Bob Litle was the Unit Manager for the Asarco Omaha Plant in 1997, before the multimedia consent decree was levied against five Asarco locations...

http://oaspub.epa.gov/enviro/tri_formr_partone.get_details?rpt_year=1997&fac_id=68102SRCNC500DO&ban_flag=Y

Is the new Asarco El Paso manager coming here to do environmental "damage control"? (he is a former spokesperson for environmental damages at Leadville, Omaha, Denver...)

"10/10/2004...
The Denver Coliseum, near Brighton Boulevard and I-70, now sits on land where the smelter once was located, said Robert Litle, environmental services manager for Asarco, a Phoenix-based metals and mining company.
The EPA agreed to scrape and replace dirt from about 850 properties near the old smelter, Litle said; to date, the government has cleaned 389.
Last week's agreement between the EPA and Asarco calls for the company to cover the cost of cleaning 100 of the remaining properties, Litle said.
He estimated that it will cost between $10,000 and $20,000 to remove and replace the soil from each contaminated property.
Asarco has experience doing such cleanups at another nearby location - its former Globe smelter site near East 51st Avenue and Washington Street.
Litle said Asarco cleaned up the yards of about 850 homes near the Globe facility, where smelting operations to remove impurities from gold, silver, lead and copper began in 1886."
http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Litle_Bob_141358057.aspx

see also:
Leadville
http://www.leadvillechronicle.com/home.php?content=article&article=1310&PHPSESSID=7a512db65358e5671b8ff227f5c3e503
Published on: 9/12/2004... Bob Litle, of Asarco, said the treatment of the new water might take some "trial and error" because the water from the Black Cloud is expected to have a somewhat different chemistry.

see also:
www.omaha.com/index.php?u_np=0  ...
Published on: 10/28/2002  
Bob Litle, an Asarco spokesman, also acknowledged that the company owes the city a total of about $325,000 for two other items.
The company also faces potential responsibility for toxic cleanups in cities throughout the country, especially in Western states.

Asarco LLC announced today that a new management team for their El Paso Plant is in place

"El Paso, Texas - October 18, 2007 .....

Bob Litle, new Plant Manager, has an extensive background in managing Asarco’s core businesses and operations that includes non-ferrous metals, specialty chemicals, environmental operations, and regulatory compliance. A native of Bozeman, Montana, Mr. Litle received a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering from Montana State University

Art Burgos, new Environmental Manager, has critical experience managing environmental programs to ensure compliance with local, state and federal environmental regulations. Mr. Burgos is well-educated, including a bachelor of science in Geological Engineering from the University of Sonora Mexico and a Diplôme d’Etudes Supérieures Spécialisées (DESS) (focusing in Mining/Hydrogeology) from the School of Mines of Paris, France. In addition, Mr. Burgos has earned a masters of science in Environmental Geology with a focus on Hydrogeology and Environmental Engineering and Science from The University of Texas at El Paso."
http://www.newspapertree.com/press_releases/195-asarco-announces-new-management-at-el-paso-plant

Arizona Copper smelter FLUE Dust contains elevated amounts of radioactive material from unknown source(s)

" The ADEQ detected elevated levels of TENORM [technologically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material] in the smelter flue dust at the Magma Copper Company's smelter and concentrator operations in San Manual Arizona. The exact source of the radiation is unclear, and it may originate from the ore concentrates, or the natural gas used in the smelter, or it may come from some other source."

"When the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality shared data with EPA on TENORM emanating from copper mines in mid 1992, the Agency began a study of the occurrence and distribution of TENORM at mines in the southwestern copper belt of Arizona. The following report is the result of that study. TENORM in SW Copper Belt of Arizona (PDF) (124 pp, 2,470 Kb) [EPA 402-R-99-002]"

"Soils and rock in copper mining areas may contain naturally-occurring radioactive materials (NORM):uranium, thorium, radium"

see:
http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/tenorm/copper.html

[the Ionics Brine concentrator (distillation unit) at Asarco El Paso was rated to handle LLRW (low level radioactive waste) - we are not told if that feature was needed at Asarco El Paso or not...  Ionics has since been purchased by G.E. and the description of that unit is not available online]

Worldwide Press Freedom Index

"Most democracies improved their ranking, with the United States moving up to 48th place from last year's 53rd, Morillon said. Worldwide Press Freedom Index.....Outside Europe, no region has been spared censorship or violence toward journalists."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/16/AR2007101601843.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

"... you will never know how much it has cost my generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it." - John Quincy Adams

"The Water Supply" from the GIRL SCOUT HANDBOOK 1920

"In the country every home has a private water supply and takes pains to guard it.  In the city there is a common water supply and everyone is responsible for keeping it pure.  Where does the water come from that supplies your city or town?  How is it kept clean?  Who takes care of it?.... Girl Scouts will interest themselves in municipal or neighborhood housekeeping, for that is a responsibility which all share together"....

