Why aren't the TCEQ and EPA letting El Pasoans know about the MERCURY levels around the ASARCO plant?

Asarco Tacoma stack contaminated a hundred square miles...

and the Asarco East Helena stacks?  "The EPA said tests showed that an area of about 100 square miles had been affected to some degree by Asarco emissions." 
http://www.helenair.com/news/article_782a2871-8aa9-56d9-9752-0664afd8c9d5.html

So doesn't this suggest that the Asarco El Paso smelter likely has affected 100 square miles, too?  That would be any land (and water) 30 miles out from the Asarco site -- almost clear up to Las Cruces, and definitely throughout Santa Teresa.

So why aren't our environmental regulatory agencies telling us about this in El Paso and Sunland Park?  (TCEQ, NMED and the Federal EPA)?

Dept. of Health and Human Services

The ATSDR is the "Dept. of Health and Human Services". Umm. Isn't
this the agency that we have evidence covered up the Asarco
contamination in Sunland Park N.M., and that was recently investigated
by a Federal investigative committee for fraud?

DEQ confirms that East Helena MT ASARCO stack demolition was "safe" (E. Helena burned unmanifested toxic wastes, too)

The way that authorities are getting around the safety issue is to NOT LOOK for the unmanifested toxic wastes that both Asarco El Paso and Asarco E. Helena handled and burned (nearly ten years of the incineration).

So, how much credibility does this safety assurance have with the public now?  None.   The conflicts of interest preventing full disclosure are so common that to this day we do not have Dioxin data, PCB data, mercury data, polonium data, or uranium data for the El Paso Asarco stack area --- and, to this day no citizen group has been given split samples/funds to take these samples to a non-conflicted scientist/lab.

Google News Alert for: Asarco

DEQ confirms demolition of East Helena stacks done safely Great Falls Tribune By Tribune Staff • November 7, 2009 Air sampling tests show that the demolition of three smelter stacks at the ASARCO smelter in East Helena in August did ... See all stories on this topic

"Air sampling tests show that the demolition of three smelter stacks at the ASARCO smelter in East Helena in August did not produce negative health effects, the state Department of Environmental Quality said Friday....The DEQ asked the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Agency to review the air quality samples for potential impacts to public health.  Exposure to chemical contaminants identified in the sample would not be expected to result in acute health outcomes because of the low concentrations of chemicals in the plume and the short duration of inhalation exposure, the agency's Dan Strausbaugh and Dr. Michelle Watters said...." [the news report did not give any chemical name(s) or amounts.]

Dr. Al Armendariz named Region 6 Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency

"November 5, 2009 by citizensarah

Environmental Groups Applaud EPA Choice

New Regional Administrator could signal change in direction for polluted state

DALLAS – Environmental advocates across several states are applauding the Obama Administration’s choice of Dr. Al Armendariz to lead Region 6 of the Environmental Protection Agency, which includes Texas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Armendariz, an engineering professor at Southern Methodist University, has worked with diverse constituencies ranging from corporations to citizens groups and has published dozens of studies on myriad environmental issues throughout his career. His appointment garnered high praise from the environmental community."
http://texasvox.org/2009/11/05/dr-al-armendariz-named-region-6-administrator-of-the-environmental-protection-agency/

Asarco Swiss Bank

Why is there a Swiss Bank called Asarco A.G. (Asarco SA, Asarco Inc.)??

Asarco makes enough money in just TWO WEEKS to cover its 52 million commitment to El Paso for 110 years of contamination

... not to mention the nearly ten years of secret illegal toxic-waste burning.... (which the bankruptcy and our EPA/TCEQ continue to ignore.   Theft of honest Services.)

Google Blogs Alert for: Asarco

Asarco revenue hit $96.4 million in September
By Andrew Johnson
Asarco revenue hit $96.4 million in September, Since filing for reorganization under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2005, Asarco has made $5.6 billion in sales, according to the company's latest financial report.

China CIC signs MOU with Glencore (August 2009)

"A manager at a trading and investment firm in Asia, which is a client of Glencore, said top management from Glencore visited CIC in Beijing in August [2009] and signed a memorandum of understanding in which CIC agreed to invest in Glencore’s products or bonds....It was not immediately clear how CIC would work with Glencore, the world’s biggest commodities trader, which typically trades its own book. But Glencore also has a derivatives trading venture with Credit Suisse, which has an expanding business offering commodity investment products to customers....(Note: According to the Financial Times, Glencore owns the Moreno Group, one of Argentina’s key soybean companies, and farms more than 300,000 hectares of leased or owned farmland from Australia to Paraguay.)"

http://farmlandgrab.org/7717

Bankruptcy Court still refusing to reveal liabilities from years of ASARCO secret toxic waste burning in El Paso TX and E. Helena MT

