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Call to Action: El Paso to rally on Saturday to prepare for Asarco hearing
January 6, 2005

More than 100 people are expected to join Senator Eliot Shapleigh in a press conference on Saturday.

Written by Senator Eliot Shapleigh, Press Release

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ASARCO

EL PASO - More than 100 people are expected to join Senator Eliot Shapleigh in a press conference on Saturday, January 8, where work will begin to ensure that Asarco’s air renewal permit is not approved. The press conference will be at 11 a.m. at Mundy Park in the Sunset Heights neighborhood.

“Since at least 1970, ASARCO has covered up facts, lied about health risks concerning the issue of lead, arsenic, children's health and our future,” Senator Eliot Shapleigh said. “Our community has never had a full airing of the issues publicly, it is time that we do.”

A preliminary hearing on the permit application has been set for 10 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 27, at UTEP in the Tomas Rivera Conference Center. At this preliminary hearing, the ground rules and affected parties will be established for the upcoming contested case hearing, which is a legal proceeding similar to a civil trial in state district court.

Under the pending air permit, ASARCO proposes to release 7,300 tons of new pollutants (sulphur dioxide, lead, other) at a site that is 400 yards from UTEP and less than 1.5 miles from Downtown El Paso.

Currently, there are over 500 homes in El Paso with lead and arsenic contamination caused by ASARCO, and there is not enough money to pay for the entire cleanup and the EPA is currently not cleaning up anymore homes.

The matter comes before the State at a critical time with regard to El Paso’s environmental standing. El Paso has applied to be taken off of the State’s “non-attainment list,” as it has made great strides in meeting Clean Air Act standards. Senator Shapleigh fears that the seven tons of lead, as well as other pollutants ASARCO would be able to emit with this permit, would put the city right back on the non-attainment list.

The irony grows when you consider that ASARCO is asking for the permit when they have a $79 million dollar liability in El Paso, and have only contributed $2 million to the cleanup. Senator Shapleigh believes the company should take full responsibility for the cleanup, or the permit should be denied.

Press conference details:

Who: Senator Eliot Shapleigh, Sunset Heights residents, UTEP students
What: Press conference to talk about Asarco’s air permit
Where: Mundy Park in Sunset Heights neighborhood
When: 11 A.M., Saturday, January 8.
Information: 544-1990

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