"Sludge Tested As Lead-Poisoning Fix
Apr 13 05:18 PM US/Eastern
By JOHN HEILPRIN and KEVIN S. VINEYS
Associated Press Writers
Scroll to end: click web view. Heather Mcmurray 's research uncovering poisoning of 1000 square miles around El Paso by Asarco smelter through what the EPA & US DOJ said was illegal burning of illegal hazardous/radioactive wastes 1991 to 1998. We have never been told what actinides, forever chemicals, dioxins etc are present from illegal Asarco actions(see 73 page 1998 conf. for settlement purposes only DOJ EPA Asarco doc,10/06 nytimes) see "Asarco secret document"
Please donate (see sidebar) to help recoup costs of the work to uncover and blog the information contained here"THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING"
"Sludge Tested As Lead-Poisoning Fix
Apr 13 05:18 PM US/Eastern
By JOHN HEILPRIN and KEVIN S. VINEYS
Associated Press Writers
Sales of mozzarella cheese made from buffalo milk have been hit by a contamination scare.
Eighty [water] buffalo herds in the Naples area have been quarantined on suspicion that their milk may contain dangerous levels of dioxin.
The animals grazed on land where toxic industrial waste may have been illegally dumped by criminals.
The local Mafia - called the Camorra - have been making huge profits by dumping toxic waste in the region.
Tiny fraction
Production of buffalo mozzarella - one of Italy's most famous delicacies - has been hit by the dioxin scare.
Government laboratories are analysing milk samples taken from some 2,000 herds of buffalo which graze near Caserta, just north of Naples.
Government inspectors and scientists have cautioned that only a tiny fraction of Italy's total buffalo-milk production is affected by the quarantine orders.
They say that consumers would have to eat huge quantities of mozzarella cheese over a period of many months for the higher than normal levels of dioxin to affect their health.
But Italian consumers seem to want to take no risks, and sales of Neapolitan mozzarella cheese have declined by nearly 50% in recent weeks, according to farmers' associations."
"El Paso Times - El Paso,TX,USA--Juan Garza / Central El Paso"Particulates from Asarco linger Asarco has operated an air-monitoring system in El Paso, which demonstrated that sulfur emissions carried cancer-causing metals like arsenic, cadmium, lead and zinc into the communities surrounding the smelter.
Las Cruces Sun-News - Las Cruces,NM,USA
By Brandi Grissom / for the Sun-News AUSTIN — Jimmy Dominguez and Lorenzo Arias are eager to get their jobs back after being laid off from Asarco nearly a ...
Toxic waste, expired medicines or even radioactive waste. Burning them would mean speeding up the death sentences for the people living in the Acerra area, as well as others nearby. As a matter of fact, the area is already being called ...
Beppe Grillo's Blog - http://www.beppegrillo.it/eng/
Clinton takes a big stinkin' dump on Ohio
By Zwoof
WTI wanted to build America's largest toxic waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio. The incinerator is located 1100 feet from an elementary school. WTI was owned by Jackson Stephans , who donated $200000 to Bush #1 to help this ...
Daily Kos - http://www.dailykos.com/section/Diary
Actually, a big stinkin' toxic waste incinerator...
I've written on this before but I feel that it needs more attention that it received because of the upcoming Ohio Primary.
Short and sweet this time:
WTI wanted to build America's largest toxic waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio. The incinerator is located 1,100 feet from an elementary school.
WTI was owned by Jackson Stephens, who donated $200,000 to Bush #1 to help this project along.
There were problems and the project was not going to be approved during the Bush #1 administration.
When Bush's ratings tanked during his bid for re-election, Stephens donated $100,000 to Clinton #1 as well as extending a 2 million line of credit to the DLC when they were tapped out.
Bill Clinton won and with some serious monkey business (a Hillary crony) at the EPA, the permit was approved.
more down below....
President Clinton and Vice President Gore visited East Liverpool while campaigning for election in 1992; at that time, Mr. Clinton said that, if he were elected, WTI would never be allowed to operate. But the huge incinerator began burning hazardous waste in 1993.
