ASARCO Threatens Future of Downtown and RegionBy: Beto O'Rourk, City Representative District 8 May 17, 2007 -- We recently learned that the executive director of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has recommended a five-year extension of ASARCO's air permit. All eyes now turn to the TCEQ commissioners, to see if they will choose to ratify this decision and grant ASARCO its air permit or follow the advice of the state's Administrative Law Judges who, from July 11-22, 2005 heard evidence on ASARCO's permit and made two important findings: that ASARCO has not proven that its emissions will not cause or contribute to air pollution; and that ASARCO has not proven that its compliance history during the last five years of operation warrants renewal of its permit. Why does this matter? El Paso is on a roll right now. Unemployment for December and March were the lowest numbers of the decade for those two months; commercial construction is at an all-time high for the decade; the University of Texas at El Paso is making great strides on many fronts; and we finally have a chance to bring our moribund downtown back to life. ASARCO jeopardizes all of these significant advancements, and should it reopen, it will cause many to rethink their commitment to El Paso. That will affect jobs, tax base, and the singular opportunity that El Paso has right now. We simply cannot allow ASARCO to reopen. This City Council and Mayor, as well as the past two administrations, are all firmly aligned against the reopening of this polluting vestige of the 19th century. To compound the problems an operating ASARCO would cause directly to our city, it would also belch pollutants and toxins into the airshed of neighboring Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua and Sunland Park, New Mexico. It is worth noting that both the mayor of Juarez, Teto Murguia, the mayor of Sunland Park, Ruben Segura, and their respective governments are squarely opposed to the smelter's reopening. We, as a community, must do everything we can to ensure that El Paso stays on its path of progress and that we protect the environment and health of our fellow citizens. To that end, the City has retained the best attorneys we can afford to continue to fight the permit renewal. We have petitioned the TCEQ to hold their hearing here, instead of Austin. Our state delegation, led by Senator Shapleigh, is doing everything they can at the legislative level. We are also exploring other legal strategies that will allow us to maintain the momentum we suddenly have, and not allow it to stop dead at the base of a smelter tower that looms over UTEP, downtown and nearby neighborhoods and sits squarely at the junction of our three states and two nations. *** This column appears in the May 2007 El Pasoan. Related Links |
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