fathers of this nation. Clearly, neither he nor any of the other signers of the declaration of independence thought they were declaring freedom for big corporations, and yet that's what happened in the Supreme Court yesterday. Many are calling it the End of Democracy, for we have now sold our souls down the river of corporate greed.  As one pundit put it, we are looking at our last President and our last Congress which will not fully be funded by corporate giants. It is a sad day for issue advocacy, it is a sad day for all of us as Americans..."

Texas Climate Emergency Campaign | 5th St | Austin | TX | 78704


Honest services law must go - - Epstein Becker & Green ( "New Jersey waterways and rivers in the northwestern portion of the state that have been contaminated with metals")

Honest services law must go
The Supreme Court should declare it unconstitutional rather than try to rewrite

it.http://www.law.com/jsp/nlj/PubArticleNLJ.jsp?id=1202438103655&Honest_services_law_must_go&slreturn=1&hbxlogin=1
Hervé Gouraige

January 18, 2010

"...In an unusual move, the U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari petitions in three separate honest services cases: U.S. v. Black, 530 F.3d 596 (7th Cir. 2008); U.S. v. Weyhrauch, 548 F.3d 1237 (9th Cir. 2008); and U.S. v. Skilling, 554 F.3d 529 (5th Cir. 2009). Two of those cases (Black and Weyhrauch) have been argued, and Skilling is to be argued in the spring. In the Skilling case, Jeffrey Skilling, the former president of Enron Corp., has clearly requested that the Court hold the statute unconstitutional because it is too vague to provide notice of what conduct is deemed potentially criminal."

Hervé Gouraige is a member in the Newark, N.J., and New York offices of Epstein Becker & Green and co-group leader of the firms' national litigation practice.
==================================================================

"Over the last several months, federal and state environmental regulatory agencies have devoted substantial regulatory attention to New Jersey waterways and rivers in the northwestern portion of the state that have been contaminated with metals, declaring some of them to be federal Superfund sites. In light of these events, the judicial determination that the metals contamination on the southern edge of the property was solely due to our adversaries’ prior disposal activity was timely. The Opinion is perhaps the first trial court decision to apply the apportionment principles articulated in the Supreme Court's May 2009 decision in Burlington Northern.   

20100122 Supreme Court removes limits on Corporate Campaign Spending

"In Landmark Campaign Finance Ruling, Supreme Court Removes Limits on Corporate Campaign Spending  In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court rules corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money to elect and defeat candidates. One lawmaker describes it as the worst Supreme Court decision since the Dred Scott case justifying slavery."
http://i3.democracynow.org/2010/1/22/in_landmark_campaign_finance_ruling_supreme

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

ASARCO news: a SHELL-GAME?? Sterlite appealing court decision

Google Blogs Alert for: asarco
(AMM) Sterlite making Asarco play, appealing court decision ...
By zhabka
Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. is gearing up for another courtroom battle over US.
Metalloprokat - http://metalloprokat.org/


"NEW YORK 19 January 2010 20:58  Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. is gearing up for another courtroom battle over U.S. copper miner Asarco LLC.

Since losing out on the chance to take over and reorganize Tucson, Ariz.-based Asarco out of bankruptcy last November, Sterlite has made quiet progress to appeal the decision that returned Asarco to its former parent, Mexico City-based Grupo Mexico SA de CV.

"That's what we'll be asking for?the complete reversal..." "

Google Alert - Rail yard move to Asarco site proposed


Rail yard move to Asarco site proposed
El Paso Inc
In December, Asarco concluded a massive bankruptcy case by settling its liabilities for $1.8 billion nationally; in El Paso, the agreement provided $52 ...

Sunday, January 17, 2010

"I have a dream" that one day we will have Environmental Justice for the children, the poor, the elderly, the ill and the disinfranchized...

Martin Luther King famous speech

(subtitles in Spanish)


Rap Video:


"I Have a Dream - Address at March on Washington
August 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.

I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. [Applause]

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.

But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.

In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.

And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
http://www.mlkonline.net/dream.html

Martin Luther King, Jr.


The Democratic Party
"Over 40 years ago, I stood with Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. on the steps of the U.S. Capitol during the March on Washington. Tomorrow, our nation will commemorate his life and work.