Mr. Clinton has not returned to East Liverpool since he became President in 1992.WTI failed part of its test burn in 1993, releasing four times more mercury than allowed. Children at the elementary school were tested for mercury in their urine prior to WTI operation and again six months after the facility started burning as part of a state health study. In the first test, 69 percent of the children tested negative; the follow-up test found that nearly the same number tested positive.
U.S. EPA's own risk assessment of the facility found at least 27 possible accident scenarios that could threaten the lives of the children in the nearby elementary school.
Despite these and other problems, the U.S. EPA issued WTI a full commercial operating license in 1997. The agency has also allowed the facility to nearly double the types of wastes it can burn.
When Clinton became president, he appointed Carol Browner head of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,
Because a memo to Ms. Browner from one of her staff was leaked to Greenpeace (a plaintiff in the lawsuit trying to shut down WTI), Ms. Browner's staff were forced to admit under oath that after Ms. Browner took office on January 20th, EPA conducted a secret risk assessment on the WTI incinerator.
EPA's secret risk assessment revealed that the incinerator would be 1000 times more dangerous than EPA had estimated in the risk assessment they released to the public.
New EPA appointee Browner recused herself from the issue
She left the matter in the hands of Robert Sussman, Deputy EPA Administrator.
The EPA Deputy Administrator Robert Sussman that eventually approved WTI's application was a law school classmate of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Sussman had previously acted as legal counsel to the Chemical Manufacturing Association, at a time when two of its biggest clients, Du Pont and BASF, were negotiating contracts to supply two-thirds of the waste to WTI." The Nation Magazine
The plant opponents cited Sussman's appointment to the EPA through the influence of first lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, whose former law firm represented the original founder of Waste Technologies, Jackson Stephans.
Source Archives Cleveland Plain Dealer
The gift to Ohio that keeps on giving..
Recently a new ruling from the Ohio EPA allowed this incinerator, located 1,100 feet from an elementary school, to accept even more hazardous waste (anthrax, radioactive waste, infectious medical waste and mixed hazardous waste from Hurricane Katrina) than the original permit that was shrouded in corruption and approved by the Clinton Administration
I don't think Hillary will stop by East Liverpool asking for votes. They are familiar with Clinton campaign promises.
Previous Diary with pictures and more...
Just a few problems at this incinerator you might want to know about...
Explosion under investigation, Operations suspended at Von Roll WTI
EAST LIVERPOOL -- "An explosion at the Von Roll WTI plant...... One employee was taken by ambulance to East Liverpool City Hospital for evaluation and treatment. Wayne did not release the name of the employee but stated, The Review.
Dec 6, 2006: U.S. EPA fines WTI
EAST LIVERPOOL -- "WTI/Von Roll officials call it a 'legacy issue' going back to 1999, and said they agreed to a $750,000 fine from the U.S. EPA and U.S. Justice Department so they could put the matter behind them. Fred Miller, East Liverpool
Review.
Blast Injures Worker at WTI Plant
PITTSBURGH -- "An explosion at the Waste Technologies Industries (WTI) plant in East Liverpool, Ohio this afternoon has sent a worker to a hospital ....The blast actually blew siding, insulation and other debris outside the plant, injuring injured a worker who was outside at the time" KDKA TV.
Mar 29: WTI fireball rattles windows
EAST LIVERPOOL -- ...At first you could see some flames, then there was a huge loud explosion and a giant ball of fire shot up in the air. It was huge. I've never seen anything like it before,' said Estell. 'There was smoke everywhere. The plant was kind of lost in the smoke for awhile,' she said. 'My windows rattled. It was huge. The noise was huge. . . I screamed for my kids to get back into the house,'" Fred Miller, East Liverpool Review.
Oct 5, 2004: EPA cites Von Roll for clean-air violations
CHICAGO -- "U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 has filed an administrative complaint. EPA alleges Von Roll discharged more lead and cadmium from its incinerator than is allowed by the Clean Air Act during tests in December 2003 and in March 2004. Excessive exposure to lead may cause anemia, kidney disease, reproductive disorders, and neurological impairments such as seizures, mental retardation and behavioral disorders. Children and the unborn are especially susceptible to low doses of lead. Exposure to cadmium may cause damage to the lungs, kidneys, liver, immune and nervous systems and the blood. Long-term inhalation of cadmium can increase the risk of lung cancer," press release, US EPA .
