Please show support- Weather Network is proposing an Environment Network

".... the parent company of The Weather
 Network has submitted an application for a new TV channel, The Environment
 Network.  This channel will broadcast environmentally related content
 exclusively, 24 hours a day.

 In order to help push this application through, letters of support need to
 be sent to the CRTC by November 15, 07.

 Details regarding the letter can be found at
 http://www.theweathernetwork.com/index.php?product=environmentnetwork&pagecontent=index#draftletter Thanks Jed Goldberg President Earth Day Canada 111 Peter Street Suite 503 Toronto  ON  M5V 2H1 v - +416.599.1991 ext 111 f -  +416.599.3100 www.earthday.ca The word mark "Earth Day" and the Earth Day logo are registered trademarks of Earth Day Canada (1991) Inc. Charitable registration # 13195 1378RR0001. Use of either of these trademarks for mercantile, promotional and communications purposes is strictly forbidden without the written approval of Earth Day Canada."

 
http://www.noccawood.ca

Sierra Club sues ASARCO through EarthJustice....

"Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Environmental Groups to Sue EPA Over Mine Cleanup
An environmental group (**) is planning to sue the federal government over billions of dollars in cleanup costs at polluted mines. Earhjustice says it is filing a notice to sue the Environmental Protection Agency. The suit is being filed on behalf of four conservation groups. The idea is to make it harder for mining companies and other industries to avoid costly cleanups by declaring bankruptcy. Earthjustice says Asarco is the most far-reaching example of irresponsible mining operations. Asarco declared bankruptcy in 2005, leaving behind 94 Superfund sites in 21 states, with a total cleanup cost estimated at more than $1 billion. That’s far more than the $100 million trust the company set aside for cleanup. Last week the US House approved the Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act. Among other things, the bill requires mines to post a bond to cover future cleanup costs before receiving a permit to mine on public lands. Arizona’s House delagation split on the measure. Republicans opposed it and Democrats backed it."
http://kikonews.blogspot.com/2007/11/environmental-groups-to-sue-epa-over.html

"November 6, 2007 Washington, DC -- Conservation groups are taking action to make it harder for mining and other polluting industries to skip out on costly cleanups by declaring bankruptcy.

The public interest law firm Earthjustice announced today it is representing community groups in Illinois, New Mexico, Nevada, and Idaho in a lawsuit to prevent future problems in areas riddled with toxic mine sites."
http://www.earthjustice.org/news/press/007/cleanup-tab-for-mines-should-not-fall-to-public.html

http://www.earthjustice.org/library/legal_docs/notice-of-citizen-suit-financial-assurances.pdf
**
Lisa Gollin Evans
Earthjustice
Marblehead, MA 01945

Sierra Club
San Francisco, California 941 05
Contact: Ed Hopkins, Director of the Environmental Quality Program,

Ainigos Bravos
Taos, NM 87571
Contact: Brian Shields, Executive Director

Great Basin Mine Watch
Reno, NV 89503
Contact: Dan Randolph, Executive Director

Idaho Conservation League
Boise, Idaho 83701
Contact: John Robison, Public Lands Director

El Paso County Commissioners decide not to weigh in on Asarco debate

"El Paso Times - El Paso,TX,USA
By Erica Molina Johnson / El Paso Times County Commissioners decided not to weigh in as a body today on the Asarco debate. ..."
County opts to stay out of Asarco debate

GAO Report has not been finished or officially released

...where did this "GAO" report come from when other sources tell us that it isn't finished or released yet?  And why only talk about Rocky Mt. Arsenal (RMA) material?  Why not Tooele UT material?  Why not NASA or the Army Depot waste that came to El Paso's Asarco smelter? ...  Is it a coincidence that Asarco's response to the NYTimes Oct. '06 story a year ago (the secret DOJ document) was to immediately post previously unrevealed/unseen RMA chemical weapon quench water contracts on its official website? 

"Feds find Asarco clean on hazmat charges By Mike Mrkvicka
The U.S. Government Accountability Office has thrown cold water on the claim by Asarco opponents that tons of hazardous waste were burned illegally at the El Paso smelter.

In a 42-page report obtained by El Paso Inc., the Congressional investigative agency discounts much of the anti-Asarco speculation surrounding a “secret” EPA memorandum uncovered last year by Heather McMurray, a local school teacher and Asarco opponent.

The hazardous material came to the El Paso smelter from 1993 to 1995 from the former Army chemical warfare depot at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal outside Denver....."
http://www.elpasoinc.com/showArticle.asp?articleId=1831

Judge lets Asarco sue Mexican owners

"By Les Blumenthal McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — A federal judge has refused to throw out a lawsuit filed by Asarco against its Mexican owners in a ruling that eventually could help the bankrupt U.S. mining and smelting company recover billions of dollars to help pay off environmental and asbestos-related claims, including hundreds of millions in claims from Washington state.

The lawsuit alleges Americas Mining, a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico, S.A. de C.V., "fraudulently" stripped Asarco LLC of its lucrative holding in two Peruvian copper mines just as Asarco was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen in Brownsville, Texas, clears the way for a trial next spring. In preparing for the trial, Asarco lawyers say they will question members of one of Mexico's wealthiest families, brothers German Larrea Mota-Velasco and Genaro Larrea Mota-Velasco, as part of the case.

