Students propose ways to reuse Asarco land
February 22, 2009
Leaders who spearheaded the opposition to Asarco, however, warned about obstacles ahead regarding the cleanup and potential uses of the 500-acre West El Paso property during "A Day in the Sun: Adios ASARCO, Hello Future" at UTEP's Union Cinema. Several hundred people attended.
Written by Darren Meritz, The El Paso Times
EL PASO -- University of Texas at El Paso students and Asarco opponents celebrated the permanent shutdown of the copper smelter at a rally and symposium Saturday on the UTEP campus.
Leaders who spearheaded the opposition to Asarco, however, warned about obstacles ahead regarding the cleanup and potential uses of the 500-acre West El Paso property during "A Day in the Sun: Adios ASARCO, Hello Future" at UTEP's Union Cinema. Several hundred people attended.
A federal bankruptcy court is considering a proposal from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality that would require Asarco to put $52 million into a trust fund to clean up pollution from the smelter.
State Sen. Eliot Shapleigh, D-El Paso, said $52 million wouldn't be enough. He has pointed out that the cleanups of old Asarco smelters in Washington and Nebraska have cost far more.
"Our future is going to be decided on what we do with this site," Shapleigh said. "We didn't come this far to be left with a permanently polluted site that has no uses."
Instead, El Paso could pursue a bankruptcy court judgment that would require Asarco to use a portion of proceeds from liquidated assets to create an environmental trust for the cleanup.
Asarco faces environmental claims in communities throughout the U.S., he said, but El Paso could seek to have a high priority among claimants against the copper company before the bankruptcy court and have a better opportunity to recover remediation costs.
A proper cleanup, which includes leaving behind a "development-ready site" at the Asarco plant, could be completed within three years, Shapleigh said.
Students on Saturday gave brief presentations on proposed future uses for the Asarco property. Proposals included using the property for a stadium; creating a large, inner-city park space similar to New York's Central Park; using the property to build a renewable energy plant; and creating a research park for UTEP.
"We want to just make sure we get the cleanup process done the right way," said Priscilla Moreno, a UTEP junior who, with the Students for Reform organization, proposed that the Asarco plant be converted into park space. "We think we should have a park there that would also keep some memory of the fact we had Asarco there."
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.