CAN'T ANY OF THE COMMISSIONERS SAY TOXIC WASTE CONTAMINATION?

we are watching a crime in progress when a legal court does not address the contamination in the stack and facility and region that exists from the previous ILLEGAL TOXIC WASTE handling and incineration, in my lay opinion

Asarco Attorney rebuttal

"ASARCO is on the good side of average" Asarco Attorney says during the TCEQ Commissioners Court....

Can SHE say TOXIC WASTE?!??

TCEQ commissioners court in action

It is 1:17 (2:17 Austin Time) and no one wants to mention the illegal Toxic Waste CONTAMINATION at the court.

It is easy to say. Only two words.

Just try, Mr. Commissioners, you can say the words. After all, we have to breathe it, eat and drink it.

TCEQ agenda 1 PM ASARCO discussion

AGENDA Wednesday, February 13, 2008 TEXAS COMMISSION ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY 1:00 P.M. 12100 Park 35 Circle Room 201S, Bldg. E Item 1. TCEQ Docket No. 2004-0049-AIR; SOAH Docket No. 582-05-0593; Consideration of the Application by ASARCO Incorporated (ASARCO) for renewal of Air Quality Permit No. 20345 to authorize its continued operation and all related filings, including the Executive Director's Report to the Commission on the Renewal of Asarco Incorporated's Air Quality Permit No. 20345 prepared pursuant to the Commission's Interim Order of March 10, 2006, public comments, and the Executive Director’s Responses to Comments. The copper smelting plant is located at 2301 West Paisano Road, El Paso, El Paso County, Texas. (PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES WHO PLAN TO ATTEND THE TCEQ AGENDA AND WHO MAY NEED AUXILIARY AIDS OR SERVICES SUCH AS INTERPRETERS FOR PERSONS WHO ARE DEAF OR HEARING IMPAIRED, READERS, LARGE PRINT, OR BRAILLE ARE REQUESTED TO CONTACT OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CLERK AT (512) 239-3300 AT LEAST TWO (2) WORK DAYS PRIOR TO THE AGENDA, SO THAT APPROPRIATE ARRANGEMENTS CAN BE MADE. PERSONS WHO DESIRE THE ASSISTANCE OF AN INTERPRETER IN CONJUNCTION WITH THEIR ORAL PRESENTATION AT THIS TCEQ AGENDA ARE REQUESTED TO CONTACT THE OFFICE OF THE CHIEF CLERK AT (512) 239-3300 AT LEAST FIVE (5) WORK DAYS PRIOR TO THE AGENDA SO THAT APPROPRIATE ARRANGEMENTS CAN BE MADE.) REGISTRATION FOR AGENDA STARTS AT 12:30 P.M. UNTIL 1:00 P.M. PLEASE REGISTER BETWEEN THESE TIMES. LATE REGISTRATION COULD RESULT IN YOUR MISSING THE OPPORTUNITY TO COMMENT ON YOUR ITEM. THE PUBLIC CAN VIEW LIVE AND ARCHIVED TCEQ MEETINGS ON THE INTERNET AT NO COST, AT: HTTP://WWW.TEXASADMIN.COM/cgi-bin/tnrcc.cgi

TCEQ commissioners agenda link

http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/comm_exec/agendas/comm/comm_agendas.html

Asarco protest

Asarco protest

By bullymike(bullymike)
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile.
meanderings - http://www.bullymike.com/

UTEP Prospector at least does mention the NYTIMES article about toxic waste

UTEP Prospector article quotes the NY Times article announcing how ASARCO had illegally burned toxic waste for years... the students make no comment. Wish that the students would ASK WHAT EPA/TCEQ/UTEP are HIDING -- WHAT IS THE TOXIC WASTE that no one will report???!!!

Students fight Asarco
Today about 70 UTEP students will travel to Austin to witness a historic moment for the city: a final hearing by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, to consider renewing Asarco's air-quality permit, allowing or denying the ...
The Prospector - http://www.utepprospector.com

"The New York Times reported that the Environmental Protection Agency filed a $20-million cleanup and penalty settlement with Asarco, Inc. in 1999 for having illegally burned hazardous waste. Asarco Inc. faces thousands of environmental lawsuits according to the Times, and entered bankruptcy in 2005 to avoid cleanup costs of over $20 billion."

Oh where oh where has the-mention of Toxic waste gone...