The Larrea family controls Grupo Mexico, the largest Mexican mining company and the third-largest producer of copper in the world. The Larrea brothers have been executives of Grupo Mexico, Americas Mining and Asarco. The family is considered one of the 100 or so richest in Mexico, dubbed the "fantasticos" because of their economic, political and social clout.".....
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/PrintStory.pl?document_id=2003994345&zsection_id=2003925728&slug=asarco05&date=20071105

The ASARCO Press onslaught begins....

The New Plant Manager, Bob Litle writes an opinion piece in the Sunday paper (El Paso Times) and coincidently the EP Inc. (Nov.4-11)  releases the first news about the GAO investigative report, which says that nothing wrong ever happened -- it was all a paperwork error.  Amazing that the Federal Dept. of Justice and the Environmental Protection Agency and also ASARCO felt it necessary to keep this "paperwork error" secret from the Paso del Norte community and the world for eight years!

No one has explained why we have never gotten a copy of the chemical-analysis of the Encycle material(s) or the old ASARCO lake's "new" water, or the pond mud that got railed/trucked clear-back to Corpus Christi's TX US Ecology dump.  No one explains the 20010628 meeting-memo that lets us know the EPA and TCEQ are hiding something from us, likely a metal.

Bob Litle writes, "The opposition to Asarco is not about the environment, it is about the land."  And all he will talk about is lead (Pb) in the dirt - not any other metals. None at all. 
http://www.elpasotimes.com/opinion/ci_7362521

I don't know about anyone else but I know that my opposition is not about land.  It is about the WATER, and about getting an honest answer to the question "what is it?".  What is poisoning us from the almost-decade of burning untracked/unmanifested toxic wastes in the ConTop furnaces?  Why did the consent decree tell Asarco to pave streets for six years, not five or ten years?  Why did the consent decree require that all materials going out of Encycle have spectrometer analysis after that?  Why, when the ConTop was designed to burn sludge (dirt) has no one talked about NORM waste?  WHAT ARE THEY CONTINUING TO HIDE?

Mr. Litle writes "Wouldn't it be great to have an additional $2.2 million in tax revenue every year to curtail the raising of taxes and help our schools?"

In reply, I can't help but think, "wouldn't it be nice to have 24 million dollars from Asarco to clean up the huge Arsenic plume beneath our drinking water (the old american canal) so that the 70+ year old canal might be replaced?"  Wouldn't it be nice if the El Paso City schools got the money from Asarco to clean up Asarco's waste in the old schools?

If years of toxic waste burning was a "paperwork error" then how can we trust the paperwork figures from Asarco telling us how much poison is in our Paso del Norte environment from their illegal waste disposal?  When Asarco removes 2 inches of dirt from Anapra yards and says that they are cleaned up, and in Maryland a smelter removes two feet of dirt before deciding that they cleaned-up enough -- what are we to believe?  What are we to believe when the Fox tells us that the chickens are safe?

In my opinion the simultaneous release of these El Paso Times and EP Inc. pro-Asarco articles is suspicious, and leave a lot out --- when we get to see the full analysis of the ENCYCLE dirt that caused the EPA and the DOJ to slap a five-state multi-million dollar settlement on Asarco, then we might be getting closer to the truth.

(click on image to see full-page)
From "Rails of the Pass of the North" by TX Western Press, El Paso

Latino Policy Forum and others report on those at risk from industrial air pollution...

" The 2007 report found that of the more than 9 million people estimated to live within 1.8 miles of the nation's 413 commercial waste facilities, more than 5.1 million are people of colour.

Other research has confirmed similar disparities. A 2000 study by the Dallas Morning News and the University of Texas-Dallas found that almost half of the nearly 2 million federally-subsidized apartments for low-income people were within about a mile of factories releasing toxic emissions.

A 2001 report by the Latino Policy Forum determined that 68 percent of African Americans live within 30 miles of coal-fired power plants, compared to 56 percent of whites. And a 2005 Associated Press investigation found that blacks are 79 percent more likely than whites to live in areas most at health risk from industrial air pollution."
from: "ENVIRONMENT-US: Toxins Threaten to Uproot Entire Town"
By Mark Weisenmiller
http://www.propeller.com/viewstory/2007/11/01/florida-toxins-threaten-to-uproot-an-entire-town/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ipsnews.net%2Fnews.asp%3Fidnews%3D39889&frame=true

Arsenic

"Test wells drilled into the intermediate aquifer underneath the [E. Helena MT] Asarco smelting property in 2001 revealed arsenic present at 31 to 34 parts per million (i.e. 34 ppm in the water) — more than 3,000 times the federal standards for drinking water."
Asarco to present public updates (article from E. Helena MT Asarco plant)

Arsenic in Canal-water above the El Paso Water Utilities' (EPWU) Canal-street treatment plant near Asarco El Paso was 37 ppm, according to TCEQ (TNRCC) samples from '95. (DAMAGE CASES AND ENVIRONMENTAL RELEASES FROM MINES AND MINERAL PROCESSING SITES 1997 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, page 215)

