There were no radiation alarms or meters at ASARCO El Paso to our knowledge. We DO KNOW that EPA data shows that the BETA RADIATION LEVEL in El Paso just before the smelter shut down was the HIGHEST IN THE NATION. Our community still waits for the government to let our community know the levels of polonium around the smelter (polonium is commonly given off by smelters). We do know that the brine concentrator Asarco El Paso used was rated to handle LLRW (Low level radioactive waste). We do not know where the stuff went that was removed by the concentrator. The local regional landfill about five miles from the Asarco El Paso site (and right along the US-Mexico border) used a radiation meter for a time, and then stopped -- data from that dump shows an increasing Radium gradient in its groundwater along the slope of that dump.
What is our government hiding that our community, that the IBWC workers/State Dept., that the ex-workers, that the La Paz Accord JAC committee -- cannot get the government to disclose to the community EVEN AFTER THE FEDERAL DOJ MADE the EPA-DOJ-ASARCO 73 page confidential for settlement purposes only document, PUBLIC??
"....then there is what came into the small shop owned by Deepak Jain: a piece, or pieces, of metal blamed for an alarming radiation scare this month that hospitalized seven people and caused the police to temporarily cordon off an area barely 10 miles from India’s Parliament. Some experts declared it one of the most troubling cases of radiation exposure in recent years....For years, India and other developing countries, particularly China, have imported different categories of waste from developed countries as a lucrative, if controversial, business...."
http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24478:tainted-waters&catid=46:bloomberg-specials&Itemid=70
