05 DEC 2012
The ASARCO Trust would like to commend the Save the Stacks Group for all of their hard work during the past 13 months. Their passion for saving the stacks is truly admirable.
However, because a feasible proposal for saving the stacks, meeting the important criteria that the Trust set forth last year, was not submitted to the Trust, the Trust is resuming the planning for the stacks’ demolition.
The Trust Agreement and Settlement Agreement, which provides the Trust with the specific work which may be done and structures how monies shall be spent, does not include provisions for funding either the preservation or rehabilitation of the structural integrity of the stacks, or their long term care or maintenance, nor for the disposition of any real property for less than fair market value. Therefore there is no unilateral action the Trust can take to save the stacks.
The Trust’s engineering team will convene shortly and will produce a schedule for the demolition activities. The schedule will be published on www.RecastingTheSmelter.com and a public meeting to discuss the demolition process will be scheduled for 1st Quarter 2013.
Roberto PugaCustodial Trustee
Comment by Ron Hutchins — January 21, 2013 @ 11:57 am
It’s a sad situation that the city of El Paso can not take response ability over the stacks. The city can spend and waste a lot of money like putting in a baseball stadium that we truly don’t need, and waste so much money in other projects that I could go on and on. The stacks have been a part of El Paso skyline for over a hundred years! A lot of our Ancestors that worked here contributed to El Paso a large way, now the city just wants to turn their back.