"...Plainfield Asset Management LLC was founded in February 2005 by Max Holmes [the ASARCO El Paso air hearing was held around 5/2005]. The firm manages investment capital for institutions and high net worth individuals based in the United States and abroad. Plainfield currently employs over 130 people among its three offices in Greenwich, Connecticut, Summit, New Jersey and London, England.
Plainfield Asset Management LLC is a registered investment adviser with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. Plainfield Asset Management LLP is authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority in the United Kingdom. Plainfield is a QPAM for ERISA fiduciaries. The firm's accountants are PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. The firm's prime brokers are Goldman Sachs & Co., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., JPMorgan Prime Services and Citigroup. The firm's principal lawyers are Seward & Kissel LLP."
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Thursday, August 6, 2009
STILL NO ONE TALKING about the now public DOCUMENT in which the EPA told the Federal DOJ that ASARCO had burned secret toxic-waste for nearly 10 years.....
SO WHY ISN'T THE DOJ AND THE COURT LOOKING at the liabilities from this secret toxic-waste????
"
| Objections Pour In Over Grupo Mexico's Asarco Plan Bankruptcy Law 360 (subscription) Law360, New York (August 06, 2009) -- A flood of objections have come in against the parent company of Asarco LLC, which filed one of three competing ... See all stories on this topic |
This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google."
"Law360, New York (August 06, 2009) -- A flood of objections has come in against the parent company of Asarco LLC, which filed one of three competing reorganization plans for the bankrupt copper mining company.
The deadline for filing objections to the plan was Wednesday..."
[Fwd: Re: El Paso Times article and question]
-------- Original Message --------
>>> <> 7/17/2009 9:41 AM >>>
Hi, Lorinda,
Please explain the following to our community. According to the El Paso
Times yesterday, "In addition, tests in El Paso to determine the
smelter's impact on groundwater have been completed. The Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality is reviewing a proposed treatment
plan to deal with contamination caused by the smelter."
WHAT TCEQ tests on the "smelter's impact on groundwater" have been
completed. And do these tests include hexavalent chromium?
I would like a copy of the tests and test results (please let me know if
costs will exceed 25$).
I would also like an explanation why the TCEQ never mentioned these
tests when many of us were just there talking with the TCEQ? How much
more information is being left out?
| Subject: | Re: El Paso Times article and question |
|---|---|
| Date: | Thu, 06 Aug 2009 17:33:34 -0500 |
| From: | Lorinda Gardner <LGARDNER[at]tceq.state.tx.us> |
Attached please find groundwater semi-annual sample results for the ASARCO El Paso site which were recently obtained from ASARCO. The results cover the years 2005-2008 (the 2009 results are not yet completed). Please note that the attachment includes data as received from ASARCO and data that has been adjusted by my staff to make the charts readable (tabs 2005, 2006, 2007). None of the data has been changed other than to adjust the format.
You asked "WHAT TCEQ tests on the "smelter's impact on groundwater" have been
completed. And do these tests include hexavalent chromium?" You have access to data on the Agency's ASARCO web site and the attached groundwater samples. These data sets do not include hexavalent chromium. The Agency's regional staff are currently conducting a split sampling event at the ASARCO El Paso site. Hexavalent Chromium tests are planned for this sampling event.
completed. And do these tests include hexavalent chromium?" You have access to data on the Agency's ASARCO web site and the attached groundwater samples. These data sets do not include hexavalent chromium. The Agency's regional staff are currently conducting a split sampling event at the ASARCO El Paso site. Hexavalent Chromium tests are planned for this sampling event.
You also asked "I would also like an explanation why the TCEQ never mentioned these
tests when many of us were just there talking with the TCEQ? How much
more information is being left out?" There was never an intention to leave information out of conversations either written or verbal. The data is essentially considered as a set and all of it was used by ASARCO in the assessment of the site. In the interests of transparency, we will post the data to the website as soon as possible.
tests when many of us were just there talking with the TCEQ? How much
more information is being left out?" There was never an intention to leave information out of conversations either written or verbal. The data is essentially considered as a set and all of it was used by ASARCO in the assessment of the site. In the interests of transparency, we will post the data to the website as soon as possible.