I recorded a short video about what this day means to me and all Americans. Please watch it today.

Dr. King's words inspired me to join the civil rights movement and begin my own fight for a more just and equal nation.

Tomorrow is a day to honor his legacy and reflect on how far we've come.

But it's also a day to rededicate ourselves to building an America where all are treated equally and every eligible American can cast a ballot and have it counted.

Please watch and share today:

http://my.democrats.org/MLK2010

Thank you,

Representative John Lewis"




 

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Judge handling the Carlyle Chicago Synagro case was in charge of the DELPHI securities case

"Separately, a federal judge who has been asked to dismiss a securities case
against former Delphi executives, said he will hold off on a decision as the
defendants and the Securities and Exchange Commission try to reach a settlement.
U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn said in a filing that he plans to defer a
decision until it seems that a settlement is out of reach."[Jan. 11, 2008]

http://www.citizensforethics.org/files/O%27Neil%20Exhibits.pdf

PRESS RELEASE from six years ago - - - 20031215 "Carlyle Group to Begin Investing in Mexico"

"
December 15, 2003
#2003-58
Carlyle Group to Begin Investing in Mexico

Leading Efforts are Luis Téllez and Joaquin Avila

Thomas F. McLarty to Become Senior Advisor to Carlyle and Advisor on Mexico Investment Activities

Washington, DC -- Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group today announced that Luis Téllez, currently Executive Vice President of Desc, and Joaquin Avila, currently Managing Director of Lehman Brothers, will join Carlyle as Managing Directors to establish an office in Mexico City and co-lead Carlyle’s first-ever buyout investment activities in Mexico. Also joining Carlyle as Senior Advisor to the firm with an emphasis on Mexico is Mack McLarty, President of Kissinger McLarty Associates and Chief of Staff to and Special Envoy to the Americas for President Bill Clinton. Messrs. Téllez, Avila, and McLarty begin at Carlyle on January 1, 2004.

David M. Rubenstein, Carlyle co-founder and Managing Director, said, “Mexico is fertile terrain for private equity investing. Luis and Joaquin are the perfect investment professionals to spearhead Carlyle’s investment activities in Mexico. They bring an unmatched depth of experience and knowledge of the business community and embody Carlyle’s thoughtful and conservative approach to investing. We are also particularly pleased to have Mack McLarty join Carlyle as a Senior Advisor. The firm will benefit greatly from his insightfulness and creativity, and his intimate knowledge of Mexico will serve our investment activities well.”

Mr. Téllez said, “The time is right to invest in Mexico and Carlyle, with its global platform and credibility in the markets, will be the first major player to make this type of commitment. I am particularly pleased that my friend and long time associate Mack McLarty will join us in this important and exciting endeavor. Mack knows Mexico, its challenges, and opportunities. His strategic input and problem solving ability will be critical to our success.”

Mr. Avila said, “I am quite pleased to join The Carlyle Group and to help lead this unique institution’s entry into the Mexican buyout market. Carlyle brings needed equity and tremendous management experience to the Mexican business community and a management-friendly approach to investing that will be well received by owners and workers alike.”

Mr. McLarty said, “I have known and worked with The Carlyle Group for a number of years and am quite pleased to join them in this timely endeavor. Carlyle and I have several intersections of mutual interest, including automotive, transportation, and energy issues, and, of course Mexico and the Americas. Mexico presents great opportunity and with Luis and Joaquin leading the effort, Carlyle will be able to have a real impact on the investment climate.”

* * * * *

Luis Téllez has served as Executive Vice President (CEO) of DESC, S.A. de C.V., one of Mexico’s largest companies. Desc, a diversified industrial conglomerate with nearly US$2 billion in sales, has businesses in the auto parts, chemicals, food production, brand management, and real estate sectors. Mr. Téllez has played a key role in the strategic management of the company.

From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Téllez served as Mexico’s Secretary of Energy. During his tenure, he designed and implemented an ambitious program to restructure the Mexican electricity sector, allowing for broader private involvement in generating, distributing, and transmitting electricity in Mexico. In 1998 and 1999, Mr. Téllez headed Mexico’s oil diplomacy efforts and played a key role in restoring stability in international oil markets and oil prices.