Why the cover-up of Asarco's years of deliberate and secret military and industrial waste incineration?  Why does this still continue!?  ("Asarco paid out millions of dollars on the condition that details of its activities would not be released to the public." - comment from Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Reyes)

"Battle for Asarco to face key test in Texas court

Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:28am IST 

* Grupo Mexico, Asarco and Sterlite head to federal court

* Hearing to set stage for decision on Asarco deal by judge

By Jazmine Ulloa

BROWNSVILLE, Texas, Oct 19 (Reuters) - India's Sterlite Industries... and Grupo Mexico SAB de CV (GMEXICOB.MX: ...) will head to court on Monday to begin the final stage of their year-long face off for control of bankrupt U.S. copper miner Asarco."
http://in.reuters.com/article/mergersNews/idINN1836582620091019?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0&sp=true

Supreme Court to review Honest Services Law with ENRON case (opinion due in spring)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&sid=awIvclWIyuF4#

Look for keywords "honest services" in this blog's search engine. Other
suggested searches are: "Carlyle", "Asarco A.G.", "Swiss bank".

Will the Supreme Court take away this law, gut its effectiveness, or ---
stand firm?

Asarco Buchan Canada: URANIUM values exceeded health guidelines

Google News Alert for: Asarco

Testing continues
Grand Falls-Windsor Advertiser
They are testing for the presence of lead and other substances such as arsenic and antimony, all left behind by Asarco, the now-defunct mining company which ...

"That testing, as originally requested by the Town of Buchans, which had concerns about human health, involved an independent consultant's getting 12 samples from the perimeter as well as 12 background samples taken outside the town. The results indicated that, of the heavy metals found, lead, arsenic, uranium, and antimony exceeded human health guidelines, with the lead values being of primary concern.

The sight of the environmental engineers conducting the current round of tests was a welcome surprise to residents like Nellie Chaulk, who came out of her house to find someone taking dirt from her lawn."

TCEQ ASARCO (El Paso) Update

Sb:  updates from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regarding the ASARCO site in El Paso, TX. 

We have added the following update and supporting documentation to the ASARCO web page.

• Summary Status of the 2005 Compliance Directive - October 15, 2009
• Groundwater Data Report
• Groundwater Sampling Locations Map
• Addendum 1 to Construction Report

All of these documents are also available from the TCEQ ASARCO Documents Download page

Why is there a SWISS BANK called ASARCO A.G. (Asarco S.A., Asarco Inc.)??

"gambling debts in Bahamas, Las Vegas, Atlantic City"

"Foreign investor Mikhail Katamanin, who in May was hit with a $12-million foreclosure lawsuit on his Highland Park mansion, filed a personal bankruptcy petition June 6 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Chicago.... His debts are described as “primarily consumer,” and the list of creditors includes Atlantis at Paradise Island Resort & Casino in the Bahamas, Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel & Casino and Trump Taj Mahal Casino Hotel in Atlantic City. Chicago lawyer Kori Bazanos, who represents Mr. Katamanin, declined to comment. Related story: Lender asserts claim on lakefront mansion"

http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=34626

"A Caribbean investment company has sued to collect on a $12-million loan ...the property is held in trust by Swiss company Asarco A.G., which Mr. Mikhail [Katamanin] controls, according to the complaint and public records....lawyer Irving Drobny, who represents Asarco, is out of the country until next week, according to employees at his office....The claim also is to be arbitrated in Switzerland, according to the complaint."
http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=34626

Irving Drobny is the same name as an attorney representing the imperial family of Vietnam. A Chicago Attorney by that same name also serves as legal council for a Dallas Texas firm, "Transpacific Group" or TPEG. [" TPEG, headquarter in Dallas- Texas, with auxiliary office in HCMC, Vietnam, has played a very important role of great and effective business link and supports to enterprises and entrepreneurs in both sides of the Pacific." http://www.tpeginc.com/aboutus.html

Former construction mgr for Hueco Bolson toxic-waste removal plant (i.e. "Desal Plant") now slated to be IBWC commissioner

How long will the El Paso community tolerate the continued cover-up of Asarco's chemical contamination from its citizens?

The EPA said that Asarco had contaminated the international Hueco Bolson.  Fort Bliss and the EPWU then constructed the Desal Plant on military property, taking the chemical contaminants from the water and pumping these twenty miles away for deep-well-injection on military property.

The EPA and other agencies have not told us what toxic chemicals remain at ASARCO despite an honest Dept. of Justice Attorney releasing a formerly confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only EPA-DOJ Asarco report in 2006 letting the community know about Asarco's secret and illegal activities from the 1990's.  

