• New Updates to the ASARCO Smelter Site Website

  04 APR 2012

  New Updates to the ASARCO Smelter Site Website
  {www.RecastingTheSmelter.com}

  The Texas Custodial Trust is committed to the remediation of the Site and to working with the surrounding community and stakeholders. As part of our stakeholder outreach efforts we are dedicated to maintaining a website that has the most current and up-to-date site information. Please note that there have been new website updates and some new site activities. These include:

  1. Category I Landfill – Cell 4 and Interim Channel Construction

     Initial excavation for Category I landfill facility (Cell 4) began the first week of November. Through the week ending March 30, 2012, approximately 140,000 cubic yards of slag, and 90,000 cubic yards of native material have been removed from the landfill footprint and Parker Brothers Arroyo and placed in stockpiles on the plant site. An engineered 60-mil thick high density polyethylene (HDPE) liner over a geosynthetic clay liner will be installed over the prepared subgrade. A protective layer of selected impacted material will be carefully placed over the liner. Impacted soils and debris from the former smelter will then be placed into the cell and compacted. A soil cover will be placed over the filled cell to encapsulate the impacted material. Drainage improvements and a final erosion prevention cover will be installed as filling of the cell is completed. The final cover will be graded to blend into the surrounding topography.

     Parker Brothers Arroyo (interim channel design): Based on information collected during the data gap assessment, the Trust, with TCEQ and EPA concurrence, has determined that removal of slag in the bottom of Parker Brothers Arroyo, estimated to be 110,000 cubic yards, will facilitate remediation of the groundwater at the Site and will greatly aid in the rehabilitation of the Arroyo. To date approximately 105,000 cubic yards of slag and slag/soil have been removed from Parker Brothers Arroyo and placed in stockpiles on the plant property. Once the excavation of the slag material is complete and verification samples have been collected, the area will be backfilled with clean material and then constructed to the approved configuration that meets the City of El Paso drainage design requirements.

     Malcolm Pirnie and the Trustee are continuing their work with TCEQ and EPA to install a field demonstration test of two permeable reactive barriers in Parker Brothers Arroyo. The permeable reactive barriers will use zero-valent iron to treat the arsenic in the groundwater.

     Schedule: Regulatory approvals from TCEQ and the City of El Paso have been received for both the Category 1 Landfill – Cell 4 and the Interim Channel Design (Click here to view these approvals). Excavation of Cell 4 is currently underway. Excavation and construction of the Interim Channel began at the end of January 2012 and is anticipated take approximately 3 to 4 months to complete. Installation of the Cell 4 liner will begin once the excavation and prepared subgrade is complete and is anticipated to be completed in May or June 2012. It is anticipated that filling of the landfill will take 12-18 months.

  2. Facility Demolition Update

     Facility Asset Recovery and Demolition Update Facility demolition is wrapping up as asset recovery operations continue and additional work is conducted on the structures that will remain after demolition. To date more than $14 million has been deposited into the Trust’s account as a result of asset recovery operations.

     At the conclusion of the demolition scope of work, the following structures will remain on site: 1. the Bedding Building, which is slated for eventual complete demolition, has been partially demolished and will be continue to be used for temporary material storage until other on-site activities are complete. 2. the Administration Building is intended to remain as a permanent structure on site 3. the former Power House is also intended to remain as a permanent structure. As a result, asbestos-containing material (ACM) from both buildings will be removed. This work is complete in the Power House and will be completed in the near future for the Administration Building. Demolition of the two large concrete stacks has been suspended as described in the Trustee’s statement on this website (click here to view this statement). Lastly, several large water tanks will remain on site to facilitate investigation and remediation activities.

  3. TxDOT Coordination for the Expansion of I-10

     The Trustee is working with the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) on easement negotiations for the proposed expansion of the Border Highway West. To date, the Trustee has completed an archaeological survey around the former Smeltertown cemetery to assist with the negotiations. In addition, we are working with TxDOT to evaluate alternative grading configurations and improvements to the drainage structures near I-10 that will equally facilitate both the Border Highway West and smelter clean-up projects.