For the previous three years, Mr. Téllez served as Chief of Staff to President Ernesto Zedillo. After the Mexican crisis of 1995, he joined the Minister of Treasury and the Governor of the Central Bank to successfully secure the financial rescue package of US$50 billion dollars granted to Mexico by the U.S. and other major financial institutions.[1995: The height of ASARCO's years of illegal and secret hazardous-waste burning of military and industrial unmanifested-wastes, while Grupo Mexico sat on the Asarco Board (Carlyle now owns 20% of Grupo Mexico)]

From 1987 to 1993, Mr. Téllez served in several senior positions in the Mexican government, including Head Economist at the Ministry of Treasury and Undersecretary of Planning at the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.

Since 2001, Mr. Téllez has been a member of APEC’s Business Advisory Council and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of DESC, Femsa, Grupo México, a member of the Business Council of the Reforma newspaper and of the Board of Counselors of Kissinger McLarty Associates. He is also a member of the Board of diverse non-profit organizations such as Fundación Televisa, Fundación Únete and Universidad Iberoamericana.

Mr. Téllez was named Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum, and Leader for the New Millenium by Time Magazine. Mr. Téllez, 45, earned his BS in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, suma cum laude, and his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

* * * * *

Joaquin Avila joined Lehman Brothers in 2000 as Managing Director and Co-Head of Latin America. He is responsible for developing and implementing strategic plans for the region. In 2001, under Mr. Avila’s leadership, the Latin America team generated one of the highest fee income per employee of the firm. In 2001, Lehman received the “Deal of the Year” award for Latin America by Euroweek Magazine for a Pemex US$750 million bond issue.

From 1996 to 2000, Mr. Avila served as Managing Director of VA Investments/Compass Group in Mexico City where he formulated the strategic plan to develop asset management and private equity businesses in Mexico. Mr. Avila also formed VAI, a private equity firm in Mexico that was financially supported by Banco Santander, where he successfully acquired the Hoteles Krystal for US$125 million.

From 1989 to 1996, Mr., Avila worked at Banco Santander, first as Head of Corporate Finance-Latin America and then as Managing Director and Member of the Board of Santander Investment. As head of Corporate Finance-Latin America, Mr. Avila structured the first “Matador” bond issue of the Mexican Government and Bancomext; negotiated a US$980 million loan to Grupo Alameda, parent company of Grupo Televisa; launched private sector bond issues including Astra, Novum, and Vitro; and negotiated a US$500 million loan to CeMex for the acquisition of Valenciana de Cementos in Spain. As Managing Director, Mr. Avila was responsible for the development of strategy throughout Latin America; acquired Banco Mexicano, the fourth largest bank in Mexico; and developed the business plan that led Santander Investments to obtain a full-power section 20 subsidiary in the U.S.

From 1988 to 1989, Mr. Avila worked at Bankers Trust as Representative of the Mexico City Office and was a board member of Unica, one of the oldest venture capital firms in Mexico. From 1987 to 1988, Mr. Avila served at Libra Bank PLC as Representative of the Mexico City Office where he acquired Grupo Rassini on behalf of Corporación San Luis. And from 1982 to 1987, he served General Director of Mines in the Mexican Ministry of Energy and Mines.

Mr. Avila, 50, earned his BS in engineering from the Universidad IberoAmericana, his MS in engineering from Stanford University, and his MBA from Yale University.

* * * * *

Mack McLarty is President of Kissinger McLarty Associates, a partnership with Dr. Henry Kissinger that provides strategic advisory and advocacy services to U.S. and multinational businesses with active involvement in Mexico and throughout Latin America. Mr. McLarty is also Chairman of McLarty Companies, a third-generation family transportation business based in Little Rock, Arkansas. Mr. McLarty will remain in both of these positions after joining The Carlyle Group.

From 1993 to 1997, Mr. McLarty served in several senior positions in the Clinton White House, including Chief of Staff to the President, Counselor to the President, and Special Envoy for the Americas. As Chief of Staff, Mr. McLarty organized the first Democratic Administration in twelve years and directed a wide variety of White House achievements, including enactment of the historic 1993 deficit reduction package, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the Family and Medical Leave law.

