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"
Friday, May 8, 2009
Why are the same DOJ people who signed onto the ASARCO Bankruptcy (i.e. "fraud") the same ones coming down here to El Paso for our comments? They should RECUSE themselves
Page 11
Respectfully submitted,
RONALD J. TENPAS
Acting Assistant Attorney General
Washington, D.C. 20530
/s/
ALAN TENENBAUM
DAVID DAIN
JEFFREY M. PRIETO
CARA M. MROCZEK
Environmental Enforcement Section
Environment and Natural Resources Division
U.S. Department of Justice
Attorneys for the United States of America
Dated: December 3, 2007"
http://archives.newspapertree.com/December%202007/12.7.07%20ibwc%20dec%203.pdf
It is all about "CLOSURE" and not about "DISCLOSURE" of the illegal and formerly secret toxic-waste burning (some of military origins) done by ASARCO El Paso from 1992-1998 (NYTIMES 10/06)--- and revealed when finally some HONEST person in the DOJ released the "confidential settlement document" as a public document after EIGHT YEARS of secrecy.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Will the DOJ expose the ASARCO Bankruptcy Fraud?
TCEQ, EPA and DOJ to Hold Asarco Public Meeting
(Dallas, Texas – May 7, 2009) The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will hold a public meeting on the Consent Decree and Settlement Agreement for the Asarco smelter site in El Paso, Texas, and the zinc refinery site in Amarillo, Texas, filed in the Asarco bankruptcy proceeding. A presentation will be made by TCEQ, EPA, and DOJ, followed by the taking of public comments. The federal agencies at a later date will file a response to all public comments with the Court. Speakers will be limited to five minutes to provide comments. We are particularly interested in hearing from those members of the public that have not previously submitted comments regarding this matter. The meeting will be broadcast through the City of El Paso closed circuit system. Spanish translation will be provided at the meeting.
WHO: Caroline Sweeney and Carlos Rubinstein, TCEQ
Terry Sykes, EPA
Jeffrey Prieto and Cara Mroczek, DOJ
WHERE: City Council Chambers
2 Civic Center Plaza
El Paso, Texas
(for directions to City Hall, go to http://www.ci.el-paso.tx.us/directions.asp)
WHEN: Monday, May 11, 2009
6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
More information about activities in EPA Region 6: http://www.epa.gov/region6
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Vanderbilt Financial Trust
New Mexico: Richardson Pal Marc Correra Made $2 Million On "Toxic ... TPMMuckraker - New York,NY,USA By Moe Tkacik - May 6, 2009, 2:35PM Last week we introduced you to Marc Correra, a longtime ally of New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, who appointed his ... See all stories on this topic |
This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google.
DOJ allowing ASARCO El Paso to get away with fraud in the ASARCO Corpus Christi bankruptcy case
the toxic wastes.
ASARCO El Paso is getting away with fraud in the ASARCO Corpus Christi
bankruptcy case, because a Dept. of Justice Bankruptcy trustee has
failed to make the ASARCO-Bankruptcy-court consider the unmanifested and
illegal toxic wastes ASARCO burned from 1992- 1998 (NYTimes 10/2006).
The EPA let the DOJ know about the illegal activity through a formerly
"confidential settlement document" (that was released to me in 2006
after being secret for eight years). The EPA is still failing to
reveal what toxic wastes are in the Paso del Norte region from this
activity.
In settling ASARCO's debts, the court is failing to consider the effects
of that toxic-waste. They act as if the toxic-waste never existed (the
EPA (and TCEQ and NMED) are still hiding the toxic waste (some of it had
military sources)). That is a fraud.
The ASARCO contamination has reached the Hueco bolson (international
aquifer), and the Rio Grande (at the International Treaty site of the
American Dam where waters are separated into Mexico vs American waters).
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Italian subsidiaries of ASARCO in the 1990's....(1999 in this example)
Enthone-OMI (Italia) S.A.R.L. (Italy) 51.6
Enthone-OMI Holdings (Europe) S.A.S. (France) 100.0
Enthone-OMI (Italia) S.A.R.L. (Italy) 48.4
Saturday, May 2, 2009
CEO Salaries in comparison with our Environmental-debt in El Paso...
Amazing.
