ASARCO Bondholder Citigroup's head of Latin America team handled CEMEX acquisition of RMC and a 1.1 Billion$ offer for Grupo Mexico S.Peru Corp.

Link to Warton Finance Document 2005

"John Boord heads Citigroup Global Markets' Latin America Investment Banking
team....The Citigroup Latin America Investment Banking
team has recently been involved in a number of high-profile transactions
including:
- advising Cemex on the acquisition of RMC Group PLC in Europe,....and a $1.1 billion
offering for Southern Peru Copper scheduled to come to market next week."

Atlantic City Casino and ASARCO A.G. Swiss Bank-President Mikhail Katamanin

"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 [2009] 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

March 2010 Philadelphia Inquirer .. discussing the “furor” over the involvement of the Chinese government in Morgan Stanley’s casino project Atlantic City

"Morgan Stanley is the financial adviser to Grupo Mexico, and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP is the company's legal counsel."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-07-23/grupo-mexico-proposes-combining-asarco-southern-copper-mining-operations.html

"Reveling in Your Money

Posted: Tue, 30 Mar 2010 17:27:13 +0000

As we wait to see if Governor Christie will sign the bill that takes away the voter's right of referendum on a proposed $300 million tax break for Morgan Stanley's casino, two excellent new articles came out about the issue.

Paul Mulshine, an editorial writer with the Star Ledger, penned a piece entitled "Atlantic City's Revel casino: Wall Street's Reveling in your money."  In the piece, Mulshine wrote:

The prime backer of the half-finished Revel casino, Morgan Stanley, has put together a financing deal that relies on funding from the Chinese government. Yes, you read that right. The geniuses in Trenton are preparing to give a giant grant to a consortium of commies and Wall Streeters.

But as Doherty points out, both the Chinese and Morgan Stanley have plenty of money at the moment. Morgan Stanley got $10 billion in bailout funds, he said, so there's no reason they can't finish the project on their own.

Meanwhile, the Philadelphia Inquirer has a new article discussing the "furor" over the involvement of the Chinese government in Morgan Stanley's casino project."

ASARCO AMC SOUTHERN COPPER merger agreement being advised by Morgan Stanley and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

SEC filing for AMC ASARCO SOUTHERN COPPER merger includes the following exhibit: 99.1

..."Our proposal is conditioned on, among other things: the negotiation and execution of a mutually satisfactory definitive merger agreement and related agreements and the satisfaction of the conditions set forth therein; the recommendation of the Transaction, the terms thereof and any agreement or agreements relating thereto by a committee of independent directors of Southern Copper to the Board of Directors of Southern Copper; approval of the Transaction and definitive merger documentation by the Boards of Directors of Southern Copper and Grupo México and the Board of Directors and sole stockholder of AMC; AMC’s satisfaction, in its sole discretion, with the results of its due diligence review of Southern Copper; receipt of any governmental and of existing lender and other third-party consents and approvals; and the absence of a material adverse change in the business, results of operations, financial condition, assets, liabilities and prospects of Southern Copper.

We have assembled a team of advisors including Morgan Stanley and Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP..."

http://www.faqs.org/sec-filings/100723/SOUTHERN-COPPER-CORP-_8-K/a10-14572_1ex99d1.htm

ASARCO Bankruptcy is over, but workers remain sick

"Ex-Asarco employees seek reason for illnesses by Chris Roberts \ EL PASO TIMES"

" 'Records of the chemicals processed at the plant have been incomplete and in most cases unavailable...'   'People want to cover it up, take down the smokestacks and forget this ever happened,' ...'They (employees) gave this company decades of their healthy years, and all they get is pain.'     Calls to the Asarco headquarters in Tucson seeking comment for this story were not returned."

Workers in 1942

Click on image to enlarge.

