2005 old Newspapertree links to Asarco Filings and info.

Newspaper Tree presents a look back at filings in the case:

1. Original Petition, filed by Plaintiff (ASARCO INCORPORATED)

2. Original Answer of Defendant (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or "TCEQ")

3. Plaintiff's Initial Brief (Part one)

4. Plaintiff's Initial Brief (Part two)

5. Plaintiff's Initial Brief (Part three)

6. Brief of the City of El Paso, Intervenor (filed January 10, 2005)

7. Amicus Curiae Brief of the Latina/o Law Students Association, at the University of Wisconsin Law School

8. TCEQ Brief (Part One)

9. TCEQ Brief (Part Two)

10. The City of El Paso's Intervenor Brief

11. ASARCO Reply Brief (Part One)

12. ASARCO Reply Brief (Part Two)

13. ASARCO's Amended Original Petition

14. ASARCO's Motion to Strike the Amicus Curiae of the Latina/o Law Students Association

15. The Latina/o Law Students Association's Response to [ASARCO's] Motion to Strike Amicus Curiae Brief

16. The Court's Order of March 9, 2005

* * *

Previous ASARCO-related articles from NPT:

1. City Contract with Baron & Budd, P.C. (June 27, 2005)

2. Getting to the Bottom of the Superfund (June 13, 2005)

3. Two-fifths of a Paving Contract (May 28, 2005)

4. Sunset Heights ASARCO Controversy (May 12, 2005)

5. Demystifying the Open Records Process (April 27, 2005)

6. City Seeks to Enforce 1999 Asarco Penalty (March 30, 2005)

7. ASARCO Incorporated (ASARCO) v. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) (March 15, 2005)

8. Briefs on ASARCO Case (February 14, 2005)

9. Background on ASARCO Case (February 1, 2005)

10. Notes on SOAH Preliminary Hearing (January 27, 2005)

11. Birch & Becker, LLP (January 17, 2005)

12. Clean up or Cover up? (Reprinted from the Texas Observer) (November 1, 2004)

* * *

Industry/Government/Community Links:

1. ASARCO, Inc. (El Paso)

2. EPA in El Paso

3. Texas Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program

4. Get the Lead Out Coalition

5. El Paso Acorn

6. Sierra Club (El Paso Regional Group)

Health/Studies Links:

1. ATSDR study showing MS/lead risk for EP

2. SCERP Study

3. Encuentros Binational Community Lead Project

* * *
from July 11, 2005 newspapertree article
http://newspapertree.com/politics/641-asarco-links

Updated federal report finds greater hazard in arsenic

"Sat 27 Oct 2007 The Baltimore Sun
Closer look for cancer near park: Updated federal report finds greater hazard in arsenic from closed plant
By Tom Pelton
Oct. 27--Baltimore's health commissioner plans to study cancer deaths in the neighborhood around South Baltimore's Swann Park in light of a new federal finding that arsenic in the soil poses a greater health risk than previously reported.

The U.S. Department of Health said in June that there was "no public health hazard" to children who have played in Swann Park, unless they ate a tablespoon or more of dirt. But the federal agency revised that assessment yesterday, saying that "recent and historic exposure to Swann Park soil is considered a public health hazard."

"This means that there is a low but potentially real increase in cancer risk for people who have a significant exposure over years to the park," said the city's health commissioner, Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein. "It justifies why we closed the park and why we need to clean it up."

The city closed the park in April after tests showed that its soil has high levels of arsenic, a known cancer-causing agent, from dust that blew from an adjacent Allied Chemical Co. pesticide factory that closed in 1976.

An EPA-funded study done in the 1970s by a Johns Hopkins scientist found lung cancer deaths more than three times the normal rate in the neighborhood around Swann Park. The deaths were linked to arsenic dust from the factory next to the park and from train cars carrying the carcinogen.

But until yesterday, city and federal health officials said there was almost no risk to the public from arsenic left in the soil after the factory shut down in 1976.

Now, federal officials are saying that children, coaches and grounds workers who used the park at least 182 days a year might have an increased cancer risk from inhaling dirt particles and touching their mouths after getting their hands grubby.

......

On Oct. 6, the city and Honeywell submitted a plan to the Maryland Department of the Environment to remove 3,200 cubic yards of contaminated dirt at the park, then cover the site with two feet of clean soil. Under the plan, the park would reopen in 2008......

tom.pelton@baltsun.com

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/baltimore_city/bal-te.md.ci.arsenic27oct27,0,2067591.story"

from arsenic newsletter...