Where are the CEOs on AP's 2007 top-paid list? The Associated Press Richard Adkerson, Freeport-McMoran Copper & Gold Inc. _ 2007 pay: $65.3 million _ 2008 pay: $72.4 million _ Status: Still CEO. The mining company CEO's pay ... See all stories on this topic |
This once a day Google Alert is brought to you by Google.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Grupo Mexico set to offer new bid for Asarco
Grupo Mexico set to offer new bid for Asarco American Metal Market - New York,USA By Anne RileyPublished: Apr 30 2009 5:25PM Grupo Mexico SA de CV has so far been unsuccessful in its attempts to regain control of former subsidiary Asarco ... See all stories on this topic |
This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google.
Grupo Mexico SA de CV has so far been unsuccessful in its attempts to regain control of former subsidiary Asarco LLC. That's all about to change, according to the Mexico City-based miner.
Grupo Mexico said this week it had reached an agreement with the asbestos creditors in Asarco's bankruptcy case to support subsidiary Americas Mining Corp.'s reorganization plan over Sterlite Industries Ltd.'s $1.7-billion bid.
Sterlite's reorganization plan, which has been called "fair and reasonable" by the federal bankruptcy judge presiding over the case, has yet to gain the support of the asbestos committee, Grupo Mexico said.
Grupo Mexico's long and sometimes contentious relationship with Asarco dates back 10 years. Grupo Mexico acquired Asarco for $1.2 billion in 1999, but lost control over..."
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Swine Flu outbreak in Mexico will shut down many PEMEX operations and possibly Grupo Mexico mines per order by Felipe Calderon...BUT WALMART REMAINS OPEN
(Reuters) - Mexican President Felipe Calderon has ordered non-essential government offices and businesses to shut down for five days from Friday to stem the spread of a deadly swine flu virus.....
* Some operations at state oil company Pemex will continue. The government has yet to specify what parts of the major oil exporter will be affected by the shutdown....
* Walmart's Mexican subsidiary Wal-Mart de Mexico, one of the nation's largest employers and its top retailer, will not close its stores and will operate normally, a spokesman said.....
.....copper giant Grupo Mexico said production continued normally but the companies were examining the government shutdown order, since it takes time to stop big mining operations...."
Grupo Mexico Board
Chairman & CEO
AGUSTIN SANTAMARINA V
Secretary of the Board
ROLANDO VEGA IÑIGUEZ
Statutary Auditor
EMILIO CARRILLO GAMBOA
Bufette Carrillo Gamboa
GENARO LARREA MOTA VELASCO
Vice Chairman of the Board
Grupo México
ALFREDO CASAR PEREZ
President
Ferrocarril Mexicano
ANTONIO MADERO BRACHO
Chairman & CEO
San Luis Corporación
JUAN GALLARDO THURLOW
Chairman
Embotelladoras Unidas
JOSE MENDOZA FERNANDEZ
Formerly Chairman & CEO
Bufette Industrial
XAVIER GARCIA DE QUEVEDO
President
Minera México
ROMULO O´FARRIL Jr.
Chairman & CEO
Novedades de Acapulco
OSCAR GONZALEZ ROCHA
President
Southern Peru Copper Corp.
ARMANDO ORTEGA
Alternate Secretary of the Board
Grupo México
CLAUDIO X GONZALEZ
Chairman & CEO
Kimberly Clark México
EDUARDO GONZALEZ GOMEZ
Alternate Statutory Auditor
PRUDENCIO LOPEZ MARTINEZ
Chairman
Sanvica
LUIS TELLEZ KUENZLER
Co Director
Carlyle Group
VALENTIN DIEZ MORODO
Chairman of the Mexican Institute of
Competivenes
FERNANDO RUIZ SAHAGUN
Partner
Chávez, Ruíz, Zamarripa y Cía.
http://www.grupomexico.com/Html/bodBody.htm
TCEQ gives highest award to Texas branch of Kimberly Clark (Company that sits on Grupo Mexico Board)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: LISA WHEELER
THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2009 PHONE: 512-239-5003 / PAGER: 512-606-3681
TCEQ ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF THE
2009 TEXAS ENVIRONMENTAL EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Awards are highest environmental achievement in state of Texas
The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) today formally announced the winners of the 17th annual Texas Environmental Excellence Awards. The awards were given to 10 innovative projects and people across the state that demonstrate positive effects on air, water, and land resources....
"These award winners are shining examples of how everyone—from one individual, to a corporation—can improve and protect our state’s natural resources,” said TCEQ Chairman Buddy Garcia.