50-60% of the drinking water for El Paso now comes from surface water (the river: the Rio Grande) from mid-March to mid-October.  This water for the USA is diverted from the Rio Grande at the American Dam next to ASARCO.  The water for the USA (and El Paso drinking) then travels through the 70+year-old cracked upper American canal right past the smelter and railroad.   2.9 miles below the ASARCO smelter, the U.R. WTP (canal street Water Treatment Plant) pulls water out of the canal, treats it, pumps it up the mountain and mixes/distributes it throughout the city.

It is not the anti-Asarco folks dividing the Paso Del Norte peoples....

The pro-Asarco backer, David K., is desperate for picking a fight and
trying to find divisions and differences in the effort to hold a illegal
polluter accountable
(http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/2007/10/this-is-has-bee.html).
There are no differences
when it comes to what spewed out from Asarco from the illegal hazardous
waste incineration. Everyone, including David K., have been exposed.

I have not talked with a single person from El Paso including pro-Asarco
workers, who are not concerned for the children in this region. Or for
the elderly, the infirm or the unborn children. Not a single person.
And like an ex-Supervisor from Asarco told us, the workers in the past
prostituted themselves -- sold the future health of many for the gains
of the "now". That same retired Supervisor now is very sick, all his
fellow workers have died gruesome slow deaths from illnesses, and he
worries a lot about the children.

I hope that David K. will worry about the children, too - that is what
this is all about. I'm sure that he does worry for the health and
well-being of the children of this region: he wants their parents to
have the 300 jobs that Asarco promises. Before Asarco pays the 300 for
employment, I would like to see Asarco pay us, the taxpayers, for the 24
million of cleanup beneath the old upper American canal that IBWC
reported to the TCEQ and ASARCO years ago, though.

Right, David K.? Why should the taxpayers get hit with the costs for
cleaning up a company's mess? That comes out of every working person's
pocket.

We can just ignore the toxic waste and then no-one has to pay the
costs. Except for the children who live with illness, decreased IQ,
explosive tempers, self-medication, asthma, COPD as adults, diabetes,
M.S., cancers, etc.

City Refuses Asarco Demand to Take Down Video

"On Oct. 5, 2005, Asarco lawyers sent the city of El Paso a letter, addressed to City Attorney Charlie McNabb, demanding that the city take down an anti-Asarco video. [video]

On Oct. 15, the city's lawyers, Birch, Becker and Moorman, sent a reply. The city would not be taking the video down."
http://newspapertree.com/politics/1730-city-refuses-asarco-demand-to-take-down-video

Montoya has a contract worth up to $70,000 with the El Paso City Schools

"Teresa Montoya of Montoya PR is a consultant for Asarco. A sharp reader mentioned, and it's been heard on Paul Strelzin's radio show on 1650 AM, that she also is a consultant for the El Paso Independent School District, which has a claim in bankruptcy court against Asarco.

It's true. Montoya has a contract worth up to $70,000. [episd agenda item]

In response to a question regarding the contract, school district spokesman Luis Villalobos issued this statement:

"Montoya PR is a leading public relations firm representing a diverse client base on a local, regional, and national [San Diego,CA office] basis. Montoya PR has a vast amount of experience and expertise in the education field.

"The District is implementing tough, strategic changes and we sought a public relations firm that was an expert in the community to help gather input and communicate our message to the community. Montoya PR is uniquely qualified because they also specialize in image and reputation management and crisis management and damage control. They understand the importance of getting our message out and they are helping us with media opportunities and other mission-critical projects.

