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Mrs. Mcmurray 's obtained proof Asarco smelter poisoned El Paso TX through what the EPA & US DOJ said was illegal burning of illegal hazardous/radioactive wastes 1991-98. (see 73 page 1998 conf. for settlement purposes only DOJ EPA Asarco doc,10/06 nytimes) We have never been told what actinides, forever chemicals, dioxins etc are present from illegal Asarco actions.
Hafnium
Search "hafnium" (found in nuclear plant control rods) within blog search gadget on right column
"Charles County Government Is Dumping Radioactive Waste Into Potomac!
It is being done by the CHARLES COUNTY GOVERNMENT by the choice of the CHARLES COUNTY COMMISSIONERS. A neighborhood discovered radioactivity in its water, and upon further testing it was found to be POLONIUM, which is 5000 times more radioactive than radium, which took the life of Madame Curie, who discovered both elements. From my internet research, 6.8 TRILLIONTHS of a gram is carcinogenic. A gram is about the weight of a small paper clip.
The county could have dug another well, until they found one without polonium (the stuff is very rare) but instead chose to use a $300K filtration system that is expensive to operate to filter the water (which still leaves significant amounts in the drinking water, but below EPA standards). THEN, they will truck the radioactive waste to the Mattawoman Wastewater treatment plant, and dump it UNTREATED into the effluent stream that goes into the Potomac.
I wrote a private letter to the Commissioners giving them 15 days to reverse their decision, and telling them that I would publicly applaud them if they did the right thing. I also told them that after 15 days, I would do whatever I could to stop them, including going public, and whatever else it takes. On the 19th day, I had no response at all, so I FILED SUIT AGAINST THE COUNTY, claiming that it violates the zoning ordinance, and asking for an injunction.
For more, please see the Md. Independent article below:
Last evening State Senator Shapleigh and the UTEP student government representatives presented, along with comments from the Project Navigator ASARCO Custodial Trustee, plans and ideas for development of the ASARCO El Paso site.
We don't even know what chemicals have been left there from the years of illegal and secret Toxic-waste burning that the EPA and Federal DOJ kept under wraps from 1998 through to 2006, when an honest DOJ attorney and the NYTimes broke the story. We don't know what has been left in our soils, air and water from what the EPA and DOJ secretly-admitted had been secret-burnings of military and industrial wastes by Asarco for profit for YEARS.
The entire ASARCO bankruptcy was based on the fraudulent concealment of this toxic-waste and its liabilities in El Paso TX and E. Helena MT. The DOJ Trustee would not require the courts to consider the DOJ/EPA document (a 1998 formerly confidential-for-settlement-purposes-only document and its d*mning evidence of what ASARCO had done for nearly ten years). The contract for the custodial-trustee does not mandate that the trustee look for or clean-up anything other than what the Bankruptcy court discussed -- and the secret wastes/poisons were never discussed.
Why? And why did the organizers of this UTEP event conveniently forget to mention that the lands around this El Paso ASARCO site --- 1000 square miles of it --- are likely extremely toxic from only god-knows-what Asarco burned all those years. 60% of the El Paso drinking water supply passes within a hundred feet of the smelter through an open over-70-year-old cracked and leaking concrete ditch. A little known fact in the area is that waters from the Rio Grande to Mexico and the USA are officially separated at the IBWC "American Dam" and that this dam sits at the foot of the smelter. Why isn't our government protecting us? And why is our community so beaten-down that they have given up trying to make their government act? It is appalling that our governmental officials - both in the EPA, the TCEQ, the NMED and others refuse to disclose any details about what happened here. During the winter of 1998 just before the smelter shut down, the EPA said that the Beta Radiation level around the smelter was the HIGHEST IN THE NATION. Official(s) assure us that this was normal background radiation and nothing to worry about -- but, they fail to produce any reports or studies to substantiate their claim that this radiation level was "safe".