(to be sung to the tune of "oh where oh where has my little dog gone....")

OH WHERE OH WHERE CAN IT BE?????

(our lungs, our soils, our water...)

EP Times -- what about the TOXIC WASTE??!!

Commissioners shouldn't let Asarco reopen
El Paso Times - El Paso,TX,USA
On Wednesday the commissioners of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality have a choice: They can refuse to allow the Asarco smelter reopen, ...
See all stories on this topic

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And Pam Giblin neglects to mention that neither the TCEQ or the Bankruptcy court or the EPA or ASARCO is talking about the TOXIC WASTE

TCEQ denies City's request in Asarco hearing
El Paso Times - El Paso,TX,USA
Pam Giblin an attorney for Asarco told the commission that postponing their decision would be a waste of time. "We are all as ready as we are going to be," ...
See all stories on this topic

David K. STILL not talking about the TOXIC WASTE!!!

EP Times Opinion Page Provides Thought Provoking Reading Today
By David K
Developers are involved, but only involved with the land across I-10 where all the big box retail is planned to go... just as soon as they can get the city to get a port of entry put in on the ASARCO land. No developer in his right mind ...
Refuse the Juice - http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/

Time for ASARCO and Environmental Regulators to come clean...

Next Wednesday in Austin the TCEQ will decide whether or not to grant ASARCO (El Paso) their air permit so that they can restart the smelter. No one wants the smelter to reopen - not Mexico, not New Mexico and not El Paso TX. But there is a fraud/cover-up. In the ASARCO bankruptcy proceeding in Corpus Christi they are refusing to discuss the toxic waste handled and burned illegally by ASARCO in the 1990's. And, in the Paso del Norte region no one asks what toxic waste is here from that illegal burning.

They are dividing up the company assets, deciding what damages/liabilities they have to still pay for, and NOT DISCUSSING THE ILLEGAL TOXIC WASTE that got into the Paso del Norte soils, air, the Rio Grande and the international Hueco aquifer.

Meanwhile, just several miles up river from the El Paso smelter the 2nd largest N.M. regional dump is renewing a ten year permit -- and its application would allow it to accept (radioactive) Uranium mining and milling waste into that dump. That radioactivity will outlast the dump's liners. That dirt would be blown all over the region, and the isotopes would flow with the dirt during rain and wind events into the dump's unlined storm ponds to likely flow down the documented Sunland (park) surface fault (that extends along sunland park drive and then the edge of the dump) into the aquifer below. (A whole pile of that waste sits up at Coyote Canyon in Navajo N.M. land, stockpiled by EPA Region 6).

It is time that the community asked what EPA Region 6 is hiding, what Asarco is hiding --- what all these powerful concerns are hiding from us about what ASARCO poisoned us with. Has anyone seen a dioxin report on the Paso del Norte region? No. Has anyone seen a comprehensive beta radiation level plot graphed of our region? No. Has anyone seen a comprehensive chemical analysis of the Asarco pond-dirt that Asarco felt was bad enough that they railed it all the way back to Corpus Christi? No. What about a PCB report/chemical analysis? No. Can the EPA water lab find the chemical report and records for when they came out here in 2001 to try to duplicate Rio Grande samples from an unpublished UTEP masters thesis (running a mini double membrane osmosis treatment system at the Canal street station)? NO.

Are we and have we been sacrificed? YES.

The powers that be must think that we are ignorant stupid people down here in El Paso to sit idly by and simply ask for the smelter to be CLOSED without asking WHAT ARE THEY HIDING and WHAT TOXIC WASTE IS HERE??????????

Poisoned Community

** Why won't anyone talk about the illegal ASARCO toxic waste being concealed by our environmental authorities and Asarco?!?! **

Asarco opposes Grupo's request for examiner in bankruptcy case

"New York (Platts)--4Feb2008

Grupo Mexico's recent request for a court-appointed examiner in the
Asarco bankruptcy case is being opposed by several parties, including US
copper producer Asarco and the United Steelworkers union, who urged a Texas
court on Monday to reject Grupo's application.....

In new filings with the court, Asarco and the USW opposed the examiner
request while the United States, also a party to the case, said it has
"serious questions" about the need for an examiner....

The USW said it "strongly opposes" Grupo's request.

It's unclear when Schmidt will rule on Grupo's request.