"Worker at carbon black plant. Sunray, Texas, 1942. Reproduction from color slide. Photo by Worker at carbon black plant John Vachon. Prints and Photographs Division, Library of Congress"
see
http ://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/07/26/captured-america-in-color-from-1939-1943/

ASARCO gave EPA monies "from the large Bankruptcy settlement" according to EPA OIG report

page 4
"as the Agency refraining from drawing down from the Superfund Trust Fund at the Bureau of Public Debt for 4 months because the Agency received collections from the large ASARCO Bankruptcy Settlement for Superfund that occurred in the FY 2010 first quarter."

page 5
...'The Agency reported to OMB that the $309 million increase in Collected Spending Authority from Offsetting Collections is primarily due to the ASARCO Bankruptcy Settlement for the Superfund program that occurred in the FY 2010 first quarter.
..."The Agency reported to OMB that the $262 million increase in Change in Unfilled Customer Orders – Advances Received is primarily due to the ASARCO Bankruptcy Settlement for the Superfund program that occurred in the FY 2010 first quarter."

page 10
"The Agency reported to OMB that the $294 million increase in Cashout Advances, Superfund, is primarily due to the ASARCO Bankruptcy Settlement for the Superfund program that occurred in the FY 2010 first quarter."
www.epa.gov/oig/reports/2010/20100719-10-2-0166.pdf

ASARCO former principle-bondholder Citigroup now ordered to pay SEC over 70 million in fines$

"Citigroup to Pay $1 for Every $500 in Subprime Exposure It Hid
by Marian Wang
ProPublica, Yesterday, 4:08 p.m.
Citigroup has agreed to pay the SEC $75 million to settle charges that the bank hid exposure to more than $40 billion [1] in subprime CDOs. (That works out to roughly $1 fine for every $500 worth of hidden exposure.) Read the full SEC complaint".
http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/citigroup-to-pay-for-75-million-for-hiding-exposure-to-subprime-cdos

[do search on "Citigroup" in blog search engine]
[also see epgtlo.blogspot.com/2009/07/citigroup-comment-on-pemex.html ]

Grupo Mexico proposed merger of railroad units

"We are expecting the notification ... of this ruling will be by the end of August," Octavio Ornelas, a director of the company's transportation arm, said on a conference call for investors....'If Cofeco appeals that ruling, then we will spend another six to nine months in order to have a positive ruling so we will have that consolidation ready by the end of the first quarter of next year,' he said....Ferromex and Ferrosur are clustered under Grupo Mexico's transportation division, Infraestructura y Transportes Mexico, or ITM...."

http://www.miningweekly.com/article/grupo-mexico-says-rail-merger-depends-on-regulators-2010-07-29

Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) comprehensive rail plan

Asarco El Paso three years ago.... railroads

"Out in the West Texas Town of El Paso" from May 16th, 2007, THE TEXAS OBSERVER

"...[Rep. Joe] Pickett speculated that [Senator Eliot] Shapleigh’s efforts to block El Paso County [TX] from building or acquiring a tolled railroad bridge [SB 893] was designed to help developers in neighboring New Mexico. 'If you were applying for a presidential permit or talking to the federal folks about where to do a bridge, it would seem to me it would help your cause in New Mexico if there was some statute or some language that said it couldn’t be done in El Paso County...To have something like this is very suspect.' 

Verde Corporate Realty Services, established by El Paso billionare Bill Sanders, owns approximately 20,000 acres adjacent to New Mexico’s Santa Teresa Port of Entry, which is about a 30-minute drive from downtown El Paso. "

http://www.texasobserver.org/blog/index.php?name=out-in-the-west-texas-town-of-el-paso/
[only cached version now works]

Santa Teresa Port of Entry is less than ten miles from the ASARCO El Paso stacks/site (Tacoma WA Asarco contamination zone went out 200 square miles or more).   For more information use keyword search in blog for "Punta Colonet", "Ferromex", "railroad", "Foxcon".

For more about Asarco Grupo Mexico's railroad, read this

"Out in the West Texas Town of El Paso" from May 16th, 2007, THE TEXAS OBSERVER

"There’s a been a lot of talk of relocating rail lines to Santa Teresa, which would obviously benefit Sanders’ business parks. One 2003 study, which was prepared for the city of El Paso, recommended moving many regional urban rail facilities to Santa Teresa, including the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern Santa Fe’s rail yards in El Paso, as well as the Ferromex rail lines in Juárez.
In addition, Union Pacific Corp’s planning a $150 million terminal just four miles west of Santa Teresa that may process as many as 100,000 container units per year, according to news reports."

http://www.texasobserver.org/blog/index.php?name=out-in-the-west-texas-town-of-el-paso/
[only cached version now works]

ASARCO Grupo Mexico and potential I.P.O. railroad offer

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2318083620100723

July 23,2010:

"Grupo Mexico is also considering spinning off its railroad unit in an initial public offering next year."