"The innovation shown by these winners is truly inspiring, and should encourage all Texans to follow their lead,” said TCEQ Commissioner Larry R. Soward.
2009 Texas Environmental Excellence Award winners:
PARIS
Kimberly-Clark Corporation
(Category: Large/Non-technical)
http://www.teea.org/win09_lbnontech_vid.htm
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Asarco's Bankruptcy plan (#4) mentions El Paso .... ONCE
qualifies that by saying "In the event that the Plan Administrator is
unable to enter into an agreement with a third party contractor in
respect of such response actions without providing indemnification to
the third
party, the Plan Administrator shall be excused from any and all
obligations with respect to the performance of such response actions."
Asarco 4th amended plan of reorganization (links)
https://www.asarcoreorg.com/
Asarco reorganization decision delayed until May 15
Asarco reorganization decision delayed until May 15 Reuters - USA The decision, by US Bankruptcy Judge Richard Schmidt of the Southern District of Texas, gives Asarco's parent, Grupo Mexico, time to submit its own plan to ... See all stories on this topic |
'EPA nominees pledge action on enforcement, Superfund
http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/greenblog/2009/03/new_england_environmentalist_n.html
"President Obama nominated Mathy V. Stanislaus, 46, to be EPA's Assistant Administrator for Solid Waste and Emergency Response. Most recently he is the co-founder of the New Partners for Community Revitalization. He also served at Huber Lawrence & Abell as senior environmental associate and at the Environmental Protection Agency as assistant regional counsel for New York Region II Offices. His nomination was announced on March 31, 2009 and was he was formally nominated on April 20, 2009. He has served on the USEPA's National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), Waste and Facility Siting Subcommittee; chaired the NEJAC's Waste Transfer Station Workgroup. In addition to his law degree, Mr. Stanislaus has a degree in Chemical Engineering. Mr. Stanislaus is presently on the Board of the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, Inc. Mr. Stanislaus was born in Sri Lanka and immigrated to the United States."
http://aaenvironment.blogspot.com/2009/04/mathy-stanislaus-nominated-for-epa.html [note: Huber Lawrence & Abell have represented NEW YORK STATE ELECTRIC AND GAS CORPORATION]
Google Alert:
'EPA nominees pledge action on enforcement, Superfund
New York Times - United States
The Obama administration's nominees to head EPA's offices of enforcement and compliance, toxic waste and emergency response, and international affairs faced ..."
Please explain why Uranium values were higher in our region in 1997 - 2000 than in 1990
To: George Brozowski, Bill Luthans
When the EPA came to El Paso in 2001 to test our region for Asarco contamination, UTEP researchers published the following research-paper:
They included several Tables, where they compared the values of chemicals-test-for in 1990 (pre-Asarco Contop-furnace haz-waste burning) vs 1997-2000. The sample sites were downwind of the Asarco smelter.J Air Waste Manag Assoc. 2001 Nov;51(11):1551-60. Analysis of temporal and spatial dichotomous PM air samples in the El Paso-Cd. Juarez air quality basin. by Li WW, Orquiz R, Garcia JH, Espino TT, Pingitore NE, Gardea-Torresdey J, Chow J, Watson JG.
The 1990 study showed no uranium was found in the samples --- but, seven (plus) years later, UTEP is finding uranium in all sample areas.
Would you send me the data (proof) from Asarco's stack samples (or industrial site) that these chemicals did not originate from the Smelter's illegal activities?
Monday, April 27, 2009
Lawmakers may strip the TCEQ of its EPA responsibilities...
"Bryan W. Shaw’s confirmation as a member of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has run into trouble in the Texas Senate. At a press conference this morning, Sens. Eliot Shapleigh, Wendy Davis and Rodney Ellis called for a “top to bottom” review of the agency — in the manner of the DeLoitte Touche analysis of management at the TexasDepartment of Transportation.
Citing examples of ex parte communications, the revolving door between the commission and industry, failure to enforce federal laws and a pattern of decisions in which the commission overrules its own scientists, the three lawmakers claimed unethical — and sometimes illegal — activities at the TCEQ were undermining the agency’s core mission.....