Next week the University next to the El Paso ASARCO smelter will discuss buying ASARCO toxic-land next to their campus -- all the while conveniently allowed to "forget" and "ignore" the poisons left on that land from the activities disclosed to the NYTIMES 10/2006 -- and still "forgotten" and "ignored" by those left in charge of our health and safety. These officials should be some of the first to tell the community what toxins are left on that land from the near-decade that Asarco burned unmanifested and also known illegal and secret toxic wastes for profit -- but so far this has not happened.
The Bankruptcy for ASARCO never discussed the EPA DOJ formerly confidential for settlement purposes only evidence used by the EPA and DOJ (and signed off by Asarco) that ASARCO had illegally and for profit burned unknown hazardous wastes for nearly ten years in El Paso TX and E. Helena MT. Why? Why has this evidence been ignored by the DOJ Federal Bankruptcy Trustee and courts?
Someone in the Federal DOJ DID make the facts of what ASARCO had done public (NYTimes 10/2006) - and the community wants the details. The government owes the community the truth of what is now in its soils, air and water from the nearly ten years of illicit military and industrial waste burning.
With recent (7/09) UTEP research showing how dangerous-dust is being "stirred up" in El Paso, and with the common knowledge in the Paso del Norte region that we all get sick after wind-events (tired, headaches, muscle aches) that cause the high-arsenic-ladened-dusts to float around us more, again ---
El Pasoans, N.M. and old Anapra SHOULD BE GETTING SOME HELP HERE to install effective windows, refrigerated air, electrostatic furnace filters, air-tight-wind-seals, clean-up of indoor dust -- and, even buy-out of homes by those folks who want to move away from the ASARCO El Paso smelter site.
The mine’s cleanup coordinator, Karen Pickett, an Asarco project manager from the Seattle area, told residents she has begun calling contractors to help in the cleanup of homes.... Resident Cindy Swan, 55, a music teacher at Sahuarita Intermediate School, said she has suffered through five migraine headaches since returning from a visit to New York during winter vacation. “I am a healthy person. Something is wrong. I want to know what I am being poisoned with,” Swan said....Belove said an analysis of the contents of the dust could have been provided shortly after the three recent dust incidents in November and December.
Something stinks bad about the Supreme Court re-opening the Enron "honest services provision" case; the US Federal Prosecutors dropping the ASARCO RCRA E. Helena investigation; and the existence of an "import/export ASARCO A.G. SWISS BANK" run by an international gambler-- that no one can explain... ALL ACTIONS in effect PROTECTING GRUPO MEXICO who owns over 1/2 the Freight Rail right-of-way in Mexico, is 20% owned by the Carlyle Group -- the Carlyle Group who controls the CSX railroad that feeds the entire Eastern USA seaboard. The guy who runs Carlyle's USA Realty group used to report to the land-developer who started the San Jeronimo-Santa Teresa First Planned International Community here within 10 miles of the Asarco disaster. Isn't ANYONE in our Federal Government in a position to do anything about this - or have we (and the Rio Grande) all been sacrificed (ARE being sacrificed) to lives poisoned by the still illegal/secret military/industrial haz-wastes that the EPA/DOJ let us know were burned here (and in E. Helena) for nearly ten years?
Isn't E. Helena angry about this?????????
"US Calls Off Asarco Criminal Enviro Probe
Law360, New York (January 22, 2010) -- Federal prosecutors have dropped their criminal investigation into whether Asarco LLC violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act by storing hazardous materials without the proper environmental permits at a former facility in East Helena, Mont.
May God help us all preserve our nation when the Federal DOJ will not act to prevent the Asarco Bankruptcy Fraud, our health/welfare is sold down the river to line the pockets of large attorney firms feasting off the fraudulent proceedings, and the Supreme Court not only meets to hear about possibly demolishing the honest services provision of the mail and wire fraud act - but, has marked the end of democracy by allowing corporations like Asarco, Grupo Mexico and Carlye Group to fully fund ANY candidates, without a monetary limit.
