UTEP Student Internships – ASARCO Remediation Project

The Center for Environmental Resource Management (CERM) at UTEP invites applicants for Student Internships with the engineering firm, Malcolm Pirnie, in El Paso to work on the ASARCO Remediation Project. Three internships are available, one each in the following general areas:

  • Demolition engineering, materials re-use, and asset marketing
  • Soil remediation and solid waste management
  • Groundwater remediation and management

Please click here for additional information regarding these internships.

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

4 Responses Add a Comment

  1. Comment by Karl Johnson — October 20, 2010 @ 9:36 am

    Question: Could you confirm and elaborate on El Paso local news reports that say toxins (e.g., lead and arsenic) in and on the El Paso Asarco smelter site will be buried in an onsite underground vault? If this is true, could you provide information about how long the El Paso general public, El Paso elected city officials, TCEQ and the EPA have know about this? Could you provide further information defining if El Paso elected city officials, TCEQ and EPA have agreed to these terms of onsite toxic waste storage?

  2. Comment by admin — October 21, 2010 @ 1:56 pm

    Dear Mr. Johnson,

    Thank you very much for your interest in this project.

    As I said during the public meeting held this past Tuesday, October 19, 2010, the impacted materials at the former ASARCO smelter will be placed in specially engineered cells, called RCRA vaults, on the site. This action is called a containment remedy, and it has been contemplated by the regulatory agencies (TCEQ and EPA) for several years.

    I have been the Trustee of the former ASARCO site since December 2009. Since that time, I have met with the following public officials and civic groups:

    • Congressman Silvestre Reyes
    • Senator Eliot Shapleigh
    • Representative Marissa Marquez
    • Representative Joe Moody
    • Mayor John Cook
    • City Representative Beto O’Rourke
    • City Representative Susie Byrd
    • City Representative Ann Lilly
    • City Representative Steve Ortega
    • City Representative Emma Acosta
    • City Representative Carl Robinson
    • City Manager Joyce Wilson
    • Sierra Club
    • Get-the-Lead-Out Group
    • Ex-ASARCO Employees Group
    • Paso del Norte Group
    • El Paso Chamber of Commerce
    • El Paso Hispanic Chamber of Commerce

    At each meeting/presentation, I have consistently elaborated on my intention of implementing the selected containment remedy. There have been numerous newspaper articles in the Wall Street Journal, El Paso Times, and El Paso, Inc. that state our intention to implement the containment remedy.

    I have not received any notice from the regulatory agencies or public officials that I should deviate from our plan.

    Thanks again for your interest, and please email again with any further questions or comments.

    Warm regards,

    Roberto Puga
    Trustee

  3. Comment by With Held — October 20, 2010 @ 3:26 pm

    This are very good questions. I found this…

    EL PASO TIMES: Asarco demolition nears: Sale of items from site to benefit cleanup fund

    http://www.elpasotimes.com/news/ci_16382918

    The material will be isolated in high-tech landfills on site.
    “It’s a containment remedy,” Puga said. “We’re not shipping anything offsite.”

    Please respond.

  4. Comment by admin — October 21, 2010 @ 2:00 pm

    Thank you for your query. Could you please provide a little more detail about your question so we can respond comprehensively? Thank you.

    Warm regards,

    Roberto Puga
    Trustee

Leave a response