Our TCEQ Director was replaced by a former military person whose background was clean-up of chemical weapons contamination.  Our City of El Paso new Sustainability ("Green") Director used to be in charge of the clean-up of chemical contamination from Rocky Mt. Arsenal (which sent material to Asarco El Paso TX for illegal incineration according to the EPA).  The Federal State Dept. stated that the IBWC workers are sick and cannot get independent medical care in the entire region -- but nothing has been done.

Now, our IBWC commissioner's background includes building the EPWU/military DeSal plant that removes salt and most chemical contaminants (including Asarco's) from the Heuco Bolson water:

"Drusina was construction manager for over $28 million of infrastructure construction associated with El Paso Water Utilities’ desalination plant."

http://newspapertree.com/news/4303-former-el-paso-city-official-awaiting-presidential-appointment-to-ibwc

APPLE Iphone

The key-maquiladora FOXCON, anchoring the planned-city being built within the ASARCO El Paso "zone-of-contamination", manufactures the APPLE Iphone.

"US Chamber Fires Back At Apple In Climate-Policy Dispute By Siobhan Hughes, Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday appeared to take a jab at Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Chief Executive Steve Jobs for defecting from the business organization in a dispute over climate-change policy."
http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200910061815dowjonesdjonline000504&title=us-chamber-fires-back-at-apple-in-climate-policy-dispute

History : ASARCO on the island of Newfoundland

Google News Alert for: Asarco

Globe and Mail The mining town where poisoned soil is 'a part of life' Globe and Mail It paved the way for industry advancement, but also drew international attention to the tiny town, giving the US mining firm ASARCO (American Smelting and ... See all stories on this topic

"By 1928, it had constructed a mine and mill, bunkhouses and cottages for married workers, a mess hall, church, school, hospital and hydro-electric plant. The company controlled it all, including a ban on outside vendors and the use of a 37-kilometre railroad track to Millertown.

“You didn't get in unless you worked with the company; you didn't get out unless you had a company pass,” said Mr. Corbett, the mayor. “This was a company town for a long, long time. For years, if a miner passed away, his family was given two weeks to vacate.”

Over time, fierce labour strikes were staged over living and working conditions – extra blankets in the bunk house and raises measured by nickels and dimes –"

Just one ASARCO Bankruptcy Attorney-firm will make almost twice the amount that the entire Paso del Norte Region will get for the whole clean-up

"Baker Botts, Asarco’s law firm, took in $2.5 million in August for its work on the case, bringing the firm’s total payments to more than $104 million during the bankruptcy."

"A doctor tells a rich old man that he's going to die if he doesn't get a new heart soon. The old man tells the doctor to search the world for the best heart available, money is no object. A few days later the doctor calls the old man and says he has found three hearts but they are all expensive. The old man reminds the doctor that he is filthy rich and implores him to tell him about the donors they came from.....'Well this one belonged to a 58 year-old man, smoked three packs of cigarettes a day, weighed over 300 pounds, never exercised, drank like a fish... this heart is going for $500,000!!!' 'Five-hundred grand?!?!', the old man exclaimed, 'why so expensive?'

'Well', said the doctor, 'this heart belonged to a lawyer... so it was never used!'"  http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Villa/3059/

Google News Alert for: asarco bankruptcy

Asarco keeps profiting in bankruptcy Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA Since filing for bankruptcy in August, 2005, four years ago, Asarco has made a profit of about $1.54 billion, while pulling in revenue of $5.47 billion.

Massive secret ASARCO contamination epicenter is less than 15 miles from the SANTA TERESA FOREIGN TRADE ZONE

NMEDD was notified of the ASARCO secret toxic waste problem in 2006 when Gov. Richardson and the NMEDD rep. came to Sunland Park, N.M.  -- now, EPA is considering making NMED's Ron Curry head of the EPA region (TX, NM, OK) even though Curry also is ignoring the contamination.   How irresponsible can our government get?   Our lives along the border count as much as any in Northern New Mexico....

