KTSM News Channel 9
By Phillip Mena - Multimedia Journalist EL PASO, TX - As the debate continues over what to do with Asarco, Dr. Philip Goodell wants people to understand ..."
Scroll to end: click web view. Heather Mcmurray 's research uncovering poisoning of 1000 square miles around El Paso by Asarco smelter through what the EPA & US DOJ said was illegal burning of illegal hazardous/radioactive wastes 1991 to 1998. We have never been told what actinides, forever chemicals, dioxins etc are present from illegal Asarco actions(see 73 page 1998 conf. for settlement purposes only DOJ EPA Asarco doc,10/06 nytimes) see "Asarco secret document"
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"
EL PASO, TX - Roberto Puga, the man who will oversee the cleanup and eventual sale of the Asarco property will be in El Paso today to meet with an auctioneer company about the sale of Asarco's assets.
Walter Parker Auctioneer Inc. is the company picked to auction off Asarco's assets beginning August 2."
(search inside this blog for "Asarco A.G.")
The rig is being moved to Mexico from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico following upgrades and maintenance."
"Noble's all-cash acquisition of Frontier, officially known as FDR Holdings Ltd, will add to cash flow immediately and to earnings from early 2011, the company said...Carlyle Group [owns 20% of Grupo Mexico who owns ASARCO] and Riverstone Holdings are investors in Frontier....Frontier, which is domiciled in Norway and headquartered in Houston, is building two ultra-deepwater drillships designed to operate in Arctic waters under a partnership with Shell."
"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."
For example, while flying on a small plane from New Orleans to Orange Beach, the pilot suddenly exclaimed, "Look at that!" The thin red line marking the federal flight restrictions of 3,000 feet over the oiled Gulf region had just jumped to include the coastal barrier islands off Alabama."...
BP Bankruptcy Would Offer No Protection From Costs (Update2 ... After a federal judge discharged Asarco from bankruptcy in December, Associate U.S. Attorney General Tom Perrelli said taxpayers got more than a dollar back ... www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=a55... |
On June 13, White House Adviser David Axelrod called on BP to establish an escrow account for claims tied to the spill. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid requested that the London-based company set up a $20 billion fund administered by an independent trustee, according to a letter from his office." [Asarco was asked to set up a fund for its wastes, too in the early days before its bankruptcy - it then went through a bankruptcy that refrained from any mention or knowledge about liabilities from Asarco's nearly ten years of burning secret toxic-wastes for profit]
"[Lead is a naturally occurring bluish-gray metal found in small amounts in the earth's crust. Lead can be found in all parts of our environment. Lead itself does not break down, but lead compounds are changed by sunlight, air, and water. When lead is released to the air, it may travel long distances before settling to the ground. Once lead falls onto soil, it usually sticks to soil particles. Movement of lead from soil into groundwater will depend on the type of lead compound and the characteristics of the soil. Lead is a heavy metal that can be toxic to living bodies, humans and animals, in certain high levels. Lead can be found in paints on houses, on pottery, and other objects. Lead can be found in water, in air around smelters, and in such objects as batteries. When lead enters the body, generally through ingestion but also through inhalation from dust and lead smelters, it may be seen as a lead line on the metaphysis of growing bones in radiographs. Lead can be especially detrimental to children as many tissues are growing and developing and lead is easy incorporated into those cells. It may slow growth, cause hearing problems, hyperactivity and behavior changes. Children with high lead burdens may have neurological damage, including brain damage. This may present as headaches or learning difficulties, muscle cramps, twitches or spasms. It may be more severe, leading to seizures and death. Adults may also suffer from lead poisoning. Adults may experience a variety of neurological problems, among them, memory and concentration problems. They may also have muscle and joint pain, reproductive problems, and hypertension (high blood pressure). Adults may also suffer from neurological problems as well. Heavy metal intoxication almost always affects the gastrointestinal system, such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, poor appetite and as a consequence, weight loss. Anemia may also be seen in lead poisoning, which further increases the weakness the victim experiences. The effects of lead are the same whether it enters the body through breathing or swallowing. Lead can affect almost every organ and system in the body. The main target for lead toxicity is the nervous system, both in adults and children. Long-term exposure of adults can result in decreased performance in some tests that measure functions of the nervous system. It may also cause weakness in fingers, wrists, or ankles. Lead exposure also causes small increases in blood pressure, particularly in middle-aged and older people and can cause anemia. Exposure to high lead levels can severely damage the brain and kidneys in adults or children and ultimately cause death. In pregnant women, high levels of exposure to lead may cause miscarriage. High-level exposure in men can damage the organs responsible for sperm production. Children are more vulnerable and more sensitive to lead poisoning than adults. A child who swallows large amounts of lead may develop blood anemia, severe stomachache, muscle weakness, and brain damage. These same clinical signs mimic other childhood illness. If a child swallows smaller amounts of lead, much less severe effects on blood and brain function may occur. Even at much lower levels of exposure, lead can affect a child's mental and physical growth. Exposure to lead is more dangerous for young and unborn children. Unborn children can be exposed to lead through their mothers. Harmful effects include premature births, smaller babies, decreased mental ability in the infant, learning difficulties, and reduced growth in young children. These effects are more common if the mother or baby was exposed to high levels of lead. Some of these effects may persist beyond childhood. Lead in the groundwater may be an issue in this case. Lead can be absorbed from the drinking water. In the US, the level of lead in the water is allowed at less than 0.15 ml of lead per liter of water (less than 0.15 ppm). A number of water filtration units such as reverse osmosis can filter out the lead. If the situation is more primitive than this, I am unsure what to treat a well with. Calcium disodium EDTA has been used to treat people, and putting it into a water well may work to bind it, but I have no data support. Certainly using a water system that is not contaminated with lead is the best option. If this is a case of lead in the air, then it is appropriate to cover the mouth and nose and to remove one's self from the area. Lead has no known physiological function in the body. It can be tested for in the blood, but chelators are necessary to help eliminate the metal from the body. Effective chelators include dimercapterol and succimer. Portions of this comment have been extracted from: <http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts13.html> - Mod.TG]"
"The EPA kept a secret from us for nearly 8 years, signing a confidential settlement document with ASARCO through the Federal Dept. of Justice. Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Reyes said that ASARCO paid MILLIONS on the condition that details of what it had done would never become public."