"Supreme Court Decision Marks the End of Democracy-A Special Newsletter from the Texas Climate Emergency Campaign"
"I hope we shall... crush in its birth the aristocracy of our moneyed corporations, which dare already to challenge our government to a trial of strength and to bid defiance to the laws of our country."~ Thomas Jefferson, letter to George Logan. November 12, 1816
The words above were written by Thomas Jefferson, one of the distinguished founding fathers of this nation. Clearly, neither he nor any of the other signers of the declaration of independence thought they were declaring freedom for big corporations, and yet that's what happened in the Supreme Court yesterday. Many are calling it the End of Democracy, for we have now sold our souls down the river of corporate greed.As one pundit put it, we are looking at our last President and our last Congress which will not fully be funded by corporate giants. It is a sad day for issue advocacy, it is a sad day for all of us as Americans..."
"...In an unusual move, the U.S. Supreme Court has granted certiorari petitions in three separate honest services cases: U.S. v. Black, 530 F.3d 596 (7th Cir. 2008); U.S. v. Weyhrauch, 548 F.3d 1237 (9th Cir. 2008); and U.S. v. Skilling, 554 F.3d 529 (5th Cir. 2009). Two of those cases (Black and Weyhrauch) have been argued, and Skilling is to be argued in the spring. In the Skilling case, Jeffrey Skilling, the former president of Enron Corp., has clearly requested that the Court hold the statute unconstitutional because it is too vague to provide notice of what conduct is deemed potentially criminal."
Hervé Gouraige is a member in the Newark, N.J., and New York offices of Epstein Becker & Green and co-group leader of the firms' national litigation practice. ==================================================================
"Over the last several months, federal and state environmental regulatory agencies have devoted substantial regulatory attention to New Jersey waterways and rivers in the northwestern portion of the state that have been contaminated with metals, declaring some of them to be federal Superfund sites. In light of these events, the judicial determination that the metals contamination on the southern edge of the property was solely due to our adversaries’ prior disposal activity was timely. The Opinion is perhaps the first trial court decision to apply the apportionment principles articulated in the Supreme Court's May 2009 decision in Burlington Northern.
"In Landmark Campaign Finance Ruling, Supreme Court Removes Limits on Corporate Campaign Spending In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court rules corporations can spend unlimited amounts of money to elect and defeat candidates. One lawmaker describes it as the worst Supreme Court decision since the Dred Scott case justifying slavery." http://i3.democracynow.org/2010/1/22/in_landmark_campaign_finance_ruling_supreme
"NEW YORK 19 January 2010 20:58 Sterlite Industries (India) Ltd. is gearing up for another courtroom battle over U.S. copper miner Asarco LLC.
Since losing out on the chance to take over and reorganize Tucson, Ariz.-based Asarco out of bankruptcy last November, Sterlite has made quiet progress to appeal the decision that returned Asarco to its former parent, Mexico City-based Grupo Mexico SA de CV.
"That's what we'll be asking for?the complete reversal..." "
Rail yard move to Asarco site proposed El Paso Inc In December, Asarco concluded a massive bankruptcy case by settling its liabilities for $1.8 billion nationally; in El Paso, the agreement provided $52 ...
"I Have a Dream - Address at March on Washington August 28, 1963. Washington, D.C.
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation. [Applause]
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity.
But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the Negro. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" http://www.mlkonline.net/dream.html
"Over 40 years ago, I stood with Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. on the steps of the U.S. Capitol during the March on Washington. Tomorrow, our nation will commemorate his life and work.
I recorded a short video about what this day means to me and all Americans. Please watch it today.
Dr. King's words inspired me to join the civil rights movement and begin my own fight for a more just and equal nation.
Tomorrow is a day to honor his legacy and reflect on how far we've come.
But it's also a day to rededicate ourselves to building an America where all are treated equally and every eligible American can cast a ballot and have it counted.
