CEMEX deemed liable for 1 million of ASARCO clean-up costs; Stanley Jobe as material witness

"Cemex Must Foot $1M Of Asarco's Lead, Arsenic Cleanup Bill

By Jeremy Heallen

Law 360, Houston (April 01, 2014, 7:18 PM ET) -- A Texas federal judge said Monday that Cemex Inc. is responsible for a portion of about $22 million that Asacro LLC paid in environmental cleanup costs associated with a Superfund site that both companies allegedly polluted.

U.S. District Judge Philip R. Martinez ruled that Cemex must pay Asarco $1.1 million under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, to cover its share of a $22 million settlement Asarco struck with the federal government to remediate lead and arsenic contamination on a 6-acre industrial site in...

Case Information

Case Title
Asarco LLC v. Cemex Corp

Case Number
3:12-cv-00155

Court
Texas Western

Nature of Suit
Environmental Matters

Judge
Philip R. Martinez

Law360 Coverage
Cemex Must Foot $1M Of Asarco's Lead, Arsenic Cleanup Bill
Asarco Says It Didn't Waive Cemex Claim In $19M Cleanup Row
Date Filed
April 26, 2012"

"

Track this case

Case Number:
3:12-cv-00155

Court:
Texas Western

Nature of Suit:
Environmental Matters

Cause
28:1331 Fed. Question

Judge:
Philip R. Martinez

Firms
Mounce Green
Ray Valdez
Companies
Cemex, S.A.B. de C.V.
Sectors & Industries:
Industrial Goods
Cement
Complaint
View recent docket activity »
Reflects complaints, answers, motions, orders and trial notes entered from Jan. 1, 2011.
Additional or older documents may be available in Pacer.
Coverage

April 1, 2014
Cemex Must Foot $1M Of Asarco's Lead, Arsenic Cleanup Bill
A Texas federal judge said Monday that Cemex Inc. is responsible for a portion of about $22 million that Asacro LLC paid in environmental cleanup costs associated with a Superfund site that both companies allegedly polluted.
Parties

Neutral
Christopher Antcliff
Represented by:
Plaintiff
Asarco LLC
Represented by:
Nicole Jennifer Anchondo, Ray, Valdez, McChristian & Jeans, PC

Laura G. Brys, Integer Law Corporation

Gregory Evans, Integer Law Corporation

Tanya Guerrero, Integer Law Corporation

David S. Jeans, Ray, Valdez, McChristian & Jeans

William R. Pletcher, Integar Law Corporation

James G. Warren, Integer Law Corporation

Defendant
Cemex Construction Materials South, LLC
Represented by:
Andres Eduardo Almanzan, Mounce, Green, Myers, Safi, Paxson & Galatzan

Steven Lee Hughes, Attorney at Law

Walter D. James, III, Walter D. James, III, PLLC

David Moises Mirazo, Mounce, Green, Myers, Safi, Paxson & Galatzan

TERMINATED: 03/22/2013
Cemex Corp
Represented by:
Andres Eduardo Almanzan, Mounce, Green, Myers, Safi, Paxson & Galatzan

Walter D. James, III, Walter D. James, III, PLLC

Defendant
Cemex, Inc.
Represented by:
Andres Eduardo Almanzan, Mounce, Green, Myers, Safi, Paxson & Galatzan

Steven Lee Hughes, Attorney at Law

Walter D. James, III, Walter D. James, III, PLLC

David Moises Mirazo, Mounce, Green, Myers, Safi, Paxson & Galatzan

Material Witness
Stanley Pruet Jobe
Represented by:
Marjorie Wilcox Jobe, 5588 Westside Drive"

1943 thru 1946 lead smelter and/or land leased from ASARCO produced uranium used in Manhattan Project

Page 1
DOE/AL/62350-210REV. 0 COMMENT AND RESPONSEDOCUMENT FOR THE LONG-TERM SURVEILLANCE PLAN FOR THE BODO CANYON DISPOSAL SITE DURANGO, COLORADO November 1995 ASTER DISCLAIMER This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, orprocess disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark,manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The viewsand opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect th.ose of theUnited States Government or any agency thereof. 1
Page 2
COMMENT AND RESPONSE DOCUMENT FOR THE BODO CANYON DISPOSAL SITE, WRANGO, COLORADO LONG-TERM SURVEILLANCE PLAN FOR THE STATE OF COLORADO UMTRA DOCUMENT REVIEW FORM COMMENT Site: Bodo Canyon Disposal I Site. Durango. Colorado Document: Draft Lona-Term Surveillance Plan Reviewer: State of Colorado Date: June 27. 1994Comment: 1, Paae 2-1, Section 2.1 Other histories of the Durango mill site indicate the U.S. Vanadium Corporation (USV)built and operated a uranium after leasing the site from American Smelting andRefining Company (ASARCO) who had operated a lead smelter at that location. This should be confirmed and, if correct, should be clarified in the first paragraph of the site history. The first paragraph seems confused about the chronology of events. It was USV not ASARCO who built and operated the vanadium mill in 1942 and who,from 1943 to the mill's closure in 1946, reprocessed vanadium tailings to provide uranium for the Manhattan Project [hm:leased from ASARCO, who was principle uranium ore buyer for US atomic energy commission (US DOE)].

RESPONSE Page: 2-1By: C. Saumur Date: September 1995 Section 2.1, Site History, has been rewritten to read as follows: "In 1942, U.S. Vanadium Corporation leased the property and constructed a uranium processing mill on the site. This mill operated until 1946, when the mill was shutdown."

[it is commonly known that in the early days lead smelters were used to separate out uranium from parent ores]