Helena Stack were demolished , and the Secret Toxic wastes remain secret

http://www.missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/article_fda17544-8aa5-11de-9003-001cc4c03286.html


-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	East Helena Stack demolition -- important information for Cleveland Wrecking Co.
Date:	Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:14:33 -0600
To:	Jim_Sheridan[at]urscorp.com
CC:	AskDOJ[at]usdoj.gov, thornton.wood[at]oag.state.tx.us, jackson.lisap[at]epa.gov, john.harrington[at]helenair.com, Diana Washington Valdez <dvaldez[at]elpasotimes.com>, dcrowder[at]epmediagroup.com, Piper.Bonnie[at]epamail.epa.gov, Bill_Torres[at]urscorp.com, Joe_LeClair[at]urscorp.com, Steve_Sheridan[at]urscorp.com

To:  Mr. Sheridan, President of Cleveland Wrecking Co.
Fr: 

Please look through this formerly-confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only EPA document to the Federal Dept. of Justice written in 1998 and kept secret until 2006:  http://archives.newspapertree.com/Asarco/asarco_1998_memo.pdf

This document will let you know that the EPA said ASARCO secretly burned illegal toxic wastes for profit for nearly ten years and that some of that went to the ASARCO Helena smelter. 

This settlement-document is now a public document; but, Asarco and the EPA/DOJ are continuing to act as if this document never was released, and that the illegal near-decade of unmanifested-waste-burning never happened.  Rep. Reyes (Chair, House intelligence committee) was quoted saying that Asarco paid millions of dollars on the condition that details of what it had done would never become public.

Your workers will be exposed to whatever chemicals have been left in that community from ASARCO's illegal activity -- and it could contain anything -- some of those sources you will see in that document are military, some are industrial.    The wastes Asarco secretly burned and handled were unmanifested and could have contained anything:  actinides (radioactive alpha particles or other particles), dioxins, pcb's, polonium, etc.   The EPA has never revealed what these chemical-values are for the community.

The stacks should not come down, in my opinion, until the EPA does independent-stack-sampling of the residues left inside the stacks from ASARCO's illegal activities; and, until all workers are equipped with white-haz-mat suits with independent-oxygen-support.    Even with that done, the demolition of the stacks will potentially expose the community to the secret chemical wastes, in the resulting dusts.   And, that demolition-waste should not go to any landfills without the EPA, ASARCO and the DOJ revealing to us what is in that waste.

I feel that your company should have been notified about this document, and that you should not demolish the stacks without the facts in front of you. 

Groundwater arsenic throughout ground/surface water at E Paso TX Asarco site

To: Lorinda Gardner [tceq regional director, El Paso TX]
Sb:  Response to Lorinda Gardner's three emails sent 2:36 pm 12-Aug-09

Ms. Gardner, you and Asarco have denied our community group's (SPGEG) request.   We asked for split samples.  We asked for funds to run the tests at a lab of our choice.

You (TCEQ) are denying this request unnecessarily in favor of the industry who the EPA let us know burned the secret toxic waste here for a decade.   I would like an explanation for why the TCEQ invented a road-block.   Your actions throw suspicion on any further testing that the TCEQ may claim to "independently" conduct at Asarco and suggest there may be conflicts-of-interest about coming-clean with the Paso del Norte community.  

The TCEQ and its attorneys are quite aware of the formerly-confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only EPA document to the Federal DOJ (http://archives.newspapertree.com/Asarco/asarco_1998_memo.pdf) in which the EPA said Asarco burned unmanifested toxic wastes for profit for nearly a decade.  Rep. Reyes (Chair of the House Intelligence Committee) stated on record that Asarco paid millions on condition that details of what it had done would not become public.   However, this document is now a public document, and the secret of the terrible chemical contamination of our community and watershed is out.

NOTICE: THIS WILL DIRECT YOUR ATTENTION TO UNITED STATES V. PANARELLA, 277 F.3^RD 678 AND UNITED STATES V. GRAY, NO. 95-50533, SEPTEMBER 18, 1996.  IT IS REQUESTED THAT NO PERSON WHO EITHER KNOWS, OR SHOULD KNOW, THAT ANY ASARCO CONTAMINATION OF CORPUS CHRISTI OR PASO DEL NORTE REGION IS BEING CONCEALED PARTICIPATE IN ANY FURTHER ACTION IN THIS MATTER.  THIS REQUEST INCLUDES, BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO THE ATTORNEYS AND OTHER REPRESENTATIVES OF ASARCO.