As Counselor to the President, Mr. McLarty served in the President’s Cabinet and on the National Economic Council, advising the President on a wide range of subjects, particularly on business and economics. In 1994 Mr. McLarty organized the successful Summit of the Americas in Miami, and he played a critical role in structuring the Mexican peso stabilization program. Mr. McLarty participated in several G-7 and APEC Summits, and he traveled to the Persian Gulf on the President’s behalf to build financial support for the Bosnian peace process.

As Special Envoy to the Americas, Mr. McLarty served as President Clinton’s personal representative to the western hemisphere. He coordinated U.S. policy toward the region, including three presidential trips and U.S. participation in the 1998 Summit of the Americas in Chile.

Prior to his years in the White House, Mr. McLarty was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arkla, Inc., a Fortune 500 natural gas company with more than 2 million customers in 11 states and significant exploration and pipeline activities. Arkla was recognized by Forbes Magazine for management excellence, and by other national organizations for environmental initiatives and minority enterprise development.

Mr. McLarty, 57, was awarded the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal presented by Madeleine Albright and the Order of the Aztec Eagle presented at Los Pinos by Mexico President Ernesto Zedillo.

# # #

"
http://www.carlyle.com/Media%20Room/News%20Archive/2003/item6573.html

Swiss Asarco Bank listed as "Import/Export"

"Asarco Ag...Zurich, Switzerland...

Company Information --Foreign Trade : Import/Export "

http://www.maceuro.com/Switzerland/co_details.cfm?cmp=482072097_Asarco+Ag

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Federal DOJ and EPA AGAIN entering into a "consent decree" (and is any of this decree "SECRET" like the 1998 ASARCO consent decree was??)

- Exactly how many "secret" sections to Consent Decrees may exist through our Federal DOJ?

"Friday, January 8, 2010

ANP Agrees to $5 Million Groundwater, Soil Cleanup in AZ

January 8, 2010- The U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Apache Nitrogen Products, Inc. entered into a $5 million consent decree to remove toxic nitrates and perchlorates from groundwater and to monitor the progress. at the Apache Powder Superfund Site, near David...."

http://contaminatednation.blogspot.com/2010/01/anp-agrees-to-5-million-groundwater.html

Saturday, January 9, 2010

EPA Tests state that fuel oil electric plants (like the one at ASARCO) emitted Beryllium. So why don't we have DATA for the amounts here in the Paso del Norte?!?

"EPA tests on emissions from coal-fired power plants have also detected 67
different pollutants in trace amounts, including hazardous air pollutants, mercury,
beryllium, arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead
. These trace contaminants are
also known to be emitted from fuel oil combustion"

http://www.edf.org/documents/3116_PollutionWithoutBorders.pdf


20030900 Research Paper (EPCC and NMSU) states that Rio Grande contamination by ASARCO could be responsible for leukaemia and congenital malformations in people

"Agrochemicals, pesticides, heavy metals, arsenic, and PCBs (presumably from illegal dumping, agriculture and maquiladora activities) have been detected in the [Rio Grande by Asarco] and may be associated with fish deformities, leukaemia, and congenital malformations in humans."

http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2180/4/17

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Asarco Lead (Pb) sources in El Paso ... 2 million dollars ... to run x-ray absorption?


"PLoS One. 2009;4(4):e5019. Epub 2009 Apr 2.

Urban airborne lead: X-ray absorption spectroscopy establishes soil as dominant source.

Pingitore NE Jr, Clague JW, Amaya MA, Maciejewska B, Reynoso JJ.

Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA. nick@geo.utep.edu

BACKGROUND: Despite the dramatic decrease in airborne lead over the past three decades, there are calls for regulatory limits on this potent pediatric neurotoxin lower even than the new (2008) US Environmental Protection Agency standard. To achieve further decreases in airborne lead, what sources would need to be decreased and what costs would ensue? Our aim was to identify and, if possible, quantify the major species (compounds) of lead in recent ambient airborne particulate matter collected in El Paso, TX, USA. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used synchrotron-based XAFS (x-ray absorption fine structure) to identify and quantify the major Pb species. XAFS provides molecular-level structural information about a specific element in a bulk sample. Pb-humate is the dominant form of lead in contemporary El Paso air. Pb-humate is a stable, sorbed complex produced exclusively in the humus fraction of Pb-contaminated soils; it also is the major lead species in El Paso soils. Thus such soil must be the dominant source, and its resuspension into the air, the transfer process, providing lead particles to the local air. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Current industrial and commercial activity apparently is not a major source of airborne lead in El Paso, and presumably other locales that have eliminated such traditional sources as leaded gasoline. Instead, local contaminated soil, legacy of earlier anthropogenic Pb releases, serves as a long-term reservoir that gradually leaks particulate lead to the atmosphere. Given the difficulty and expense of large-scale soil remediation or removal, fugitive soil likely constrains a lower limit for airborne lead levels in many urban settings.

PMID: 19340295 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]"

Asarco Lead (Pb) source - confounds... again.

Dr. Pingitore awarded 2009 N.I.H. grant for almost one million dollars (Total 2009 Funding: $921,489 ) and $943,726 in 2008!!
http://projectreporter.nih.gov/project_info_description.cfm?aid=7668724

This local activist is confounded by the N.I.H. awarding such monies to researcher(s) who themselves admitted "various factors confound [their] ability to distinguish the relative contributions of Pb from the smelter point source and from the local area sources."

"Asarco spokespersons deny their company is responsible for the contamination in adjacent zones... Their argument received some support in a 2004 paper ...Authored by Dr. Nicholas Pingitore, Dr. Maria Amaya and others...cited other reasons the core area near Asarco could be laden with high amounts of lead, including the prior use of unleaded gasoline and old, vintage homes brightened with lead paint. According to Pingitore and associates, the various factors “" >confound one’s ability"> to distinguish the relative contributions of Pb from the smelter point source and from the local areal sources.”"">Frontera NorteSur June-August 2005 "The Battle of Asarco"


"Andrea, I know the work that has been done by Dr. Pingitore has been absolutely valid, and his approaches well justified." (quote from Dr. Amaya, email from Varnell to Eliot Shapleigh 2/23/2004 4:33 PM on Blood Lead Levels). Dr. Amaya now does research with Dr. Pingitore....


“In terms of actual concentration, lead paint chips and lead paint dust from these older homes are the biggest source of lead pollution in the community,” Johnson [previous Asarco El Paso environmental Manager] said, citing three studies, the latest an independent examination by UTEP geochemistry Prof. Nicholas Pingitore – also a Kern Place resident......Pingitore also takes issue with an EPA study that showed there is a lot of lead sulfide in the soil. It’s a substance one might normally assume came out of the smokestacks. “We don’t seem to find it,” Pingitore said of his own studies. ...." (from 20060128 el paso inc)





Sunday, January 3, 2010

20091103 Berkshire Hathaway (Warren Buffett) bid 34 BILLION to buy Burlington Northern Railroad

"November 3....Warren Buffett's legendary Berkshire Hathaway offered a whopping $34 billion to buy Burlington Northern Railroad.  The bid marked a 31.5% premium and was the largest acquisition in Berkshire Hathaway's history!"

quoted from Motley Fool newsletter

Saturday, January 2, 2010

ASARCO?? El Paso Water Utilities Public Service Board Water System - Toxic Waters - The New York Times

http://projects.nytimes.com/toxic-waters/contaminants/tx/el-paso/tx0710002-elpaso-water-utilities-public-service-board

Notice the Alpha, gross-beta and the Radium levels.

Why did the gross-beta radiation level exceed the legal limits in one sample?   Why are Alpha and Radium levels a concern?
  

2002 ATSDR CDC EL PASO TX study suggested that nearly 30% of children within one mile of ASARCO had elevated blood lead levels

http://shapleigh.org/system/reporting_document/file/337/ASARCO_Parcel_Acres_2.jpg
THIS IS NEAR THE NEW WALMART DEVELOPMENT AND THE MONTECILLO PLANNED DEVELOPMENT that dug off the toxic overburden (by the way -- where did they take it??).

