Eliot Shapleigh pursues inquiry into Asarco-TCEQ dealings
February 11, 2009
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh said Tuesday he would continue a legal fight to obtain documents from the state's environmental agency over its dealings with Asarco even after the company announced it plans to demolish its smelter in El Paso.
Written by Brandi Grissom, The El Paso Times
AUSTIN -- State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh said Tuesday he would continue a legal fight to obtain documents from the state's environmental agency over its dealings with Asarco even after the company announced it plans to demolish its smelter in El Paso.
"We see a pattern of an agency penetrated by polluters," Shapleigh said, "so we want the road map to find out how polluters now control" the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Last year, Shapleigh, D-El Paso, asked the agency for documents he suspected could reveal potentially illegal interactions between Asarco lawyers and TCEQ commissioners.
He surmised that those interactions were part of the reason commissioners in February 2008 approved a controversial air-quality permit that would have allowed Asarco to reopen the copper smelter.
The TCEQ refused to release the documents and sued Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott when he ordered the agency to fulfill Shapleigh's request.
Asarco announced last week it would not reopen the El Paso smelter and told TCEQ it would give up the permits, citing the weakened global economy.
Though the permit fight is over, Shapleigh said the implications of his legal action are much broader.
"What I hope we do is remove public officials who have broken with the public trust," Shapleigh said.
"What I hope we can do next is to reform the law to protect the people."
Texas law prohibits agency decision-makers, such as TCEQ commissioners, from having one-sided communications with parties in contested cases.
Texas law also allows legislators to see agency information that might otherwise be considered confidential.
But the TCEQ argues that the documents Shapleigh requested ought to remain confidential, in part, because they included attorney-client discussions.
Agency attorneys also said Shapleigh's request would raise questions about the constitutional separation of powers between the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government.
A TCEQ spokeswoman declined to comment, saying the agency did not discuss ongoing litigation.
A spokesman for the Texas attorney general's office also declined to comment.
Shapleigh's attorney, Randall "Buck" Wood, said the state open-records laws were created to allow lawmakers access to critical information that allows them to oversee state agencies and fix problems they may find.
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