"Separately, a federal judge who has been asked to dismiss a securities case against former Delphi executives, said he will hold off on a decision as the defendants and the Securities and Exchange Commission try to reach a settlement. U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn said in a filing that he plans to defer a decision until it seems that a settlement is out of reach."[Jan. 11, 2008]
December 15, 2003 #2003-58 Carlyle Group to Begin Investing in Mexico
Leading Efforts are Luis Téllez and Joaquin Avila
Thomas F. McLarty to Become Senior Advisor to Carlyle and Advisor on Mexico Investment Activities
Washington, DC -- Global private equity firm The Carlyle Group today announced that Luis Téllez, currently Executive Vice President of Desc, and Joaquin Avila, currently Managing Director of Lehman Brothers, will join Carlyle as Managing Directors to establish an office in Mexico City and co-lead Carlyle’s first-ever buyout investment activities in Mexico. Also joining Carlyle as Senior Advisor to the firm with an emphasis on Mexico is Mack McLarty, President of Kissinger McLarty Associates and Chief of Staff to and Special Envoy to the Americas for President Bill Clinton. Messrs. Téllez, Avila, and McLarty begin at Carlyle on January 1, 2004.
David M. Rubenstein, Carlyle co-founder and Managing Director, said, “Mexico is fertile terrain for private equity investing. Luis and Joaquin are the perfect investment professionals to spearhead Carlyle’s investment activities in Mexico. They bring an unmatched depth of experience and knowledge of the business community and embody Carlyle’s thoughtful and conservative approach to investing. We are also particularly pleased to have Mack McLarty join Carlyle as a Senior Advisor. The firm will benefit greatly from his insightfulness and creativity, and his intimate knowledge of Mexico will serve our investment activities well.”
Mr. Téllez said, “The time is right to invest in Mexico and Carlyle, with its global platform and credibility in the markets, will be the first major player to make this type of commitment. I am particularly pleased that my friend and long time associate Mack McLarty will join us in this important and exciting endeavor. Mack knows Mexico, its challenges, and opportunities. His strategic input and problem solving ability will be critical to our success.”
Mr. Avila said, “I am quite pleased to join The Carlyle Group and to help lead this unique institution’s entry into the Mexican buyout market. Carlyle brings needed equity and tremendous management experience to the Mexican business community and a management-friendly approach to investing that will be well received by owners and workers alike.”
Mr. McLarty said, “I have known and worked with The Carlyle Group for a number of years and am quite pleased to join them in this timely endeavor. Carlyle and I have several intersections of mutual interest, including automotive, transportation, and energy issues, and, of course Mexico and the Americas. Mexico presents great opportunity and with Luis and Joaquin leading the effort, Carlyle will be able to have a real impact on the investment climate.”
* * * * *
Luis Téllez has served as Executive Vice President (CEO) of DESC, S.A. de C.V., one of Mexico’s largest companies. Desc, a diversified industrial conglomerate with nearly US$2 billion in sales, has businesses in the auto parts, chemicals, food production, brand management, and real estate sectors. Mr. Téllez has played a key role in the strategic management of the company.
From 1997 to 2000, Mr. Téllez served as Mexico’s Secretary of Energy. During his tenure, he designed and implemented an ambitious program to restructure the Mexican electricity sector, allowing for broader private involvement in generating, distributing, and transmitting electricity in Mexico. In 1998 and 1999, Mr. Téllez headed Mexico’s oil diplomacy efforts and played a key role in restoring stability in international oil markets and oil prices.
For the previous three years, Mr. Téllez served as Chief of Staff to President Ernesto Zedillo. After the Mexican crisis of 1995, he joined the Minister of Treasury and the Governor of the Central Bank to successfully secure the financial rescue package of US$50 billion dollars granted to Mexico by the U.S. and other major financial institutions.[1995: The height of ASARCO's years of illegal and secret hazardous-waste burning of military and industrial unmanifested-wastes, while Grupo Mexico sat on the Asarco Board (Carlyle now owns 20% of Grupo Mexico)]
From 1987 to 1993, Mr. Téllez served in several senior positions in the Mexican government, including Head Economist at the Ministry of Treasury and Undersecretary of Planning at the Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.
Since 2001, Mr. Téllez has been a member of APEC’s Business Advisory Council and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of DESC, Femsa, Grupo México, a member of the Business Council of the Reforma newspaper and of the Board of Counselors of Kissinger McLarty Associates. He is also a member of the Board of diverse non-profit organizations such as Fundación Televisa, Fundación Únete and Universidad Iberoamericana.