"The distance of residence from smelter versus percentage of elevated blood lead suggests children living closer to the smelter had higher percentages of elevated blood lead test results than children living farther away from the smelter (Figures 6 and 7). Seven of the 24 children (29%) living within a mile of the smelter had elevated blood lead results (Table 4)."

http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/hac/PHA/elpaso2/elp_p1.html

Friday, January 1, 2010

WHEN WILL THE EPA CLEAN UP ITS OWN CORRUPTION - STARTING WITH THE ASARCO FRAUD IN EL PASO TX?!

The EPA fails to catch its own crooks - starting with why a Federal science agency (EPA) cannot even deliver DIOXIN results to the community of El Paso/Juarez/Sunland Park N.M.   SHAME EPA!

"Today's turning point coercion allotment will yield roughly a single billion dollars to purify up soiled Superfund sites," pronounced Cynthia Giles, Assistant Administrator for a EPA's Office of Enforcement as well as Compliance Assurance. "This will meant cleaner land, H2O as well as air for communities [across the] country."

http://news.furutravel.com/superior-environmental-pileruptcy-in-u-s-story-will-product-in-payment-of-1-79-invoiceion-nears-environmental-attack/

Thursday, December 31, 2009

Why is there an Asarco A.G. Swiss Bank (Asarco SA, Asarco inc.) and why did our Justice System send the UBS Swiss Bank whistle blower to prison (but not the bankers?)

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BT4DJ20091230

"Bradley Birkenfeld, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen, has been hailed by whistleblower advocates and U.S. prosecutors alike as pivotal to the case against UBS... targeted in a wide probe by U.S. authorities for helping U.S. tax cheats to hide assets in UBS accounts...Birkenfeld seems both angered and stunned by the fact that he is due to enter prison on January 8 for a 40-month term.

Birkenfeld was handed his sentence by a Florida district court judge in August, two days after U.S. and Swiss authorities signed a pact in which Switzerland agreed to reveal the names of about 4,450 wealthy American clients of UBS to U.S. tax investigators.

No other UBS bankers have been jailed in connection with the massive tax fraud case."



THE IRONY ABOUT ASARCO EL PASO: EPA Seeks Public Input on Interim Guidance for Dioxins in Soil Cleanup Goals

What irony -- the EPA and TCEQ have failed to disclose the amounts of dioxins around the ASARCO El Paso Plant even though it has been three years since the public-release of the EPA-DOJ Asarco confidential for settlement purposes only document that let us know ASARCO burned unmanifested wastes for profit for years.  Dioxins are extremely common around secondary smelters and copper smelters.   Yet, after YEARS of repeated requests, our community still does not have access to this basic information.  This is appalling and a serious comment on the lack of scientific integrity of our National and State Environmental protection agencies.

Dear Stakeholders / Interested Parties:
 Today [DEC-31-09]  the Agency asked the public to comment on the draft interim remediation plans for cleaning up dioxins in soil. Details are below. Be sure to read more about the draft recommended guidance and how to comment at: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/policy/remedy/sfremedy/remedies/dioxinsoil.html   Best wishes for a Happy New Year,  Bonnie Piper Office of Public Outreach Office of Public Engagement Office of the Administrator O: 202-564-7836 Fax: 202-501-1770 email:  piper.bonnie@epa.gov   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Dec. 31, 2009  EPA Seeks Public Input on Interim Guidance for Dioxins in Soil Cleanup Goals  WASHINGTON - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today it is seeking public comment on draft interim preliminary remediation goals (PRGs) for cleanup of dioxins in soil.  Today’s announcement fulfills a commitment by EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson to announce interim cleanup goals by the end of 2009.  Dioxins are contaminants that are very widespread in the environment that have been of concern to EPA and the public health community for decades.  This action would strengthen EPA’s preliminary remediation goals at dioxin contaminated sites.  “While EPA works to complete the dioxin reassessment, this interim guidance will help us make better informed decisions on cleanup alternatives at contaminated sites,” said Mathy Stanislaus, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response. “We are following through on our commitment to use the best available science to help protect human health and the environment.”  Dioxins may cause a large number of different health effects, like cancer and reproductive effects. Dioxins are of concern because they are the result of combustion, and are absorbed from the air into the food chain where they can stay for many years.  Currently, EPA’s recommended dioxin PRGs are 1,000 part per trillion (ppt) for dioxin in residential soil and a level within the range of 5,000-20,000 ppt in commercial/industrial soil.  The draft interim PRGs proposed today are 72 ppt for residential land uses and 950 ppt for commercial/industrial land uses, thus lowering the amount of dioxins levels for residential land uses and commercial/industrial land uses.  In addition, the draft interim PRGs differ from the current dioxin PRGs in that they include consideration of the potential absorption of dioxin through skin exposure.  This will provide a tool for site evaluation that was not available when EPA last recommended PRGs for dioxins in soil in 1998.  In 1991, in light of significant new data on the potential human health effects of dioxins, EPA began the development of a comprehensive evaluation of exposure and human health effects of 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), the most toxic of the group of chemicals known as dioxins, and other dioxin-like compounds. This draft dioxins assessment has been through several independent external peer reviews, the latest a 2004 review by a scientific panel convened by the National Academy of Sciences. When the EPA dioxin risk assessment is complete, it will be the agency’s scientific foundation for future decision-making about dioxins in the environment.  EPA will be taking public comment on the draft interim PRGs for 50 days following publication in the Federal Register, and anticipates issuing the final interim PRGs in June 2010.  Upon completion of the dioxins reassessment, currently expected by the end of 2010, EPA will consider the need to update the interim PRGs.  More information on the draft recommended interim PRGs and how to comment: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/policy/remedy/sfremedy/remedies/dioxinsoil.html   R401