"Montoya PR was hired as part of the District’s request for qualifications. Montoya PR came highly recommended by community and business leaders and they have helped us tremendously with getting our message out both internally and externally. Montoya PR has not done any work or been involved in any way on behalf of The District related to their representation of Asarco. ""
http://www.newspapertree.com/politics/1729-the-inner-loop-10-15-07

What I learned in Kindergarten : Clean up your own mess

As long as the environmental regulatory agencies do not look for the toxic waste left here by years of illegal hazardous waste burning by Asarco, any monies made by the companies and people involved are made by sacrificing the health of our elderly, our ill, our children and the unborn.

"Grupo Mexico’s board of directors now includes directors of Kimberly Clark Mexico (the family business of U.S. Congressman James Sensenbrenner, author of last year’s anti-immigrant bill HR 4437) and the Carlyle Group (whose board included former President George Bush Sr.) In the 1990s, Grupo Mexico’s mushrooming capital gave it the resources to buy one of the oldest and largest mining companies in the United States, American Smelting and Refining Co." (8/11/06)  http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/article.cfm?archiveDate=08-11-06&storyID=24842

"The former president [George Bush, Senior] and ex-CIA director is not unemployed these days. He's been globetrotting as a member of Washington's Carlyle Group, a $12 billion private equity firm ....The Carlyle connection means that George Bush Senior is on the payroll from private interests that have defense business before the government, while his son is president....As Charles Lewis of the Washington-based Center for Public Integrity has put it, 'in a really peculiar way, George W. Bush could, some day, benefit financially from his own administration's decisions, through his father's investments. And that to me is a jaw-dropper.' " http://www.carlylegroup.net

"This what i learned in kindergarten. Share everything. Play fair. Don’t hit people. Put things back where you found them. Clean up your own mess...." http://www.amazon.com/Really-Need-Know-Learned-Kindergarten/dp/034546639X

Grupo Mexico (asarco/Carlyle group/Bush) pays dead miners families $70,500 each

06 Oct 2007 01:54:44 GMT Source: Reuters - Mexico Congress blames mining company for disaster
MEXICO CITY, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Mining company Grupo Mexico <GMEXICOB.MX> is largely to blame for an explosion that killed 65 men in A northern Mexican coal pit last year, a Congressional commission said on Friday. Negligence on the part of Grupo Mexico, one of the world's top copper producers, allowed a build-up of methane gas and coal dust which exploded deep in the shaft and caused most of the mine to collapse, the commission said in a report on the accident. The lawmakers also said blame for the February 2006 explosion was shared by government labor officials and the mineworkers union, who allowed work to carry on despite evident danger. In April, a manslaughter trial of Grupo Mexico executives ended without prison sentences after one of the defendants paid damages of about $16,500 to each of the victims' families.   In Friday's report, the congressional commission recommended officials and company executives linked to the explosion be removed form their posts and banned from working in the industry. Only two bodies have been recovered since the blast. Industrial Minera Mexico, the Grupo Mexico subsidiary that ran the mine, abandoned the search because of unstable conditions in the mine. Grupo Mexico says it paid each family a one-off sum of close to $70,000 after the accident, plus several monthly payments." http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N05252332.htm

"What are local democrats like Shapleigh doing to promote high paying jobs with benefits that include health insurance for the kiddies?  Well, they are protesting ASARCO is what they are doing."-- a quote from David Karlsruher (David K. El Paso radio host) in his column/blog http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/  [maybe they are protesting a company who hired executives that Mexico congress now recommend be removed form their posts and banned from working in the [mining] industry... (see above)]

The stuff is too toxic for the entire state of New York... Alabama objects... Sierra Blanca TX objects... New York needs to keep their wastes in New York State...

Alabama objects... Texas (and likely Synagro ... now owned by "CARLYLE GROUP", who has shares in Grupo Mexico/Asarco) wants to dump it on the poor in Sierra Blanca (next to El Paso) AGAIN (where is our TEXAS Agricultural Commissioner???):
"Last week I wrote that Alabama deserves better than to become the nation's cesspool after residents in Limestone and Lauderdale counties complained of a terrible odor emanating from free fertilizer used on local farms.  The fertilizer was treated human waste from New York and apparently smelled much worse than a pig barn or chicken operation -- and those are pretty darned bad.