Tags: environmental, environment, toxic waste, Bill Clinton, failed leadership, Hillary Clinton, Jackson Stephans, WTI, East Liverpool Ohio, Von Roll, Recommended (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions
By nobody@flickr.com (Osvaldo_Zoom)
Incinerators may reduce the volume of solid waste, but they do not dispose of the toxic substances contained in the waste. They create the largest source of dioxins, which is one of the most toxic chemicals known to science. ...
Photos from Osvaldo_Zoom - http://www.flickr.com/photos/osvaldo_zoom/
By bullymike(bullymike)
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile.
meanderings - http://www.bullymike.com/
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."
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
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
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/
[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..." 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??
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.
Published on the Web by IOL on 2008-01-20 08:34:00
mothers blame Mafia as toxic rubbish spills over
Guardian Unlimited - UK
'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.' "
"
Investors show strong interest in resurgent copper producer
Arizona Republic - Phoenix,AZ,USA
Tucson copper producer Asarco LLC has so far signed confidentiality agreements with 14 investors interested in funding its eventual emergence from Chapter ...
ASARCO - The eyesore effects rich people's property values
By David K
The city spent $50000 of your tax dollars to find out what I've known all along - ASARCO is about rich people wanting to increase their property values in Kern at the expense of good jobs. The city was nice enough to prove my theory. ...
Refuse the Juice - http://refusethejuice.typepad.com/thinkaboutit/
"
"Google News Alert for: asarco
ASARCO Plant Manager Bob Litle Responds
KTSM-TV - El Paso,TX,USA
Specifically, the majority of the businesses contacted are in favor of ASARCO opening (5-2). In addition, the most recent residential poll that was ..."
Associated Press - January 16, 2008 1:24 PM ET WASHINGTON (AP) - Asarco says it needs two more months to file its bankruptcy-exit plan. The Tucson-based copper-miner says its parent...
KVOA - News - http://www.kvoa.com/global/category.asp?c=40644
Tucson-based Asarco requests more time to exit bankruptcy
Tucson-based Asarco LLC needs two more months to file its bankruptcy-exit plan and says its parent company, a unit of Mexican mining company Grupo Mexico SA, is behind the delay.
All Headlines - http://www.azstarnet.com/sn/allheadlines/
Answers to water quality hard to get
Nogales International - Nogales,AZ,USA
We didn't know what we had and didn't know what to do with it" In the mid 1990s, Asarco wanted to purchase parts of Unit 3 and, although Wilson says he does ..."
Grupo Mexico: Asarco hides data
Arizona Daily Star - Tucson,AZ,USA
By Edvard Pettersson
In August, Asarco asked the bankruptcy court to boost Lehman's monthly compensation and increase the fees the firm could earn based on a sale of Asarco's assets or the sale of debt or equity as part of a bankruptcy-exit plan."
Harbinger Blames Lehman in Asarco Case
Houston Chronicle - United States
[it isn't called a "feeding frenzy" for nothing... note the Piranha-like effect!... meanwhile word-of-mouth gossip is that ASARCO is advertising in Louisiana for steelworkers to start work in El Paso for ASARCO when it opens....]
"Associated Press - January 9, 2008 3:15 PM ET
WASHINGTON (AP) - Hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners is trying to shoot down Lehman Brothers Holdings' bid to get paid in Asarco LLC's bankruptcy case..."
http://www.kswo.com/global/category.asp?c=84964
"Seems as if the Asarco types have been breathing their own emissions for too long.
When City Council announced that it would use a new strategy in the fight against Asarco by citing Texas environmental rules, Asarco vice president for environmental affairs Thomas L. Aldrich lashed back with "Never in our 110 years in El Paso has there been such an anti-business council ..."
Uh, hold it right there. Tommy. Better check your gas mask; probably the air-inlet filters are clogged and you're experiencing oxygen deprivation.
Calling this City Council anti-business is like calling Attila the Hun anti-violence. It just ain't so.
This city tosses out tax abatements like confetti at a political convention. It's bending over backward to do everything possible to welcome and make comfortable the new troops and dependents at Fort Bliss. Public-private partnerships with key business entities have been expanded. Downtown revitalization on the scale we're experiencing and anticipating is hardly anti-business. The list goes on and on and on.