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

20091230 "Obama Curbs Secrecy of Classified Documents "

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/30/us/politics/30secrets.html

"...President Obama declared on Tuesday that “no information may remain classified indefinitely” as part of a sweeping overhaul of the executive branch’s system for protecting classified national security information.

In an executive order and an accompanying presidential memorandum to agency heads, Mr. Obama signaled that the government should try harder to make information public if possible, including by requiring agencies to regularly review what kinds of information they classify and to eliminate any obsolete secrecy requirements.

“Agency heads shall complete on a periodic basis a comprehensive review of the agency’s classification guidance, particularly classification guides, to ensure the guidance reflects current circumstances and to identify classified information that no longer requires protection and can be declassified,” Mr. Obama wrote in the order..."


Monday, December 28, 2009

additional ASARCO El Paso information available online in an easy format

Link to Government Regulations regarding ASARCO El Paso

Google Alert - United Steel Workers last August 2009 opposed ASARCO court recommendation

The Steelworkers Union Attorneys [along with the Federal DOJ, the EPA, the TCEQ and N.M. Env. Dept.] failed to ask the Courts to look at the liabilities from ASARCO illegally burning unmanifested toxic-wastes (hazardous wastes) for years in both El Paso TX and E. Helena, MT.  WHY??!!

District Information Center | United Steelworkers
USW Opposes ASARCO Bankruptcy Recommendation ... Throughout the more than four years that ASARCO has been in bankruptcy, Asarco, Inc. has been displaced ...

"According to Robert LaVenture, Director of USW District 12 and chairman of bargaining with ASARCO, the USW is continuing to closely analyze the bankruptcy’s court lengthy report. LaVenture stated that “the USW believes the bankruptcy court failed to deal with the Union's key argument that Grupo Mexico’s proposed plan of reorganization cannot and should not be confirmed because of its failure to reach a new labor agreement with the USW, which is an obligation found in the current collective bargaining agreement.”  LaVenture states that the Union intends to file pleadings in the district court addressing what the USW believes to be the legal and other errors in the bankruptcy court’s recommendation."

Sunday, December 27, 2009

Who gamed the Bankruptcy system?

WHY DID THE ENTIRE BANKRUPTCY "SYSTEM" IGNORE THE LIABILITIES FROM what the EPA/DOJ told us (after 8 years of secrecy!) was THE ILLEGAL and SECRET BURNING OF UNMANIFESTED WASTES FOR PROFIT, incinerated over YEARS?!  Who exactly gamed the Bankruptcy system?  The owners of ASARCO or the regulators?  We have evidence that the regulators knew what happened and concealed it in 2001 from the community.  What deals have been made to sacrifice the peoples of the Paso del Norte region to this contamination, and why?!?