Monday, the three lawmakers also raised the possibility that federal regulators would step in and strip the TCEQ of responsibilities delegated by the EPA. Environmental groups filed a petition requesting that action under the Bush Administration and no action was taken; that could change once the Obama Administration names a new regional EPA director...."Activists charge environmental racism, and genocide: H.R. 672
By Charlene Muhammad
Western Region Correspondent
Updated Apr 21, 2009 - 12:08:30 AM
Activists charge environmental racism, and genocide
File Photo: Children play on a merry-go-round near an oil refinery at the Carver Terrace housing project playground in west Port Arthur, Texas May 15, 2007. Port Arthur sits squarely on a two-state corridor routinely ranked as one of the country's most polluted regions. Texas and Louisiana are home to five oil refineries considered among the nation's 10 worst offenders in releasing toxic air pollutants, emitting 8.5 million pounds of toxins together. AP Photo/LM Otero`The government will not address the health affects in communities like ours, whether it's Black, Native American, Asian, if you live around a federal site, they're not going to address any health issues but I will say the government is equal opportunity. They pollute the hell out of everybody.'
Doris Bradshaw
(FinalCall.com) - Doris Bradshaw knows devastation. Her father passed away from cancer in late March. Her grandmother passed away after just six months of being diagnosed with an aggressive, rare form of bladder cancer in 1995 and when her grandfather died of the cancer a year later, she recalled a letter sent by a nearby military distribution site the year before, which said various chemicals may have seeped offsite into the drainage ditches in their community.
She began researching the USA Defense Depot Memphis (DDMT) and her Memphis, Tenn. neighborhood and said she found that in every household there was a history of cancer. In some, at least three to four people had the disease, but the problem was worse than that.
"Our rate here is between 75 percent mortality and morbidity. My next-door neighbor's daughter was 13 and had uterine cancer. We had a young man here with testicular cancer at 17. Most women at 25 have hysterectomies and if they don't go and have their children early in our community, normally they can't have kids because they are always affected by some type of reproductive illness," Ms. Bradshaw told The Final Call.
The 54-year-old had cancer cells in her uterus at 30 years old; a baseball-sized tumor at 28 and now she has an unidentifiable lung disease and suffers with diabetes, high blood pressure and thyroid disease, all which she attributes to exposure to hazardous waste from the DDMT. Stomach, colon and cervical cancer are reported as the highest types there, Ms. Bradshaw said, but that's only because "prostate cancer rates are so high, they don't even report it."
The DDMT is made up of 642 acres in a residential, commercial and industrial area of south central Memphis. Since 1942 it has distributed clothing, food, medical supplies, electronic equipment, petroleum products, and industrial chemicals to all U.S. military services.
It also conducted numerous operations utilizing hazardous substances with contamination resulting from leakage, spillage, disposal of out-of-date materials, and normal application of pesticides, according to the Defense Dept. (DOD) website description of the center.
In 1946, the Army disposed of leaking mustard bombs (a chemical warfare agent) and other waste at Dunn Field, a 60-acre open storage and burial area at the DDMT. The waste included oil, grease, paint thinners, methyl bromide, pesticides and cleaning fluids (chlorinated solvents). Approximately 154,300 people rely on drinking water from public supply wells within four miles of Dunn Field.
Ms. Bradshaw created Defense Depot Memphis Tennessee Concerned Citizens to document their ordeal, provide support, and advocate for accountability and health care for people who now are sick, can't work and are on disability.
"When you get 50 you're considered a senior citizen now because most of our seniors are dead. There's only one person on my street within a block that is 80 years old. There aren't too many 60 year olds and most of us are in our 50s over here. It's not that people don't know what's going on. They do, but environmental racism kicks in," Ms. Bradshaw said.
The group joined a coalition of communities and organizations around the U.S. to help push legislation that would require the government to clean up the sites and comply with health and environmental protection laws.
Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA) introduced the "Military Environmental Responsibility Act" (H.R. 672) on August 3, 2007 to eliminate military waivers to key environmental laws like the Clean Air Act and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act.
In a March 24 letter to the White House, the coalition said it wants to expose hidden casualties at home that are caused by unregulated military projects that have increased the risks for cancer and exposure to military toxins
"We are united in seeking to protect those most vulnerable from these harmful exposures especially the unborn, babies, youth, elders, disenfranchised communities of race, Indigenous Tribal Nations and peoples, economically disadvantaged communities, military personnel, civilian workers, military garment workers, and families living in the vicinity of military operations and installations throughout the nation," the letter expressed.