It looks like Mr. Clean paid a visit in the person of Agriculture Commissioner Ron Sparks who met with Synagro representatives and worked out some new guidelines for human waste fertilizer in Alabama. ...."I feel that we have to either clean up the process or stop the process altogether," he said. "It is my intention to work with the company to help them correct any mistakes that have been made. We will continue to monitor their efforts to ensure that this matter does not continue to grow as a public nuisance."

In addition, the company will stop distributing the product in Limestone County.  The County Commission there was preparing to file an injunction to stop the use of the product.  Since the 1901 Alabama Constitution doesn't give county commissions authority to do much of anything, including zoning and regulating manure spreading, going to court was the only option the Limestone Commissioners had.  Manure regulation: yet another reason to let the people vote on a new state constitution.".....

from:   Sludgewatch-l@list.web.net
http://list.web.net/lists/listinfo/sludgewatch-l

Chase Bank and the Federal Treasury Dept. aren't going to want Asarco to be paying Billions in environmental clean-up costs... look at this:

"Posted Oct 14th 2007 10:25AM by Peter Cohan
Filed under: Citigroup Inc. (C), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), Goldman Sachs Group (GS)
Hank Paulson's got an Enron-like crisis that could swamp Citigroup (C) and JPMorgan (JPM):
The New York Times [registration required] reports that Citigroup (NYSE: C) and JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) are working with the Treasury Department to create a $75 billion fund to bail out Structured Investment Vehicles (SIV) -- of which there are thought to be $400 billion worldwide. What are SIVs? Why do they need to be bailed out? Why is the Treasury Department getting involved? Will the bailout plan work? Why should you care?"
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2007/10/14/hank-paulsons-got-an-enron-like-crisis-that-could-swamp-citigro/

"ASARCO Incorporated. Retained by ASARCO Incorporated in connection with an $80 million tax exempt bond offering placed by Bankers Trust Company to finance pollution control facilities at the Company’s Hayden, Arizona smelter. Counseled ASARCO on certain matters involving the Company’s $450 million Revolving Credit Agreement with J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. and several other leading banks."....."
http://www.jsslaw.com/attorney.aspx?id=ba82f042-ea5e-4e9b-a912-113bbb8519f4

"The deep impulse of our life in America, the ideal which is becoming a national idol enshrined in the hearts of the majority, is money," said the Rev. Samuel Schulman of Temple Bethel, New York City, in an address this evening on "Money as a Measure of Manhood" before the Knife and Fork Club of this city.[from the year 1908: 21 years before the great currency crash of 1929, and 24 years before the gold and silver confiscation act of 1933]
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F04EEDD113EE033A25757C2A9679C946997D6CF

EPA SAID (quote!): "THIS ACTIVITY PLAIN AND SIMPLE WAS ILLEGAL TREATMENT AND DISPOSAL OF HAZARDOUS WASTE"

[bolded text are quotes from secret EPA document to Federal Dept. of Justice]

"Group alleges Asarco took in hazardous waste

By Erica Molina Johnson / El Paso Times

Article Launched: 10/12/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT

" Opponents of the reopening of the Asarco copper smelter publicly repeated their request on Thursday that County Attorney José Rodríguez pursue a criminal investigation of the company's alleged illegal handling of hazardous waste.  'Asarco did something bad, and they were allowed to do it by our government,' said Heather McMurray, a member of the Get the Lead Out Coalition and of the Sierra Club.".... 

"Encycle routinely accepted wastes with little or no metals value and blended these wastes into its metals concentrates."

" 'GTLO and Sierra Club are essentially requesting that the public and news media ignore the official, well-documented record, and the rule of law in the state of Texas and in the United States with their meritless allegations,' Asarco lawyer Doug McCallister said in an e-mailed statement.

"As previously articulated, and outlined below, the Encycle submittal upon 'which the 1989 TWC letter was based, completely omitted a description of the SUBSTANTIAL direct mixing of unprocessed hazardous waste into its alleged "product". Nothing in the settlement statement effectively disputes these facts. As such, the TWC letter was inappropriately relied on by Encycle and ASARCO, because the application of the exemption to Encycle alleged ''products" was legally erroneous"

He continued that the groups and the city of El Paso are 'expressing extremist views' in an effort to damage the company's reputation, follow a political agenda and take over the company's land.'

[the EPA wrote to the Federal Dept. of Justice : "EPA has made clear that sham recycling, as opposed to legitimate recycling, occurs when the hazardous waste purportedly recycled contributes in no significant way to the production of the product allegedly resulting from the recycling."]