Why has the Asarco Bankruptcy completely ignored what was almost a decade of illegal toxic poisons spread over El Paso/Juarez/N.M. and E. Helena MT by these burnings of military and industrial unreported wastes??  

Rep. Reyes, Chair of the House Intelligence Committee said that Asarco paid MILLIONS on condition that the details of what it had done were never made public.    WHY WERE THESE POISONS NEVER MADE PUBLIC?  Why couldn't the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee make these poisons public?   Why have we never been told what these poisons are -- even after an international La Paz committee made a recommendation/resolution that the background contamination be studied and reported?!?

Google Web Alert for: Asarco

Asarco owner tried to game bankruptcy system officials say | MORE ...
Dec. 27, 2009 - WASHINGTON — A 562-foot smokestack that spewed a plume of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals over 1000 square miles of Washington state's ...

Tip: Use quotes ("like this") around a set of words in your query to match them exactly. Learn more.

Remove this alert.
Create another alert.
Manage your alerts.

El Paso Inc article link: Asarco: cleaning the mess

http://www.elpasoinc.com/readArticle.aspx?issueid=263&xrec=4742 <cid:part1.08040803.04070307@gmail.com>

Saturday, December 26, 2009

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

Prosecution of UBS informant seen backfiring on US
By Tom Brown of Reuters MIAMI - The key informant in the US tax evasion case against Swiss bank UBS AG faces prison next year, but his harsher-than-expected treatment by the US Justice Department will undermine efforts to expose secretive offshore tax havens, lawyers and whistle-blower advocates say. Bradley Birkenfeld,...
Tags: tax, UBS AG, U.S. Department Of Justice
News items 2009-10-09

Birkenfeld, the UBS Banker who exposed UBS

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

Asarco A.G. Swiss Bank

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

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

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

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

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

Friday, December 25, 2009

20050000 Milbank Firm and Citigroup

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

GLOBE Asarco plant dirt too hazardous

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

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



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

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

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

There is a lot we have not been told.

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

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

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

Monday, December 21, 2009

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

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

Google Web Alert
ASARCO Settlement Fact Sheet | Compliance and Enforcement | US EPA
On August 9, 2005, ASARCO filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code in the United States ...
http://www.epa.gov/compliance/resources/cases/cleanup/cercla/asarco/texas-infosht.html

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday, December 19, 2009

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

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

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

Thursday, December 17, 2009

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

"That Tap Water Is Legal but May Be Unhealthy"

Thursday, December 10, 2009

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

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

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

Grupo Mexico's stock values begin rise

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

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

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

TCEQ News Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   CONTACT: LISA WHEELER
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2009  PHONE: 512-239-5003 / PAGER: 512-606-3681
TCEQ Commissioners Welcome New EPA Region 6 Administrator
EPA and TCEQ to discuss new public participation rules

  

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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


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

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

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

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

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

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


Tuesday, December 8, 2009

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Our UTEP students are still walking around exposed to these levels of Arsenic; and the new plan is to build a UTEP research park at Asarco's site

UTEP Campus along Sunbowl Drive and Paisano, showing levels of toxic metals detected by the EPA in 2004...
Red dots: Residential Properties that Exceed 46 ppm (As) and/or 500 ppm (Pb) (883)
Green dots: Residential Properties that are Equal to or Below 46 ppm (As) and/or 500 ppm (Pb) (1640)


from 2/2004 Sample Location Map El Paso County Metals Survey, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas [USEPA REGION 6 START-2]

At a recent TXDOT open-house Mr. Berry indicated that the I-10 & Schuster Interchange Project had found no problems (i.e. no toxic levels of anything). The area he was referring to is shown on this map as where RIM Road extends down to the end of Sunbowl Drive toward Paisano. He stated that UTEP was building that new [Nursing/Health Sciences] building right there, and said that surely there could be no problem if UTEP was building right there...

But, this EPA map shows that the area on Sunbowl Drive where that building has been placed is next to a sea of red dots -- indicating that the dirt was likely very toxic before UTEP started breaking ground.

The TXDOT project and the UTEP building are happening in the midst of this sea of red dots; and, the government is doing nothing.