Mr. Téllez was named Global Leader of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum, and Leader for the New Millenium by Time Magazine. Mr. Téllez, 45, earned his BS in economics from the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, suma cum laude, and his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
* * * * *
Joaquin Avila joined Lehman Brothers in 2000 as Managing Director and Co-Head of Latin America. He is responsible for developing and implementing strategic plans for the region. In 2001, under Mr. Avila’s leadership, the Latin America team generated one of the highest fee income per employee of the firm. In 2001, Lehman received the “Deal of the Year” award for Latin America by Euroweek Magazine for a Pemex US$750 million bond issue.
From 1996 to 2000, Mr. Avila served as Managing Director of VA Investments/Compass Group in Mexico City where he formulated the strategic plan to develop asset management and private equity businesses in Mexico. Mr. Avila also formed VAI, a private equity firm in Mexico that was financially supported by Banco Santander, where he successfully acquired the Hoteles Krystal for US$125 million.
From 1989 to 1996, Mr., Avila worked at Banco Santander, first as Head of Corporate Finance-Latin America and then as Managing Director and Member of the Board of Santander Investment. As head of Corporate Finance-Latin America, Mr. Avila structured the first “Matador” bond issue of the Mexican Government and Bancomext; negotiated a US$980 million loan to Grupo Alameda, parent company of Grupo Televisa; launched private sector bond issues including Astra, Novum, and Vitro; and negotiated a US$500 million loan to CeMex for the acquisition of Valenciana de Cementos in Spain. As Managing Director, Mr. Avila was responsible for the development of strategy throughout Latin America; acquired Banco Mexicano, the fourth largest bank in Mexico; and developed the business plan that led Santander Investments to obtain a full-power section 20 subsidiary in the U.S.
From 1988 to 1989, Mr. Avila worked at Bankers Trust as Representative of the Mexico City Office and was a board member of Unica, one of the oldest venture capital firms in Mexico. From 1987 to 1988, Mr. Avila served at Libra Bank PLC as Representative of the Mexico City Office where he acquired Grupo Rassini on behalf of Corporación San Luis. And from 1982 to 1987, he served General Director of Mines in the Mexican Ministry of Energy and Mines.
Mr. Avila, 50, earned his BS in engineering from the Universidad IberoAmericana, his MS in engineering from Stanford University, and his MBA from Yale University.
* * * * *
Mack McLarty is President of Kissinger McLarty Associates, a partnership with Dr. Henry Kissinger that provides strategic advisory and advocacy services to U.S. and multinational businesses with active involvement in Mexico and throughout Latin America. Mr. McLarty is also Chairman of McLarty Companies, a third-generation family transportation business based in Little Rock, Arkansas. Mr. McLarty will remain in both of these positions after joining The Carlyle Group.
From 1993 to 1997, Mr. McLarty served in several senior positions in the Clinton White House, including Chief of Staff to the President, Counselor to the President, and Special Envoy for the Americas. As Chief of Staff, Mr. McLarty organized the first Democratic Administration in twelve years and directed a wide variety of White House achievements, including enactment of the historic 1993 deficit reduction package, the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the Family and Medical Leave law.
As Counselor to the President, Mr. McLarty served in the President’s Cabinet and on the National Economic Council, advising the President on a wide range of subjects, particularly on business and economics. In 1994 Mr. McLarty organized the successful Summit of the Americas in Miami, and he played a critical role in structuring the Mexican peso stabilization program. Mr. McLarty participated in several G-7 and APEC Summits, and he traveled to the Persian Gulf on the President’s behalf to build financial support for the Bosnian peace process.
As Special Envoy to the Americas, Mr. McLarty served as President Clinton’s personal representative to the western hemisphere. He coordinated U.S. policy toward the region, including three presidential trips and U.S. participation in the 1998 Summit of the Americas in Chile.
Prior to his years in the White House, Mr. McLarty was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Arkla, Inc., a Fortune 500 natural gas company with more than 2 million customers in 11 states and significant exploration and pipeline activities. Arkla was recognized by Forbes Magazine for management excellence, and by other national organizations for environmental initiatives and minority enterprise development.