Additionally, I've attached surface water sampling results as well. You may have seen these before as they were included in Jim Sher's expert report for the bankruptcy litigation. Note that there are exceedances for arsenic in the Rio Grande and the American Canal. The TCEQ's planned remedy for the site addresses contamination reaching these water bodies from the ASARCO site. Prior to the implementation of that remedy, we do not think these exceedances pose a problem for El Paso's drinking water for two reasons: 1) the closest drinking water intake is located approximately 2 miles from the site; and 2) El Paso treats water to drinking water standards prior to delivery to customers.
Thanks
Lorinda D Gardner
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
El Paso Regional Director
>>> <> 7/17/2009 9:41 AM >>>
Hi, Lorinda,
Please explain the following to our community. According to the El Paso
Times yesterday, "In addition, tests in El Paso to determine the
smelter's impact on groundwater have been completed. The Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality is reviewing a proposed treatment
plan to deal with contamination caused by the smelter."
WHAT TCEQ tests on the "smelter's impact on groundwater" have been
completed. And do these tests include hexavalent chromium?
I would like a copy of the tests and test results (please let me know if
costs will exceed 25$).
I would also like an explanation why the TCEQ never mentioned these
tests when many of us were just there talking with the TCEQ? How much
more information is being left out?
USW also fails to talk about the secret Toxic Waste!!!
"Google News Alert for: asarco
This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google. "
| (AMM) USW objects to Grupo Mexico's Asarco bid Metalbulletin.com (subscription) ... as promised, with the US Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas, against Grupo Mexico SA de CV's bid for bankrupt copper miner Asarco LLC. ... See all stories on this topic |
This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google. "
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Tacoma parks
"Google News Alert for: asarco
This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google."
"In the mid-‘90s, Metro Parks Tacoma (MPT) and ASARCO had come to an agreement on public improvements to be made to Metro Parks property and the two organizations signed legal documents affirming these agreements. In 2005, ASARCO filed for bankruptcy, and agreed to pay $5 million to MPT to make improvements last year. MPT has yet to receive any of these funds as of today."
| Metro Parks takes action in Asarco bankruptcy case Tacoma Weekly By Dawn Quinn The Metro Parks Board of Commissioners voted on a reorganization plan for retrieving funds owed to them by the now bankrupt ASARCO mining and ... See all stories on this topic |
This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google."
"In the mid-‘90s, Metro Parks Tacoma (MPT) and ASARCO had come to an agreement on public improvements to be made to Metro Parks property and the two organizations signed legal documents affirming these agreements. In 2005, ASARCO filed for bankruptcy, and agreed to pay $5 million to MPT to make improvements last year. MPT has yet to receive any of these funds as of today."
TCEQ refuses to add FORMERLY SECRET DOCUMENT LINK to their ASARCO site
"Thank your for your suggestion. TCEQ understands that the memo [it is not a "memo" but instead is a 73 page confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only document ] is part of the history of the facility. However, our goal with the TCEQ web site is to inform people of the progress at the site on a going forward basis. As such TCEQ declines your request for adding the provided link to our ASARCO web page.
Sincerely
Sincerely
John Flores" [TCEQ]
==========================================
8/4/2009 10:12 AM
Dear Mr. Flores,==========================================
8/4/2009 10:12 AM
Please add a link to your Asarco Remediation website (http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/remediation/sites/asarco.html) to the now-public document
http://archives.newspapertree.com/Asarco/asarco_1998_memo.pdf (also covered by the NYTimes in a front page story 10/06).
We do not appreciate that the website has omitted this and wish it to be corrected -- this is a very important and key document for our community, because the EPA states to the Federal DOJ that ASARCO illegally and deliberately burned illegal and secret hazardous-wastes for profit for nearly ten years. ASARCO signed off on this secret-settlement-document. Rep. Reyes said that Asarco signed it on condition that details of what it had done would never become public.
However, the document is now public, and the community wants to know more.
Please post a link to this now-public document on your website.
thank you,
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Harbinger backs out to let Grupo Mexico take on Sterlite....