[do keyword search in this blog for "Ferromex", or "Railroad" or "Punta Colonet"]

Grupo Mexico share-value rose today on news....

google alert:
"Grupo Mexico pitches Southern Copper Asarco merger
Shares in Mexican miner Grupo Mexico rose on Friday after the company said its wants to boost efficiency by fusing units Asarco and Peru's Southern Copper, ...
www.miningweekly.com/.../grupo-mexico-pitches-southern-c..."

Big Surprise (not!) "Grupo Mexico plans to unite Southern Copper, Asarco"

google alert:
"Grupo Mexico plans to unite Southern Copper, Asarco
Reuters
Packaging Asarco with Grupo Mexico's other mining assets in a publicly listed company sheds the first light on the value of Asarco after its bankruptcy saga ..."

Asarco Tacoma plume area impacted over 200 square miles: WHAT ABOUT ASARCO EL PASO??

"...Washington Department of Ecology is planning the next phase of arsenic and lead cleanup associated with a century of operations at the former Asarco smelter in Ruston.... These properties are within a 200 square-mile geographic “service area” that includes the most highly contaminated portions of the Tacoma Smelter Plume....."

"...Ecology will clean up ...areas with results that average above those cleanup levels or that have a reading of 40 parts ppm arsenic or 500 ppm for lead in one location...."

http://www.tacomaweekly.com/article/4603

University of Arizona research should declare conflicts of interest $$ concerning ASARCO involvement

UA first to study contaminants in dust and water
"KVOA Tucson News
KVOA contacted Asarco, the leading mining company based in Tucson, for reaction. A spokesperson says, "Asarco share's the study objective of minimizing ..."

ASARCO and Univ. of Arizona research on dust contamination

July 8 2010 KTSM News Channel 9 ASARCO EL Paso water contamination

"Asarco's Contamination
KTSM News Channel 9
By Phillip Mena - Multimedia Journalist EL PASO, TX - As the debate continues over what to do with Asarco, Dr. Philip Goodell wants people to understand ..."

ASARCO water contamination

"Sham Recycling Creates Sham Decision?
 
The TCEQ Executive Director's Asarco Air Permit Renewal decision ignores
hidden contamination in international waters, soils and air from secret
burning of toxic waste; What are elected officials, TCEQ and EPA
concealing?

    EL PASO, Texas, May 8 [2007]/PRNewswire/ -- Representative Reyes and the GAO
 fail to investigate the specific incident that involved Asarco - instead,
 "will focus on the overall procedures and processes that DOD follows for
 disposing of hazardous waste that is created by military facilities and how
 the transport and disposal of this type of waste by the contractors is
 monitored and tracked."
     At the base of the Asarco smelter, the International Boundary and Water
 Commission's (IBWC) American Dam diverts Rio Grande River water to over 70
 miles of public drinking supply and irrigation canals. American Dam
 employees are sick, and the State Department Office of the Inspector
 General (OIG) recommended bringing in expert independent medical review.
     The first canal travels along the Asarco ore handling staging area and
 chemical ponds. Representative Reyes' office calls the 9-04-06 Asarco levee
 collapse, spilling hundreds of thousands of gallons of poisons into this
 drinking water, a "minor incident." El Paso Water Utilities (EPWU) reports
 showed elevated poisons at the Canal Street station after the event. The
 EPWU Canal St. plant pumps water up the Franklin Mt. and distributes it
 throughout El Paso.
     IBWC data shows leakage of 24 million dollars worth of Asarco
 groundwater contamination into the canal, near where Asarco Hydrometrics
 consultants found groundwater arsenic levels at 35,000 times the legal
 limit. Alluvial sediment beneath the Rio Grande is filled with faultlines
 above the international Hueco Bolson aquifer.
     EPA Water officials cannot find any data for Rio Grande water tests at
 the smelter meant to confirm EPA data taken five years earlier, even though
 EPA mentioned the testing on public radio.
     Asarco is sending poisons from the bottom of its ponds to TX US
 Ecology, the company that also manages Hanford Reservation Nuclear Waste in
 Washington State. A complete chemical analysis of these poisons has not
 been made available despite requests.
     The El Paso GTLO, SPEG (Sunland Park Environmental Group), El Paso
 Sierra Club members and concerned groups want the Asarco Contamination
 exposed, the responsible officials to "step down," and correct clean-up to
 begin."