--Bob Matyi, newsdesk@platts.com"
http://www.platts.com/Metals/News/6752266.xml?src=Metalsrssheadlines1

Asarco says it will sell its assets to fund Chapter 11 plan

[distributed under Fair Use]

"AP - February 4, 2008 6:15 PM ET

WASHINGTON (AP) - Copper-mining company Asarco (LLC) says it will sell all of its assets and has established a process for interested buyers to submit offers.......

Tucson-based Asarco didn't identify interested buyers in court papers, but it said it has held discussions with six bidders..."
http://www.kxxv.com/global/story.asp?s=7821223&ClientType=Printable

Mounds of refuse have built up across the Campania region and residents have clashed with police, blocking roads and setting fire to the rubbish.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7220332.stm

residents don't trust the dumps, don't want the dumps because of the illegal materials going into them and the health hazards....incineration has been used by other cities and shut down because of the dioxins (and other toxics) released .... THE ONLY ANSWER IS RECYCLING. RECYCLE RECYCLE RECYCLE.


"...Commission spokeswoman Barbara Helfferich told the BBC News website that she believed the people of Naples supported the Commission's approach.

She said EU funds had been allocated for the building of an incinerator but the authorities were not moving ahead fast enough.
Ms Helfferich said there was no proper management plan for refuse disposal, tackling illegal dumping, and ensuring toxic waste was properly handled"

The Camino Real Landfill can accept URANIUM MINING AND MILLING WASTE

There is a "however" clause hidden in the Camino Real 10-yr renewal (finalized) application that allows it to accept Uranium mining waste.

(There is a bunch of these wastes sitting up north in coyote canyon, n.m. needing disposal)

DO YOU WANT URANIUM MINING WASTE sitting on top of YOUR DRINKING WATER??

YOU GET OVER 60% OF YOUR DRINKING WATER FROM THE RIO GRANDE,
(just about 4 miles below this dump Canal Street treatment plant -- it pumps the
water up the Franklin mt, and mixes/distributes it throughout the city; and, it plans to expand and
pump it through Juarez).

Please spread the word to your friends about the danger to the Rio Grande (that dump's liners won't last forever and
the radioactivity will!!!) and what deception is going-down here in our region. That dump has already accepted demolition debris from
ASARCO in the 1990's that would have been covered with the illegal poisons from their illegal toxic-waste burning (the debris from the zinc plant demolition project that lasted years -- the "S.E.P.").

Ask what ASARCO is hiding - what poisons they burned illegally. Demand to know what our environmental
agencies are hiding from us.

Ask that the Corpus Christi Bankruptcy Court immediately release the draft of their ASARCO REORGANIZATION PLAN --
Find out what it is that they have planned for our community.

Will we be the toxic-waste disposal capital of the nation? Be involved somehow -- try to help somehow!!! This affects ALL of us!

David K. : STILL NOT TALKING ABOUT THE TOXIC WASTE

" If you've got to lie... maybe you're just wrong?

By David K
I finally got around to reading this week's El Paso Inc. and was shocked, I repeat - SHOCKED they mayor took it upon himself to lie about the findings of UTEP's report on ASARCO. Apparently he decided to make the mistake of lumping all ...
Refuse the Juice - http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/
"
why won't David K. and this community start talking about the TOXIC WASTE that ASARCO and our environmental officials are HIDING??

Waste Incineration : South Africa

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'Clean' waste incineration sparks anger

By Leon Marshall

As Naples continued to choke on its garbage this week, with landfill sites overflowing and the army being called in to help clear the mess on the streets after violent protests, a testy meeting in Pretoria demonstrated how South Africa's own mounting rubbish problem is beginning to rack nerves.

As in the Italian city, the key question is how to get rid of the ever-growing heaps of waste being produced by our growing population and rapid industrialisation.

Egmont Otterman, reflecting the exasperation and representing the Association of Cement Producers, warned the Pretoria meeting: "We dare not procrastinate. What is happening in Naples will happen here."

The meeting was called by the department of environmental affairs (Deat) to discuss the proposed incineration of hazardous waste, which is broadly classified as waste that is harmful to human health or the environment. It includes plastics, paint, pesticides, used oil and tyres. The proposal was that the materials should be passed on to cement factories where it could be used to fuel their kilns.