McCallister said that the allegations that Asarco has engaged in illegal activities are untrue and that the company will "take appropriate steps to protect its reputation and the reputation of its employees."

The EPA continued its settlement document, writing (these are THEIR WORDS) "This activity, plain and simple, was illegal treatment and disposal of hazardous waste, since the wastes could not have contributed in any significant way to the production of the metals concentrates"

Newspaper Tree Opinion Page - Reader says to Sacrifice El Paso...

"Screw El Paso. The country needs the smelter.[Why not site the smelter in Austin TX? ] Otherwise China will smelt all of our copper without acid plants, and the SO2 will blow right on over here. We'll pay to ship the concentrate over there and pay to ship the copper back. -- Brian"
http://newspapertree.com/opinion/1724-readers-respond-10-12-07

Notice of Lodging of Proposed Settlement Agreement DOES NOT INCLUDE THE TOXIC WASTE!!!!!!!

"Notice of Lodging of Proposed Settlement Agreement Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA)
Friday, October 12, 2007; Posted: 10:16 AM

Oct 12, 2007 (FIND, Inc. via COMTEX) -- AR | charts | news | PowerRating -- Notice is hereby given that on September 28, 2007, a proposed Settlement Agreement Regarding the El Paso County Metals Survey Site was filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas in In re Asarco LLC, No. 05-21207 (Bankr. S.D. Tex.). The proposed Agreement entered into among the Untied States on behalf of the Environmental Protection Agency, State of Texas, and Asarco LLC ("Asarco") provides, inter alia, that the United States shall have an allowed general unsecured claim of $13,280,780 and the State of Texas shall have an allowed general unsecured claim of $419,220 for past response costs for the El Paso County Metals Surveys Site incurred prior to May 1, 2007.

The Department of Justice will receive comments relating to the proposed Agreement for a period of thirty (30) days from the date of this publication. Comments should be addressed to the Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, and either e-mailed to pubcomment- ees.enrd@usdoj.gov or mailed to P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611, and should refer to In re Asarco LLC, DJ Ref. No. 90-11-3-08633.

The proposed Agreement may be examined at the Office of the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, 800 North Shoreline Blvd, #500, Corpus Christi, TX 78476-2001, and at the Region 6 Office of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 1445 Ross Avenue, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas 75202. During the public comment period, the proposed Agreement may also be examined on the following Department of Justice Web site, http://www.usdoj.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html . A copy of the proposed Agreement may also be obtained by mail from the Consent

[Page Number 58124]

Decree Library, P.O. Box 7611, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC 20044-7611 or by faxing or e-mailing a request to Tonia Fleetwood (tonia.fleetwood@usdoj.gov), fax no. (202) 514-0097, phone confirmation number (202) 514-1547. In requesting a copy from the Consent Decree Library, please enclose a check in the amount of $3.00 (25 cents per page reproduction cost) payable to the U.S. Treasury.

Bruce S. Gelber,

Section Chief, Environmental Enforcement Section, Environment and Natural Resources Division.

[FR Doc. 07-5028 Filed 10-11-07; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4410-15-M

Vol. 72, No. 197"
http://www.tradingmarkets.com/.site/news/Stock%20News/696285/

History: Synagro and MERCO Sierra Blanca Sludge dump

Synagro (pronounced "SIN-a-grow") was one of the biosolids (sludge) dumpers that MERCO contracted with to dump sludge at Sierra Blanca during the prior sludge-dumping years.

The State of Texas General Land Office bought the Merco sludge site last year for five million dollars and some of the same people connected with the old dumping are preparing to dump sludge there, again.

Harbinger settles disagreement with Asarco over documents

"Associated Press - October 11, 2007 5:55 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) - Harbinger Capital Partners has settled a fight with Asarco over access to the mining company's financial records.

The agreement could open the way for the hedge fund to finance Asarco's exit from bankruptcy protection.

Details are in papers filed this week in bankruptcy court in Corpus Christi.

Asarco says it has changed the terms of a confidentiality agreement that potential investors are required to sign."
http://www.kxan.com/global/story.asp?s=7201920&ClientType=Printable

2/07 Carlyle bought Houston based SYNAGRO sludge dumper

(click on image to read full size)
http://wastenews.texterity.com/wastenews/20070205/?pg=6