EPA in 1997 reports on TCEQ 1995 EL PASO ASARCO WATER CONTAMINATION: arsenic concentrations in ground water seeping into the canal,from ASARCO property were 37 mg/l

"The American Canal, which originates near the facility, also is nearby. The canal distributes water
diverted from the river to downstream users, including El Paso Water Utilities, via a system of canals and
ditches. For approximately 1,100 feet, the canal is adjacent to ASARCO's main plant. Downstream from the
ASARCO plant the canal is referred to as the Franklin Canal. El Paso's public drinking water is withdrawn from
the Franklin Canal for treatment prior to distribution. The withdrawal point from the canal is approximately two
miles from the dam on the river that diverts water into the canal. On December 4, 1995, the Texas Natural
Resources Conservation Commission (TNRCC) conducted a case development inspection of the American
Canal in the immediate vicinity of ASARCO's El Paso Plant. TNRCC collected ground water and sediment
samples from three points in the canal, in which arsenic concentrations in ground water seeping into the canal
from ASARCO property were 37 mg/l [i.e. 37 ppm], which is above drinking water standards - sediment in the canal had
arsenic concentrations of 13 parts per million (ppm).
Type of Impact/Media Affected: TNRCC personnel have concluded that the American Canal was affected
by arsenic contamination from ground water seeping into the canal."
http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/ldr/mine/damg3-97.pdf

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act” - Orwell

El Paso Texas showed one of the highest Beta Radiation levels in the nation winter of 1998

"...during particular months El Paso sometimes had the highest reading or one of the highest readings of Beta-particle radiation for the field analysis performed approximately five hours after sample collection.  The data generated after those same samples are taken back to the laboratory for analysis generally show El Paso with average Beta readings, or somewhat above national average..."

- George Brozowski EPA Region 6 Radiation Health Physicist/EPA Region 6
technical contact for RadNet

"... The system is not designed to perform source apportionment nor to do detailed studies in each location"

(click on text to read full-size-text)

Asarco page for Environmental Mgt. Practices for the closed sites (i.e. El Paso)

http://www.asarco.com/closedsites.html

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...

EMERGENCY NOTICE OF ASARCO BANKRUPTCY FRAUD sent by SPGEG to the US Trustee on October 16, 2007 (part 2)

EMERGENCY NOTICE OF ASARCO BANKRUPTCY FRAUD sent by SPGEG to the US Trustee on October 16, 2007 (part 1)

(click on image to read full-page)

Poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox 1915

"PROTEST

To sit in silence when we should protest
Makes cowards out of men. The human race
Has climbed on protest. Had no voice been raised
Against injustice, ignorance and lust
The Inquisition yet would serve the law
And guillotines decide our least disputes.
The few who dare must speak and speak again
To right the wrongs of many. Speech, thank God,
No vested power in this great day and land
Can gag or throttle; Press and voice may cry
Loud disapproval of existing ills,
May criticise oppression and condemn
The lawlessness of wealth-protecting laws
That let the children and child-bearers toil
To purchase ease for idle millionaires,
Therefore do I protest against the boast
Of independence in this mighty land.
Call no chain strong which holds one rusted link,
Call no land free that holds one fettered slave
Until the manacled, slim wrists of babes
Are loosed to toss in childish sport and glee,
Until the Mother bears no burden save
The precious one beneath her heart; until
God's soil is rescued from the clutch of greed
And given back to labour, let no man
Call this the Land of Freedom."

The New Mexico State University College of Engineering received a gift of $1.5 million to establish the Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Water Quality Laboratory. The gift was made by the Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Foundation.

http://www.lcsun-news.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?articleId=7245183&siteId=557

Can anyone say, "Conflict ... of... Interest"?  [see Biological Sciences for Sophomores Dragonfly Book, the opening chapters for a good explanation of how to look for conflict of interest in scientific research ...]

"NMSU receives $1.5M for water quality lab
By New Mexico State University
Las Cruces Sun-News
Article Launched:10/22/2007 12:00:00 AM MDT

The New Mexico State University College of Engineering received a gift of $1.5 million to establish the Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Water Quality Laboratory. The gift was made by the Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Foundation.[Freeport-McMorRan is the company that purchased Phelps-Dodge, which ran smelters in and near El Paso during the years that Asarco was found to be illegally burning toxic waste.  Information released by FOIA inquiry states that Asarco contaminated the river and aquifer, i.e. the water.  Asking the industry to set up a water quality lab might be like asking a fox to guard a henhouse; or (in the words of a friend), "handing a burglar the keys to your home". ]

"We are very pleased to be a partner with NMSU to ensure that the academic and research needs of the state and region are met in an effective manner," said John Galassini, senior vice president, Freeport-McMoRan Americas. "The establishment of this new water quality lab represents new, cutting-edge research capability that does not currently exist within the state or the region. The lab will also be an important addition to the campuswide natural resources research cluster initiative, which supports the development and implementation of strategies that build sustainable water, energy and land resources." "

[??seems like the industry will run out of excuses for not telling us what Asarco toxic-waste-handling/burning released into our water??]