The solution seemed innovative and simple, but it turned out to be highly controversial. International experts contracted by Deat and representatives of the cement industry said the incineration process was one of complete combustion,[except for pm 10's and pm2.5's] which made it safe.

The ash was harmless and useful for mixing with cement. Although gas such as carbon dioxide was released, it would actually amount to a saving on the volumes produced, because otherwise coal would have to be burnt and the hazardous materials themselves would release greenhouse gases over time.

The experts told the meeting that it had been done for decades in Europe and in the United States where stringent safety standards were applied.

Incineration also had other benefits for cement factories. The materials, especially tyres, would save on the cost of coal. Iron, which can be obtained from burnt tyres, is a necessary additive to cement, thereby contributing another saving.

But several representatives of communities and non-governmental organisations who attended the meeting did not take kindly to the proposal. They feared that noxious substances would be emitted and that local communities, particularly the poor, would pay the price.

Past experience had much to do with their concern. A Tshwane councillor spoke of the many people in his ward who had been hospitalised with respiratory problems. Suspicions fell on the nearby cement factory.

Similar complaints came from a community representative from Lichtenburg in North West.

Others complained that waste sites were invariably placed near poor communities, which had to live with the filth and stench. "We all know," one representative said, "how these overfull and badly managed dumps catch alight and what toxic smoke gets sent into the air."

A Durban South spokesperson told the meeting about the high incidence of cancer and lung disease in his community and claimed that factory emissions and the illegal dumping of hazardous waste were to blame. He said that the incineration of waste would only add to the problem.

They wanted to know what guarantees there were that incineration would not add to their problems.

Non-governmental organisations warned that, even if safety standards were legally prescribed, the problem would be with monitoring and law enforcement.

"We have already seen how this has failed in the case of rivers, wetlands and such. For all the protective laws there are, they just keep getting destroyed. The trouble lies with the lack of enforcement," said Karen Marx of the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa.

Air pollution from industrial plants in general and the issue of incineration became the subject of such heated exchanges that Nolwazi Cobbinah, Deat's chief director in charge of pollution and waste management, had to intervene and added: "We are not fighting - we are here to find solutions."

But the meeting did not end on a good note for the NGOs and community representatives. They charged that the government was intent on going ahead with incineration without answering their concerns.

But the issue of waste goes much further. Besides being an environmental problem, it involves climate change and water security.

The government's attempts to devise a national strategy for dealing with the growing problem go back to 2002. The purpose has been to devise a plan that would include waste separation and recycling, as well as reductions in the production of waste. Incineration is another option, on which consultations have been taking place over the past year.

The tense meeting in the serene surrounds of the South African Biodiversity Institute in Pretoria was part of the consultation.

That there is a growing urgency about getting a national strategy and its supporting legislation in place was clear from Cobbinah's opening statement as chairman: "We are behind schedule. We should by now have had a policy document ready."

Underlying the NGOs' concerns about safety standards is the lack of information on the quantity and types of hazardous and other waste.

A Deat official explained that a waste information system had been set up to collect this data. But this itself became the subject of a chicken-and-egg argument. For the system to operate properly, the official said, data reporting had to be mandatory, which could only be done through enabling legislation.

The counterargument was that legislation to impose waste treatment through risky means such as incineration could not be legally enforced without proper information on the extent of the problem.

Jorn Lauridsen, an international expert from Denmark who is doing research on waste for the department, told the meeting that the most recent study done in 1997 showed that the country was producing 160 000 tons of hazardous organic waste a year.

His own research showed that a single waste-collecting company in Gauteng in 2006 handled 100 000 tons of such waste.

• This article was originally published on page 6 of The Sunday Independent on January 20, 2008

Published on the Web by IOL on 2008-01-20 08:34:00

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© Independent Online 2005. All rights reserved. IOL publishes this article in good faith but is not liable for any loss or damage caused by reliance on the information it contains.

Italy's problem with their city dump at Pianura and another reason for cities to RECYCLE

mothers blame Mafia as toxic rubbish spills over
Guardian Unlimited - UK

" Sheep with eyes staring out from below their mouths have been born in the fields near Caserta, north of Naples, and doctors are seeing girls menstruate at the age of seven. Government-run blood testing of residents for dioxin levels will start next month and now there are plans to do the same in the city, including Pianura.

'In Naples, we could stop the Camorra from putting poison into city dumps by simply recycling,' said Marfella. 'The Camorra is scared stiff of recycling.' "