"A unit of hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners said its plan to restructure Tucson-based copper miner Asarco LLC should be set aside while
.....a confirmation hearing is held on the other two plans. Only if neither of those is approved should Harbinger's plan be put forth for confirmation, according to the filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Corpus Christi, Texas."
http://www.azstarnet.com/business/303453
http://www.azstarnet.com/business/303453
East Helena fails to ask about the illegal and secret Toxic-wastes?? (these went to Helena, too!)
"Google News Alert for: asarco
| Share your East Helena smelter history, photos Helena Independent Record By Independent Record - 08/04/09 As Asarco moves forward with the planned demolition of the three historic smoke stacks, the Independent Record wants to ... See all stories on this topic" |
Monday, August 3, 2009
Our community wants to know
NO ONE is talking about the now public EPA-DOJ 1998 "confidential for settlement purposes only" document that revealed ASARCO burned illegal toxic wastes secretly for years for profit next to the Rio Grande.......
The Bankruptcy Court is not considering the liabilities from those secret toxic wastes spread over the Paso del Norte region. The DOJ Bankruptcy Trustee has failed to require that the Court consider the liabilities from the secret toxic wastes. The existence of these secret-wastes was CONCEALED and hidden away for eight years until an honest DOJ person released this document publicly. This information is now in the public domain. We know that the EPA said to the DOJ that ASARCO burned secret toxic wastes for years, for profit next to the Rio Grande (NYTimes 10/2006).
How can this company go through Bankruptcy and the DOJ, the Court, and the EPA entirely ignore that the EPA proved massive amounts of secret toxic chemicals from both military and industrial sources were handled and burned by ASARCO in our community??
Our Rio Grande next to Asarco is the LOVE CANAL of our region. 110 years of contamination - nearly ten or more years of it being secret toxic wastes -- are now "buried" in the sediments and surrounding lands around the Rio Grande including the alluvium beneath the old American Canal.
Our State and Federal politicians are failing to ask what these toxic chemicals are. Our community wants to know .
The Bankruptcy Court is not considering the liabilities from those secret toxic wastes spread over the Paso del Norte region. The DOJ Bankruptcy Trustee has failed to require that the Court consider the liabilities from the secret toxic wastes. The existence of these secret-wastes was CONCEALED and hidden away for eight years until an honest DOJ person released this document publicly. This information is now in the public domain. We know that the EPA said to the DOJ that ASARCO burned secret toxic wastes for years, for profit next to the Rio Grande (NYTimes 10/2006).
How can this company go through Bankruptcy and the DOJ, the Court, and the EPA entirely ignore that the EPA proved massive amounts of secret toxic chemicals from both military and industrial sources were handled and burned by ASARCO in our community??
Our Rio Grande next to Asarco is the LOVE CANAL of our region. 110 years of contamination - nearly ten or more years of it being secret toxic wastes -- are now "buried" in the sediments and surrounding lands around the Rio Grande including the alluvium beneath the old American Canal.
Our State and Federal politicians are failing to ask what these toxic chemicals are. Our community wants to know .
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Wall St. Journal Aug 1-2 p. b-1
"UbS AG and the Swiss Gov..... agreed to settle a tax-evasion probe...An official transfer of account-holder identities might not happen until after September 23 [said]...lawyer who is representing UbS clients"....
A full month after the ASARCO bankruptcy is supposed to end. What about that ASARCO A.G. Swiss bank?
"The U.S. probe...is expected to expand to outside consultants that may have helped steer business to UbS or other Swiss banks"
Why won't the EPA and Federal DOJ make ASARCO's bankruptcy court consider the now public document detailing the incineration of illegal secret wastes for profit for nearly ten years??? WHAT IS being COVERED UP STILL???
The people of the Paso del Norte region would like to know.
A full month after the ASARCO bankruptcy is supposed to end. What about that ASARCO A.G. Swiss bank?
"The U.S. probe...is expected to expand to outside consultants that may have helped steer business to UbS or other Swiss banks"
Why won't the EPA and Federal DOJ make ASARCO's bankruptcy court consider the now public document detailing the incineration of illegal secret wastes for profit for nearly ten years??? WHAT IS being COVERED UP STILL???
The people of the Paso del Norte region would like to know.
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