EL PASO, TX - Roberto Puga, the man who will oversee the cleanup and eventual sale of the Asarco property will be in El Paso today to meet with an auctioneer company about the sale of Asarco's assets.
Walter Parker Auctioneer Inc. is the company picked to auction off Asarco's assets beginning August 2."
(search inside this blog for "Asarco A.G.")
The rig is being moved to Mexico from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico following upgrades and maintenance."
"Noble's all-cash acquisition of Frontier, officially known as FDR Holdings Ltd, will add to cash flow immediately and to earnings from early 2011, the company said...Carlyle Group [owns 20% of Grupo Mexico who owns ASARCO] and Riverstone Holdings are investors in Frontier....Frontier, which is domiciled in Norway and headquartered in Houston, is building two ultra-deepwater drillships designed to operate in Arctic waters under a partnership with Shell."
"Whistle-blower advocates are asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to review the treatment of tipster Bradley C. Birkenfeld, the former UBS banker who was sentenced to 40 months in prison despite his pivotal help in the groundbreaking case against the Swiss banking giant."
For example, while flying on a small plane from New Orleans to Orange Beach, the pilot suddenly exclaimed, "Look at that!" The thin red line marking the federal flight restrictions of 3,000 feet over the oiled Gulf region had just jumped to include the coastal barrier islands off Alabama."...
| BP Bankruptcy Would Offer No Protection From Costs (Update2 ... After a federal judge discharged Asarco from bankruptcy in December, Associate U.S. Attorney General Tom Perrelli said taxpayers got more than a dollar back ... www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=a55... |
On June 13, White House Adviser David Axelrod called on BP to establish an escrow account for claims tied to the spill. U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid requested that the London-based company set up a $20 billion fund administered by an independent trustee, according to a letter from his office." [Asarco was asked to set up a fund for its wastes, too in the early days before its bankruptcy - it then went through a bankruptcy that refrained from any mention or knowledge about liabilities from Asarco's nearly ten years of burning secret toxic-wastes for profit]
"[Lead is a naturally occurring bluish-gray metal found in small amounts in the earth's crust. Lead can be found in all parts of our environment. Lead itself does not break down, but lead compounds are changed by sunlight, air, and water. When lead is released to the air, it may travel long distances before settling to the ground. Once lead falls onto soil, it usually sticks to soil particles. Movement of lead from soil into groundwater will depend on the type of lead compound and the characteristics of the soil. Lead is a heavy metal that can be toxic to living bodies, humans and animals, in certain high levels. Lead can be found in paints on houses, on pottery, and other objects. Lead can be found in water, in air around smelters, and in such objects as batteries. When lead enters the body, generally through ingestion but also through inhalation from dust and lead smelters, it may be seen as a lead line on the metaphysis of growing bones in radiographs. Lead can be especially detrimental to children as many tissues are growing and developing and lead is easy incorporated into those cells. It may slow growth, cause hearing problems, hyperactivity and behavior changes. Children with high lead burdens may have neurological damage, including brain damage. This may present as headaches or learning difficulties, muscle cramps, twitches or spasms. It may be more severe, leading to seizures and death. Adults may also suffer from lead poisoning. Adults may experience a variety of neurological problems, among them, memory and concentration problems. They may also have muscle and joint pain, reproductive problems, and hypertension (high blood pressure). Adults may also suffer from neurological problems as well. Heavy metal intoxication almost always affects the gastrointestinal system, such as diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, poor appetite and as a consequence, weight loss. Anemia may also be seen in lead poisoning, which further increases the weakness the victim experiences. The effects of lead are the same whether it enters the body through breathing or swallowing. Lead can affect almost every organ and system in the body. The main target for lead toxicity is the nervous system, both in adults and children. Long-term exposure of adults can result in decreased performance in some tests that measure functions of the nervous system. It may also cause weakness in fingers, wrists, or ankles. Lead exposure also causes small increases in blood pressure, particularly in middle-aged and older people and can cause anemia. Exposure to high lead levels can severely damage the brain and kidneys in adults or children and ultimately cause death. In pregnant women, high levels of exposure to lead may cause miscarriage. High-level exposure in men can damage the organs responsible for sperm production. Children are more vulnerable and more sensitive to lead poisoning than adults. A child who swallows large amounts of lead may develop blood anemia, severe stomachache, muscle weakness, and brain damage. These same clinical signs mimic other childhood illness. If a child swallows smaller amounts of lead, much less severe effects on blood and brain function may occur. Even at much lower levels of exposure, lead can affect a child's mental and physical growth. Exposure to lead is more dangerous for young and unborn children. Unborn children can be exposed to lead through their mothers. Harmful effects include premature births, smaller babies, decreased mental ability in the infant, learning difficulties, and reduced growth in young children. These effects are more common if the mother or baby was exposed to high levels of lead. Some of these effects may persist beyond childhood. Lead in the groundwater may be an issue in this case. Lead can be absorbed from the drinking water. In the US, the level of lead in the water is allowed at less than 0.15 ml of lead per liter of water (less than 0.15 ppm). A number of water filtration units such as reverse osmosis can filter out the lead. If the situation is more primitive than this, I am unsure what to treat a well with. Calcium disodium EDTA has been used to treat people, and putting it into a water well may work to bind it, but I have no data support. Certainly using a water system that is not contaminated with lead is the best option. If this is a case of lead in the air, then it is appropriate to cover the mouth and nose and to remove one's self from the area. Lead has no known physiological function in the body. It can be tested for in the blood, but chelators are necessary to help eliminate the metal from the body. Effective chelators include dimercapterol and succimer. Portions of this comment have been extracted from: <http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts13.html> - Mod.TG]"
"The EPA kept a secret from us for nearly 8 years, signing a confidential settlement document with ASARCO through the Federal Dept. of Justice. Chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Reyes said that ASARCO paid MILLIONS on the condition that details of what it had done would never become public."
The SECRET? ASARCO had illegally burned unlabeled secret hazardous-wastes throughout the 1990's --- just to make money. God only knows what poisons remain here from that. No one will tell us. This whole ASARCO development saga is not about DISCLOSURE it is about CLOSURE of that site so that it can all be "swept under the rug".
As it is, the land has been exposed to God only knows what (ASARCO was accepting unlabeled stuff from both industrial and military sources!).
We the community wait for honest answers to our questions: how much radioactive lead (Polonium) is there? What other radioactive materials remain there and how much? What about dioxins - how much? Mercury? Beryllium? What has gotten into our water supply (it is in the Hueco bolson and the Rio Grande now)?
We want answers. What is the point of "developing" this land and stirring up the dusts next to our water supply (60% of our water passes right by ASARCO in an open-canal) until we know what we are dealing with??
Does ANYONE buy a bill of goods ("developing the site") without knowing exactly what they are being sold, first??"
"Google News Alert for: asarco
EDITORIAL: Asarco input: Citizens can influence zoning
| Refuse the Juice: Your Money + Your Thoughts = Profit for Out of ... By David K The El Paso Times's editorial page was awash with love for the City of El Paso's contract award of $606000 to Dover, Kohl & Partners for their help in planning what to do with the ASARCO site. A site, mind... Refuse the Juice - http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/ |
On Wednesday, Baker Botts urged Judge Richard S. Schmidt of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas to order Asarco to provide discovery elaborating on the alleged..."
http://bankruptcy.law360.com/registrations/user_registration?article_id=165207&concurrency_check=false