The SECRET? ASARCO had illegally burned unlabeled secret hazardous-wastes throughout the 1990's --- just to make money. God only knows what poisons remain here from that. No one will tell us. This whole ASARCO development saga is not about DISCLOSURE it is about CLOSURE of that site so that it can all be "swept under the rug".
As it is, the land has been exposed to God only knows what (ASARCO was accepting unlabeled stuff from both industrial and military sources!).
We the community wait for honest answers to our questions: how much radioactive lead (Polonium) is there? What other radioactive materials remain there and how much? What about dioxins - how much? Mercury? Beryllium? What has gotten into our water supply (it is in the Hueco bolson and the Rio Grande now)?
We want answers. What is the point of "developing" this land and stirring up the dusts next to our water supply (60% of our water passes right by ASARCO in an open-canal) until we know what we are dealing with??
Does ANYONE buy a bill of goods ("developing the site") without knowing exactly what they are being sold, first??"
"Google News Alert for: asarco
EDITORIAL: Asarco input: Citizens can influence zoning
Refuse the Juice: Your Money + Your Thoughts = Profit for Out of ... By David K The El Paso Times's editorial page was awash with love for the City of El Paso's contract award of $606000 to Dover, Kohl & Partners for their help in planning what to do with the ASARCO site. A site, mind... Refuse the Juice - http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/ |
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
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 Indias 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
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... |
"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
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..."
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 ..." |
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 |
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 ... |
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... |
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
(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?
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"
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..."
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 |
Regards,
Subject: | Re: TCEQ (as oversight to the Project Navigator remediation process)failsto notify local community groups |
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Date: | Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:10:45 -0600 |
To: | Roberto Puga <rpuga[at]projectnavigator.com>, Lorinda Gardner <LGARDNER[at]tceq.state.tx.us> |
Subject: | Project Navigator leave out pertinent facts in smelter-history for potential bidders |
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Date: | Sun, 04 Apr 2010 08:21:30 -0600 |
Subject: | Project Navigator omits key information from the most important EPA/DOJ Asarco document |
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Date: | Sun, 04 Apr 2010 20:05:47 -0600 |
Vedanta revives bid battle for Asarco Financial Times By William MacNamara in London Vedanta, the UK-listed Indian miner, has revived a $2bn (£1.3bn) takeover battle for Asarco, the bankrupt US copper producer, ..." |
Subject: | Re: Asarco TCEQ records |
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Date: | Mon, 11 Jan 2010 11:47:22 -0600 |
From: | Lorinda Gardner <LGARDNER@tceq.state.tx.us> |
Videos | KVOA.com | Tucson, Arizona Video - ASARCO releases statement on blowing dust. Posted - 3/2/2010 at 10:12AM ... More News Videos. ASARCO releases statement on blowing dust ... |
November 23, 2009
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has released a statement announcing the selection of Project Navigator, Ltd. as the custodial trustee for the ASARCO site remediation in El Paso, Texas. For the full release, please click here."
Baker Botts Moves To Protect Asarco Fees - Law360 Baker Botts LLP is up in arms over mining company Asarco LLP's interpretation of some of the events involved in its exit from bankruptcy, saying Asarco's ... |
E. Helena looks to future with first-ever growth plan Helena Independent Record Asarco owns almost all of the land immediately adjacent to the city about 1000 ... With the unlocking of the Asarco property, I think our growth will ... |
Daily podcast February 15, 2010 Creamer Media's Mining Weekly Asarco's miners have agreed with Grupo Mexico to extend their existing contract for another year, staving off fears of labour troubles after the Mexican ... See all stories on this topic " |
"Google News Alert for: asarco
Grupo Mexico predicts growth in copper and other metals, reversing ... Mineweb With the re-acquisition of US copper miner Asarco, Grupo Mexico claims it is now the world's top company in terms of copper reserves. ..." |
YouTube - ASARCO Land The ASARCO land presents the student population with a great opportunity to develop a student community. A community that will foster relationships, ... |
"Google News Alert for: asarco bankruptcy
UPDATE: Miner Grupo Mexico Reports 4Q Net Profit Of $342.1 Million FOXBusiness The company highlighted the restructuring of US mining unit Asarco following its emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It said Asarco will have ..." |
El Paso TX also has a rash of teratogenic birth defects (also heart defects) - especially during the mid-1990's at the height of Asarco's illegal activities. Word of mouth, off the record, is that OBYN's and family doctors have told parents that the birth defects were due to something that they ingested, something in the water. But no one is willing to go on record to state that.
"Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered two state agencies to investigate a rash of birth defects that have confounded impoverished Kettleman City for more than a year....The birth defects became a rallying point last year for residents trying to stop the expansion plans of the West's largest hazardous waste facility by Chemical Waste Management Inc. Their stories of miscarriages and the photographs they carried of children with facial defects failed to convince the Kings County Board of Supervisors that the company's expansion plans should not go forward."It seems like we're finally getting justice," said resident Maricela Mares-Alatorre, whose family first butted heads with Waste Management 20 years ago [1986 - the year that Asarco Encycle started-up] over plans to build an incinerator."