"February 4, 2008 o. 505-476-3747, c. 505-231-1488 Santa Teresa Foreign Trade Zone Expands Expansion will allow creation of “Binational Campus” SANTA FE, NM –New Mexico Economic Development Department’s (NMEDD) Cabinet Secretary Fred Mondragón today announced the expansion of the Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ) in Santa Teresa, NM. The expanded FTZ provides manufacturers, suppliers and logistics suppliers in Doña Ana County the opportunity to locate on the U.S.-Mexico border adjacent to the Santa Teresa-San Jeronimo Port of Entry, near Union Pacific Railroad’s planned $150 million fueling and intermodal facility linking Santa Teresa with Juarez, Chihuahua and U.S. Interstate 10. “This is exciting news for companies doing business in Doña Ana County,” said Juan Massey, Director of NMEDD’s Office of Mexican Affairs (OMA). “By expediting the path to market of certain approved goods and services along the FTZ and eliminating some trade duties and fees, trade will increase to the mutual benefit of New Mexico and Mexico. It’s a true win-win situation.” Foreign-Trade Zones (FTZs) are secure areas under U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) supervision that are generally considered outside CBP territory upon activation. Located in or near CBP ports of entry, they are the United States’ version of what are known internationally as free-trade zones. Authority for establishing these facilities is granted by the Foreign-Trade Zones Board under the Foreign-Trade Zones Act of 1934. The expanded Santa Teresa FTZ encompasses roughly 1,200 acres along the New Mexico-Mexico border, with approximately 2.3 million square feet of existing manufacturing and distribution facilities. “This is a timely initiative, given the imminent fueling and intermodal facility,” said Senate Majority Whip Mary Jane Garcia, D-Dona Ana. “This will be a boost to the economy of Doña Ana County.” [the economic cost of the ASARCO contamination on our health bills, schools, police, agriculture, prisons, etc is not considered]  According to OMA Director Juan Massey, the FTZ expansion will allow the creation of a Santa Teresa-San Jeronimo Binational Campus to recapture the original advantages of the New Mexico-Mexico maquiladora (twin-plant) industry with facilities built on the Mexican side of the border within 60 feet of their companion facilities in New Mexico.

Such an arrangement will allow tenants of the campus to achieve previously unattainable levels of economic advantage derived from combining the business climate advantages of both countries. "Santa Teresa will become one of the most important logistics, manufacturing and distribution centers of the U.S.-Mexico border in the near future,” said Representative Mary Helen Garcia, D-Doña Ana. “With the establishment of modern infrastructure, Foreign Trade Zones and the Binational Campus, the New Mexico border will no longer go unnoticed as one of the most competitive staging points for global trade." About Foreign Trade Zones Foreign and domestic merchandise may be moved into Foreign Trade Zones for operations, not otherwise prohibited by law, including storage, exhibition, assembly, manufacturing, and processing. All FTZ activity is subject to public interest review. Foreign Trade Zone sites are subject to the laws and regulations of the United States as well as those of the states and communities in which they are located. Under zone procedures, the usual formal CBP entry procedures and payments of duties are not required on the foreign merchandise unless and until it enters CBP territory for domestic consumption, at which point the importer generally has the choice of paying duties at the rate of either the original foreign materials or the finished product. Domestic goods moved into the zone for export may be considered exported upon admission to the zone for purposes of excise tax rebates and drawback. Qualified public or private corporations that may operate the facilities themselves or contract for the operation sponsors foreign-trade zones. The operations are conducted on a public utility basis, with published rates. Many zone projects include an industrial park site with lots on which zone users can construct their own facilities. For more information, visit www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/import/cargo_control/ftz/about_ftz.xml About the Santa Teresa-San Jeronimo Binational Campus The creation of the Santa Teresa-San Jeronimo Binational Campus will provide the U.S.-Mexico border the ability to become more competitive against production threats from the Pacific Rim. This binational campus will allow the border region to attract more value-added manufacturers and prevent the further flight of companies to the Pacific Rim. Manufacturing firms will be able to establish operations on both sides of the border within a “stone’s throw” from each other. On the Mexican side of the border, manufacturers will be able to establish the labor-intensive side of their operations and take advantage of the region’s highly skilled workforce. Production inputs from around the world will be imported duty-free into the recinto fiscalizado (controlled enclosure), where they will be transformed into finished products. These products will be transferred (again duty-free) to the staging and distribution operations within the FTZ on the Santa Teresa side of the border. Automated integrated manufacturing, technology research and development companies, software developers, medical equipment manufacturers and electronics manufacturing are some of the sectors that would be attracted to such a business environment. For more information, contact Juan Massey at juan.massey@state.nm.us or (505) 827-0312. #30# "

http://www.edd.state.nm.us/newsEvents/pressReleases/2008/PR-SantaTeresaFTZ-02-04-08.pdf

Gov. Richardson who is ignoring Sunland Park's plea for justice from ASARCO secret contamination) -- behind FOXCONN maquiladora (less than 15 miles from the epicenter)

"Foxconn to Create 30,000 Jobs in Chihuahua Mexico

Monday, July 21, 2008 | New Mexico Office of the Governor

---

Governor Bill Richardson today applauded the groundbreaking of a major economic development in Mexico adjacent to Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Foxconn, a Taiwanese industrial giant with more than 500,000 employees worldwide, has begun construction on what will be Mexico's largest maquiladora in Jeronimo, Chihuahua.
(
"This is one of many mutually beneficial projects that I and my economic development people have worked with Chihuahua officials to carry out," Governor Richardson said."
http://www.pcb007.com/pages/zone.cgi?a=22141

PM 2.5's (ASARCO EL PASO was the singlemost point source in the region) circle the globe

http://www.the-scientist.com/templates/trackable/display/news.jsp?type=news&o_url=news/display/56026&id=56026