Specifically, H.R. 672 would amend the United States Code to require the Department of Defense and all other defense-related U.S. agencies to comply with Federal and State environmental laws, including those applicable to public health, worker safety, protecting the environment, and the health and safety of the public, particularly children, members of the Armed Forces, civilian workers and people who live in the vicinity of military operations and installations.
Chris Isleib, DoD spokesperson, told The Final Call that the department takes environmental issues very seriously and works with both governmental and non-governmental agencies to ensure maximum protection, remediation and meet EPA requirements.
"No entity in the world, government or private sector, has spent more moneyor more effortthan the Defense Department has on environmental cleanup, cleanup research, cleanup assessment, technology to conduct cleanup, cleanup operations, cleanup follow-up monitoring," Mr. Isleib countered.
The DoD's current estimate of future costs for environmental restitution is approximately $32 billion for sites with remaining work at active installations and it has some 11,500 sites either in cleanup or tagged for clean up.
Of the DoD's 31,500 clean up sites, about 20,500 of them have reached their remedial action objectives, Mr. Isleib said.
Laura Olah, executive director, Citizens for Safe Water Around Badger, who is leading the coalition, said she became involved when the Army announced that groundwater contamination had traveled three miles offsite and within a quarter mile of a municipal well in Prairie du Sac, Michigan. Then, the drinking water supplies of three private homes became contaminated with high levels of the cancer-causing chemical carbon tetrachloride.
Contaminant concentrations in the ground water are more than 50 times the Health Advisory Levels established by the Wisconsin Division of Public Health.
"The government will not address the health affects in communities like ours, whether it's Black, Native American, Asian; if you live around a federal site, they're not going to address any health issues but I will say the government is equal opportunity. They pollute the hell out of everybody. They find poor White communities and do the same thing to them also, anybody who's not able to fight them," Ms. Bradshaw said.
Gilbert Sanchez of the Tribal Environmental Watch Alliance, has worked on nuclear environmental issues for decadesever since the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), where the atomic bomb was first tested and implemented, was built on his tribe's ancestral land.
He is a member of the 19 Pueblos, which is a sub-group of the San Ildefonso Tribe and from LANL's inception in 1945, there has been no regulation of the waste products used by the lab. Today, there are uncontrollable chemical and biological wastes violating his people's food chain and like residents near the DDMT, they are experiencing high rates of rare cancers.
"My concern has always been the health impact from all of the activities of the past. Not only my relatives but people, young people in the valley, are dying from very young ages of cancer because they or their parents worked up on the hill," he said.
He has spent years fighting for a baseline study of the current health impacts that the uranium and plutonium used to make the bomb has had on his people. "The Euro-American or Anglo-American scientists knew very well that the dust particles from this uranium and plutonium was going to be dangerous and impact the respiratory system," Mr. Sanchez said.
In order to cover that up, he charged, the lab freely gave its workers tobacco productsa carton of cigarettes per day, but they couldn't take the cigarettes out of the mines, refinement factories or plutonium areas.
Now, Mr. Sanchez said, the tribe's condition is very much like a third world country with very low living standards, a sub par health care system, and they are often used as guinea pigs.
"This is part of the Euro-American genocidal movement. It's a part of that orchestrated genocidal commission that's continually going on. It started at the time of discovery and continues today," he said. He believes that President Barack Obama is sincere about his commitment to abolish the nuclear weapons industry, and he hopes that Pres. Obama can open the books and secrecy cloaked around U.S. military research centers and laboratories.
"We have no need to have massive weapons of destruction that are going to totally annihilate portions of this earth or completely the earth itself. Conventional weaponry and the use of current nuclear weapons is beyond any human's right mind," Mr. Sanchez said.
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Sunday, April 26, 2009
South New Jersey & WA sites get stimulus monies.... but El Paso? What about El Paso??
Stimulus steps in to mop up Superfund mess Seattle Times - Seattle,WA,USA Up to $10 million will be spent to remove contaminated soils from residential backyards and park areas within a mile of the former Asarco smelter along ... |
"President Obama wants to restore the tax and assumes it will provide $1 billion in revenues for his 2011 budget.
Until then, financing for work at the nation's nearly 1,600 Superfund sites will come from taxpayers in the form of EPA appropriations or stimulus money. The nearly $600 million in stimulus money virtually doubles the amount available for Superfund work in the current fiscal year, officials said."