Mexico has proved oil reserves for nearly 10 years

Google News Alert for: PEMEX

Mexico has proved oil reserves for nearly 10 years istockAnalyst.com (press release) - Salem,OR,USA Pemex said the reserves total 43.562 billion barrels of equivalent crude. Among them 14.307 billion barrels are proved, 14.516 billion are probable and ... See all stories on this topic

Freeport McMoran continuing to sponsor daylong conference for girls in Science

University of Arizona News (press release) Supporting Girls Through Science University of Arizona News (press release) - Tucson,AZ,USA Middle and high school girls from more than 120 schools across Arizona will participate in the daylong conference, which is sponsored by Freeport McMoRan ... See all stories on this topic

Asarco shuts down Amarillo rod and cake plant next to PANTEX

Google News Alert for: asarco

Asarco shut Texas copper plants this week Reuters - USA NEW YORK, March 20 (Reuters) - US copper miner Asarco LLC shut its rod and cake plants in Amarillo, Texas and is planning periodic slowdowns at the copper ... See all stories on this topic

Grupo Mexico (who owns Asarco and wants to retain ownership; and, who controls over 50% of the Mexico Ferromex rail right-of-way) is bidding on a 45 year contract to carry rail-containers from the new Mexico Baja seaport of Punta Colonet across northern Mexico and up through the Santa Teresa NM Port of Entry, in the toxic-shadow of ASARCO El Paso.  That contract should be awarded early this summer.

TCEQ new website admits that ASARCO contamination has reached the Rio Grande

The people from the TCEQ who posted this data deserve our support and thanks in my opinion. The bad side is that they haven't shown any data on the illegal/secret toxic waste that the EPA let us know ASARCO incinerated for years; and, they waited until the Bankruptcy is about finished.

"Surface Water Impacted by Contaminated Groundwater: Based on surface water analytical data, the contaminated groundwater appears to have reached the Rio Grande."

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/remediation/sites/asarco.html

Fig. 2 from that website shows the area of groundwater plume.

The Canal Street water treatment plant is about 2 miles downstream from this point.

website with Asarco remediation information

In your request and follow-up email regarding Mr. Wilkinson's files, you only requested "emails, correspondence or phone logs" on the specified subjects.  By replying that Mr. Wilkinson does not have such items on those subjects, we did not mean that he does not have any information on those matters.  For example, our previous correspondence of 3/12 referred to the remedial investigation reports (available in the regional office) that reference former pond 6, which is now repository cell #3.  Mr. Wilkinson's manager is Jason Wang (email: jwang@tceq.state.tx.us; phone: 512/239-2242).

 

As to notification on the state air and ore-handling permits, this notification was sent out recently by the agency.  You had also inquired about the status of permits that are still listed as active.  Several of these remain active as they are related to the remediation of the site.  However, Permit Numbers 28678, 30490, 32641, 33100, 37039, 37353 are permits by rule that are associated with the previously voided permits and thus, are also void.  TCEQ records will be updated to reflect this status.

 

On a final note, we had previously mentioned that we were planning on having a website with information on the ASARCO remediation.  The site is now live and the address is: http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/remediation/sites/asarco.html.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Michael S. Chamberlain, J.D.

Legal Assistant

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
Office of Legal Services
General Law Division, MC-173
P.O. Box 13087
Austin, Texas  78711-3087
512-239-0478
Fax: 512-239-0606
michambe@tceq.state.tx.us

Senate ratifies Calderón's picks for Pemex board members, Mexico

Google Blogs Alert for: PEMEX

Senate ratifies Calderón's picks for Pemex board members, Mexico

... By David Biller Mexico's senate on Tuesday afternoon ratified the four presidential nominees for the professional advisor posts at state oil company Pemex, a spokesperson in the senate press department told BNamericas. The four professional advisors ... Business News Americas - Top Stories - http://www.bnamericas.com/

20090317 UPDATE 1-Asarco files reorganization plan March 16'th

"Google News Alert for: asarco Asarco files reorganization plan for Sterlite sale"

"Reuters - USA Tue Mar 17, 2009 12:30pm EDT By Emily Chasan

NEW YORK, March 17 (Reuters) - Bankrupt U.S. copper miner Asarco LLC has filed a new bankruptcy reorganization plan that proposes how the company will reorganize itself under a $1.7 billion deal with India's Sterlite Industries ......

Under the reorganization plan filed with the court late on Monday, Asarco said it plans to pay administrative claims, priority tax claims, priority claims, secured claims and convenience claims." [what about Toxic waste??]

"Asarco creditors holding general unsecured claims and unsecured asbestos personal injury claims will be entitled to vote on whether to accept the reorganization plan, according to court papers....

The case is In re: Asarco LLC, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Texas, No. 05-21207. (Editing by Andre Grenon"

Four EDTs for the destruction of chemical weapons

"The Army's ability to meet public and congressional demands to destroy expeditiously all of the U.S. declared chemical weapons would be enhanced by the selection and acquisition of appropriate explosive destruction technologies (EDTs) to augment the main technologies to be used to destroy the chemical weapons currently at the Blue Grass Army Depot (BGAD) in Kentucky and the Pueblo Chemical Depot (PCD) in Colorado. The Army is considering four EDTs for the destruction of chemical weapons: three from private sector vendors, and a fourth, Army-developed explosive destruction system (EDS)."

Link

Did ASARCO El Paso ever incinerate Low Level Radioactive Wastes (LLRW) ?

How can we know that the facility never burned the stuff? Has anyone ever seen TCEQ/EPA or ASARCO site data for polonium, actinides etc from either the pond sediments or from protected areas (like attics) that collect dust??

"Google Alert:

Low-level waste emerges as hurdle for new nuclear reactors" "New York Times - United States US low-level waste comes from a wide range of places, including hospitals and laboratories, but the greatest -- and most toxic -- volume is produced by the ... See all stories on this topic"

House Science Committee Report finds that ATSDR reticent to recognize health effects from contamination

Google Alert:

All Things Reform: US agency ATSDR neglects many communities near ... "By David Weller A federal agency responsible for studying and responding to adverse health effects caused by toxic waste is reticent to acknowledge patterns of illness near contaminated sites, according to a report released by the House Science ... All Things Reform - http://www.allthingsreform.org/"

Sterlite's revised offer for Asarco

"The revised offer
Sterlite will be paying $1.1 billion as upfront cash upon completion of the deal (expected in 4-5 months). Besides, it will also pay seven installments of $20 million each (from end of second year; total $140 million) and another $460 million as a bullet payment at the end of 9th year—hence, a total of $600 million. ..."
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/asset-gains/351836/

Vishal Chhabria / Mumbai March 16, 2009, 0:28 IST