The following is an email from Juan Garza to the Site Trustee, Roberto Puga. Mr. Puga’s response is bolded.
Mr. Puga,
The most prominent feature left at the plant is this stack.
1.) I would like to request that your company post videos of the stack on you tube for people to see.
2.) Do you have an engineers report on the stacks condition?
2a.) Are there any existing videos of the stack in operation that may have been turned over to the trust?
Generally I’m interested in learning about everything related to the stack, history, construction, and current status. Is it off center or does it remain plum to the ground?
3.) If you have geo studies taken from around the stack can you post them on the website?
4.) Please update me on the work slated or proposed for the Olgebay Norton minus-50 slag pile adjacent to the Cemetery.
Thank you.
Juan Garza
Dear Mr. Garza,
I agree that the stacks are the most prominent feature at the site, and one that is currently controversial in El Paso. The Trust has agreed that a local community group, Save the Stacks, can see if the stacks can be saved. A final decision as to the fate of the stacks will be made soon.
Here are responses to your direct questions:
1. We have posted photos and videos of the stacks on the project website – www.recastingthesmelter.com. However, I am uncomfortable posting Trust related items on social media sites, and so we’ll restrict our internet based outreach to our website.
2. One of the requirements we have asked the Save the Stacks Group to comply with is that they commission and complete a structural engineering assessment of the stacks. They are in the process obtaining an engineering contractor to do this task.
3. The only footage that I know of that shows the plant in operation is the one shown at the El Paso History Museum last spring in their ASARCO exhibit. Mr. Jackson Polk has the original footage.
4. Later this summer we will be performing a survey of the stacks to determine if they are plumb.
5. A summary of stack construction information can be found here. All subsurface data has been posted to the website, and a summary of the existing data can be found in this report (this is a 42MB download). There is subsurface data in close proximity to the stacks.
6. We are in discussions with TCEQ and EPA about the final disposition of the ‘Fines Pile”. Once a plan is formulated, the details will be posted to the website.
Please contact me with any follow-up questions or comments.
Regards,
Roberto Puga