  4. El Paso Museum of History ASARCO Exhibition

     The El Paso Museum of History is currently exhibiting Traces: A Visual Record of the Deconstruction of the Asarco Smelter, a photographic study by Carol Eastman. This exhibition is available from February 16th – June 30th. Please click here for additional information.

     

  5. A New Arroyo Web Camera Is Available

     An Arroyo Web Camera is available on the homepage of www.RecastingtheSmelter.com. This camera displays the ongoing construction of the Category I Landfill. Please note that the webcam displays photographs that are taken every few minutes.

  6. Recent News

     Local publications have recently written a number of articles on the Site. Such articles include New ABC-7 Poll Shows Public Wants To See ASARCO Stack Go Additionally, click here to view all recent news articles on the Site.

  Thank you for your interest in the website. We appreciate your blog posts and are working to answer any questions in a timely manner.

Trustee Rationale for One-Year Stack Demolition Delay

03 NOV 2011

The stack issue is the most difficult public interface challenge the Trust has yet to face on this project, and the Trust is saddened that the decision has disappointed people, including some that have been the Trust's biggest supporters.

The rationale for the one-year stack demolition delay is as follows. From the beginning the Trust has operated by being open and transparent with the public. Everything that we do, the analyses we run, public input we receive are available to all via our website. The Trust has hosted public meetings and have attended meetings coordinated by elected officials. The Trust has regularly briefed the leaders of El Paso on the local, state and federal level. The Trust has allowed interested people access to the site and has incorporated public input into our investigations. The Trust has given the media complete access to the project.

The stack issue has been contentious from the beginning. Last year we worked hard to evaluate the stack and provide a cost estimate to keep it up. The resounding consensus from the community was that the stack could not be saved using public funds. However, at the site reuse meetings hosted by the City in the summer of 2010, some people asked for the opportunity to see if a private effort could save the stack. The Trust stated that we would wait one year to see if such an effort materialized. As it turned out, the Trust did not hear anything until two weeks ago - long after the year waiting period had run out. The Trust was approached by two gentlemen from the community - Gary Sapp and Robert Ardovino. They wanted a chance to see if private funding could be found to save the stacks. They were able to get about 50 people to voice their support for the delay. Two elected officials, State Senator Rodriguez and Councilwoman Byrd, also wrote to express support for the delay.

The Trust faced an ethical dilemma: either we could say that the year was up and ignore the request, or we could follow the intent of our offer to the community and allow them the time to explore the private option. The Trust chose to follow the intent.

It should be understood that the bar for the folks wanting to save the stacks is very high. Here are the conditions imposed on the one year waiting period:

1. There needs to be a legal entity established to take possession of the stacks.
2. The legal entity must demonstrate the financial strength to undertake ownership of the stacks. (It is estimated to cost approximately $14 million over the long term to preserve and stabilize the tallest stack on the Asarco site; there has been no evaluation of the costs to preserve the shorter stack).
3. The legal entity must have the ability to indemnify the Trust and the Trust beneficiaries.
4. The legal entity must demonstrate that both stacks have the structural integrity necessary to remain on the site. This demonstration must be performed by a professional structural engineer that is licensed to practice in Texas, and the engineer's report must be stamped.

These are challenging conditions, especially the technical report, which I believe will increase the cost estimate.

No decision has been made to keep the stacks; all we are doing is allowing for the public debate and feasibility evaluation to occur. The Trust will promise that 12 months from now, if these conditions are not met to our satisfaction, the stacks will come down and no further delay will be tolerated.

One more point, which is very important: the site remediation work, which is the primary purpose of the Trust, will continue unimpeded by the delay.

Sincerely Yours,

Roberto Puga
Site Custodial Trustee

View recent press releases from the Site Custodial Trustee.