Asarco is a 19th century polluter trying desperately to function in a 21st century environment whose inhabitants are cognizant of the huge dangers Asarco-type pollution poses.
We don't want Asarco. We don't need Asarco. No wonder Tommy is a bit churlish these days."
Posted by Charlie Edgren on January 09, 2008 at 11:24 AM in Environment | Permalink
"Saviano said the Camorra controls the entire cycle of garbage disposal in Campania, running the dumps, waste transport companies and other businesses, raking in what anti-mafia prosecutors estimate is $880 million per year.".......
...."Saviano said Camorra-run companies routinely win contracts to dispose of toxic waste from northern Italian industries by underbidding competitors, then dispose of it illegally and untreated in Campania's rivers and dumps. Camorra-run companies also mix toxic waste with other materials and resell it as fertilizer, he said."...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22573281/City starting new legal battle to keep Asarco closed
"El Paso Times - El Paso,TX,USA
By David Crowder / El Paso Times The city of El Paso is starting a second legal action in its battle to keep Asarco from reopening. ..."
The City Council voted on Tuesday to take a new step in its legal fight to keep Asarco closed, but Asarco claims it is just part of an "anti-business" environment.
Posted on January 8, 2008
The El Paso City Council on Tuesday took a new move in its legal battle against the possible reopening of Asarco.With a unanimous vote, the council moved to allow the city’s outside counsel to file a petition calling for the revocation of the smelter’s air emissions permit issued by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ...."
Naples rubbish crisis turns nasty
Independent - London,England,UK
... angry residents and the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia, continues to make money by controlling the illegal dumping of millions of tonnes of toxic waste. ..."
"Readers Respond 1.2.08: "Offensive Blather"
from the NPT Inbox
The first batch of response from the New Year! Readers respond to readers respond, and Asarco, and Leon and Burton.
Posted on January 2, 2008
.....As a party in the Contested Case Hearing for the Camino Real Landfill in SP, NM and One Who Stand Against Asarco, we as a regional community must wake up and smell the contaminating industries and the conflicted agencies that allow them to continue to cluster. The cumulative effects of the decades of environmental injustice will continue to harm our quality of life, the air we breathe, and the water we drink.
Join in with all the people yelling out loud for the cause and help take control of our community. To them - CHEERS! To NPT thanks for covering the story, To the EP Times where were/are you? and to the rest of you - How about a New Year’s resolution of meaningful involvement!! Get UP, GET Out and Get Involved. -- Robert
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"Readers Respond to Asarco - volcanic rock?" If anyone is interested, - i.e. David claims that the hills around ASARCO are black because they are volcanic rock!!! - check out the Google Maps for ASARCO, El Paso, Texas, and you will see, that black is not volcanic rock, but the soot from ASARCO! You will see the black scar on the land and the rocks came from the smoke stacks at ASARCO. Do notbe fooled folks, as ASARCO is known for pulling the sooty wool over the public's eyes, that the real culprit is and always will be ASARCO/Grupo De Mexico. So if the Grupo De Mexico bankers want ASARCO so badly, let them dismantle the system, and smoke stacks and rebuild it in their own backyards and see how they like it. And if they don't do that, then why should they expect Americans to allow it back into smelting duty. It’s all that copper value - greed over public health and welfare. Business as usual - down and dirty. -- Lynda Duke"
The great Mexican patriot, Benito Juarez, said: "Respect for the rights of others is peace." That principle is the foundation stone of our hemispheric relations.....we know that the American States must stand together if we are to assure that the weak are protected, that might does not make right, that our peoples are to have the privilege of democratic choice.
When I visit Coyote Canyon in August 2007, the Nezes are back home, and the place doesn't look the same. I drive past the hogan where Bertha's father lived. The flags are gone; the dirt surrounding the octagonal structure has been scraped. So has the earth around the Nezes' home and horse corral.
But the massive mound of contaminated earth, which the EPA had covered in heavy black plastic, has not been moved. The plastic is torn and blowing in the wind, along with fine particles of contaminated soil--a threat to the Navajos that seems, in my mind, a metaphor for the nuclear waste problem downstream."
http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200801/powerhungry/