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"THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING"
--Burke

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Asarco asks court to boost Lehman's pay -- 2.6 MILLION so far.....

"Harbinger said Lehman has been paid $2.6 million for its work so far.

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


ASARCO bond holder Harbinger trying to shoot down Lehman Brothers' bid to get paid in ASARCO bankruptcy hearing....

[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


Edgren on ASARCO...

"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."

Naples' trash crisis tied to mob, toxic waste

"Expert: Organized crime gets garbage contracts, then mixes in pollutants
updated 10:12 a.m. MT, Wed., Jan. 9, 2008
ROME - The Italian government's plan to resolve Naples' garbage crisis may clear trash temporarily, but mafia control of waste disposal and politicians' inability to guarantee safe dumps means the problem will return, a noted expert on organized crime said Wednesday...

... But Roberto Saviano, a writer and expert on the Neapolitan organized crime syndicate, the Camorra, said such measures do not address the underlying causes of the problem: the mob and politicians who are powerless to fight it."....

"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/

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

City New Action in Asarco Legal Battle

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. ..."

"by Rene Leon   City Has Takes New Action in Asarco Legal Battle

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...."

Saturday, January 5, 2008

Toxic waste

"Google News Alert for: toxic waste

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. ..."


Friday, January 4, 2008

Two Letters

"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

Readers Respond 12.27.07

.....

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

---

"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"