Mr. McLarty, 57, was awarded the Secretary of State’s Distinguished Service Medal presented by Madeleine Albright and the Order of the Aztec Eagle presented at Los Pinos by Mexico President Ernesto Zedillo.
- Exactly how many "secret" sections to Consent Decrees may exist through our Federal DOJ?
"Friday, January 8, 2010 ANP Agrees to $5 Million Groundwater, Soil Cleanup in AZ January 8, 2010- The U.S. Department of Justice, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Apache Nitrogen Products, Inc. entered into a $5 million consent decree to remove toxic nitrates and perchlorates from groundwater and to monitor the progress. at the Apache Powder Superfund Site, near David...."
"EPA tests on emissions from coal-fired power plants have also detected 67 different pollutants in trace amounts, including hazardous air pollutants, mercury, beryllium, arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead. These trace contaminants are also known to be emitted from fuel oil combustion"
"Agrochemicals, pesticides, heavy metals, arsenic, and PCBs (presumably from illegal dumping, agriculture and maquiladora activities) have been detected in the [Rio Grande by Asarco] and may be associated with fish deformities, leukaemia, and congenital malformations in humans."
Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA. nick@geo.utep.edu
BACKGROUND: Despite the dramatic decrease in airborne lead over the past three decades, there are calls for regulatory limits on this potent pediatric neurotoxin lower even than the new (2008) US Environmental Protection Agency standard. To achieve further decreases in airborne lead, what sources would need to be decreased and what costs would ensue? Our aim was to identify and, if possible, quantify the major species (compounds) of lead in recent ambient airborne particulate matter collected in El Paso, TX, USA. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We used synchrotron-based XAFS (x-ray absorption fine structure) to identify and quantify the major Pb species. XAFS provides molecular-level structural information about a specific element in a bulk sample. Pb-humate is the dominant form of lead in contemporary El Paso air. Pb-humate is a stable, sorbed complex produced exclusively in the humus fraction of Pb-contaminated soils; it also is the major lead species in El Paso soils. Thus such soil must be the dominant source, and its resuspension into the air, the transfer process, providing lead particles to the local air. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Current industrial and commercial activity apparently is not a major source of airborne lead in El Paso, and presumably other locales that have eliminated such traditional sources as leaded gasoline. Instead, local contaminated soil, legacy of earlier anthropogenic Pb releases, serves as a long-term reservoir that gradually leaks particulate lead to the atmosphere. Given the difficulty and expense of large-scale soil remediation or removal, fugitive soil likely constrains a lower limit for airborne lead levels in many urban settings.
This local activist is confounded by the N.I.H. awarding such monies to researcher(s) who themselves admitted "various factors confound [their] abilityto distinguish the relative contributions of Pb from the smelter point source and from the local area sources."
"Asarco spokespersons deny their company is responsible for the contamination in adjacent zones... Their argument received some support in a 2004 paper ...Authored by Dr. Nicholas Pingitore, Dr. Maria Amaya and others...cited other reasons the core area near Asarco could be laden with high amounts of lead, including the prior use of unleaded gasoline and old, vintage homes brightened with lead paint. According to Pingitore and associates, the various factors “" >confound one’s ability"> to distinguish the relative contributions of Pb from the smelter point source and from the local areal sources.”"">Frontera NorteSur June-August 2005 "The Battle of Asarco"
"Andrea, I know the work that has been done by Dr. Pingitore has been absolutely valid, and his approaches well justified." (quote from Dr. Amaya, email from Varnell to Eliot Shapleigh 2/23/2004 4:33 PM on Blood Lead Levels). Dr. Amaya now does research with Dr. Pingitore....
“In terms of actual concentration, lead paint chips and lead paint dust from these older homes are the biggest source of lead pollution in the community,” Johnson [previous Asarco El Paso environmental Manager] said, citing three studies, the latest an independent examination by UTEP geochemistry Prof. Nicholas Pingitore – also a Kern Place resident......Pingitore also takes issue with an EPA study that showed there is a lot of lead sulfide in the soil. It’s a substance one might normally assume came out of the smokestacks. “We don’t seem to find it,” Pingitore said of his own studies. ...."(from 20060128 el paso inc)
