Asarco cancels plan to open El Paso plant
February 4, 2009
"Now, we can move to a new era of better jobs, clean skies and healthier neighborhoods," Shapleigh said. "Since the 1880's, ASARCO has defined our past. Now our talent and aspirations will define our future."
Written by Staff, The Associated Press
EL PASO, Texas — An Arizona-based copper company announced Tuesday it will not reopen its El Paso smelter and plans to demolish the century-old plant.
Asarco LLC, a bankrupt Tucson, Ariz. copper company, said in a statement Tuesday that the "dramatic downturn of the world economy" prompted it to close the plant for good.
The smelter, part of the El Paso skyline since the 1880s, was shuttered in 1999 amid a global drop in copper prices.
Asarco officials spent several years fighting the city and numerous community groups to win a new air quality permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Despite widespread objections — opponents of the plant have claimed that the smelter caused widespread air and soil pollution — TCEQ commissioners unanimously approved a new five-year permit last year. The three commissioners, who said at the time that the Texas Clean Air Act gave them little power to deny the permit, did require the company to upgrade the smelter before the plant could reopen.
Asarco has long denied that its facility caused pollution or would create more pollution if it reopened. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2006 and faces millions of dollars in environmental liabilities.
Texas State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, a vocal opponent of the company, applauded Tuesday's announcement.
"Now, we can move to a new era of better jobs, clean skies and healthier neighborhoods," Shapleigh said. "Since the 1880's, ASARCO has defined our past. Now our talent and aspirations will define our future."
Asarco said it will work with Texas officials to fund a trust for the demolition and remediation of the land below and around the plant.
Fair Use Notice
This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond "fair use", you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.