The Asarco El Paso Clean-up Trust has no fiduciary or contractual obligation to test for/remediate ANY of the illicit materials from the 1991-1998 haz-waste years

"Mike Casbon, who is based in Indiana with multi-national contractor ERM Inc., has spent much of the past 10 months in El Paso, Texas, helping oversee the demolition of a copper smelting facility that is spread out over 200 acres.

ERM hired Brandenburg Industrial Service Co., Chicago, as its demolition subcontractor for the project. Malcolm Pirnie, Highlands Ranch, Colo., was the lead remediation contractor....Casbon said the efforts of ERM, Brandenburg and others working on the project have provided a tremendous financial success for the Asarco site land trust. Rather than spending down the trust's $52 million cash reserves for the project, work done thus far has provided an additional $25 million to the trust's value."
http://www.cdrecycler.com/cdr1111-2011-cdr-forum.aspx

The Asarco El Paso Clean-up Trust has no fiduciary or contractual obligation to test for/remediate ANY of the illicit materials from the 1991-1998 hazardous-waste years; and, the "decontamination" consisted of powerwashing (i.e. no testing with XRF before sale).
The "Trust's Value" might not be 25$Million greater if the bankruptcy court had considered liability from the illicit hazardous waste contamination in the Paso del Norte... Those sales of "metals" might be profitable only because the Bankruptcy court has for some reason ignored the presence of the illicit wastes... and the costs of removing/disposing of those illegal materials from those "metals" before sale...

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In 1997 Goldman Sachs was to underwrite pollution control bonds-refinancing for ASARCO

In late October of 1997, before Asarco was caught by the EPA and the Federal Department of Justice for running an unpermitted and illegal multi-state hazardous waste disposal operation-for-money, Asarco began plans to redeem some of its tax-exempt bonds for refinancing (see http://www.allbusiness.com/banking-finance/financial-markets-investing-securities/7054881-1.html ).  The Bonds included Pollution-control revenue refunding bonds in Arizona, Texas and Montana.   Goldman Sachs was going to act "as underwriter of the new bonds":

The issues to be called are the Industrial Development Authority of the County of Gila, Arizona, Pollution Control Revenue Refunding Bonds, Series 1985 and 1987, 8.90% due July 1, 2006; the Nueces River Authority, Texas, 7 3/8% Environmental Improvement Revenue Bonds, Series 1976-A and 1976-B, due June 1, 2006; and the Lewis and Clark County, Montana 6 3/4% Pollution Control Revenue Bonds, 1976 Series, due December 1, 2006....The aggregate principal amount of bonds the Company plans to call is $133.4 million. The Company has recorded a pre-tax charge in the third quarter of 1997 of $3.9 million in connection with the refinancing, which is expected to reduce the Company's annual interest costs by approximately $3.0 million. Goldman Sachs will act as underwriter of the new bonds to be issued in the refinancing."

By 1998 Asarco was secretly caught by EPA and DOJ running the sham-recyling scheme and 'paid millions on the condition that the details would never become public." (quote from Rep. Reyes)  When the Asarco bankruptcy began in 2005, Harbinger (Hedge Fund) was one of the primary debt-holders.   The company was cleared of any liability from its illicit actions between 1991-1998; the debts of decades of pollution paid off on pennies on the dollar; and, the lucrative parts of the company saved.  All creditors were paid off.

In 2010 Goldman Sachs suddenly (see Bloomberg reports ) planned:

 "to pull its entire investment [120 million $] from Harbinger Capital’s flagship fund, for two reasons. 1) The returns weren’t very good and 2) Falcone “borrowed” $113 million from one of his firm’s smaller funds (where redemptions had been suspended) in order to pay personal taxes."

http://dealbreaker.com/2010/11/goldman-sachs-pulls-120-million-from-harbinger-capital-after-falcone-loans-himself-money-from-other-fund/

In a strange quirk of rumor, fast-forward to November 2011, a newsletter (http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article31653.html) claims that Goldman Sachs is positioned today to gain from the current European banking crisis:

"Incidentally, is it really that surprising that Goldman is now doing its best to precipitate a bank run of Europe’s major financial institutions by "suddenly" exposing the truth that was there all along? During the great financial crisis of 2008, the one biggest winner from the collapse of Bear and Lehman was none other than the squid. This time around, Goldman has set its sights on Europe and has already made sure that its tentacles will be in firmly in control at all the right places when the collapse comes, as the Independent shows."

Quote from Federal DOJ Bankruptcy court trustee Mike Boudlocke regarding ASARCO

"However, the project still is on target for a late 2012 completion,
said bankruptcy court trustee Mike Boudloche. He was appointed by the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court overseeing the ASARCO Inc. and Encycle/Texas Inc.
bankruptcy cases.

"We are almost finished with the asbestos removal on the stack and will
begin bringing it down the first week of December," Boudloche said on
Thursday.

The 315-ft tall, asbestos-lined stack, the most visible symbol of the
site's environmental problems, will be cut into pieces and hauled away,
he said."

http://www.caller.com/news/2011/nov/20/asarcoencycle-demolition-delayed-weather-still-tim/

E. Helena Asarco Officials consider "moving the creek" away from the poisons... but El Paso TX cannot move the Rio Grande away from their ASARCO toxic site....

If the "officials" could, they would probably move the nation's sixth longest river, the Rio Grande - which is right next to the toxic Asarco El Paso smelter site -- because the Asarco El Paso plume has reached the river the entire length of the Asarco property...

"Google Alert - asarco

Officials consider moving creek at toxic slag pile
Washington Examiner
Ford said that a $140 million settlement with Asarco isn't enough to do the needed cleanup work on soils and groundwater, as well as move some 14 million ..."