The big stories have been dominating the story of this Presidency: the stimulus, the Obama-Republican story, the new Middle East Policy
And rightly so, those are the big stories. But beautiful wonders lie beneath the new Progressive President. The 'little things' that mean so much: those acres of land in Utah now protected, the reversal of the Mexico City Policy and this little story from El Paso, TX
The EPA issued a simple evaluation and now a community of 2 million+ people won't have to worry about a smelter beltching 1000s of tons of lead into the air. A threat that was very real for the past 7 years.
Background and Community Activist Group
Local Paper Article
For more then 100 years The American Smelting And Refining COmpany (ASARCO) has owned and operated a 100-acre smelting site in El Paso.
When they set up shop El Paso had 9,000 residents (appox.) and now there are 2 million+ in El Paso, TX-Juarez metroplex. (yes that Juarez)
ASARCO History - ASARCO version
ASARCO History - Wikipedia (very incomplete)
ASARCO History El Paso - Excellent and well researched 50 page PDF
The simple political story:
The ASARCO smelter is right in the middle of town and right on the border with Mexico. Most of the pollution it produced went into Juarez, including the homes and elementary school 300 yards away from the smokestack. I along with many others opposed it. But this environmental battle wasn't about saving others, it was about saving ourselves.
The plant shut down in 1999 due to depressed copper prices and when prices went back up they wanted to reopen. We said no.
After community mobilization, two trips with hundreds of people to the TCEQ in Austin (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality) we seemed to have beaten ASARCO up a little but lost. They were granted their permit to pollute based on piles and piles of scientific bullshit.
We finally succeeded in turning the political structure against ASARCO with a new mayor, new city council and a demonstration of political clot (you'd think not poisoning children would be an easy thing to lobby for) but even if ASARCO didn't restart the fires they wouldn't have to clean up the soil.
Well Obama became President and in less then two weeks EPA sent ASARCO a letter telling them the permit hadn't been awarded correctly and they would have to do better. Two weeks! We'd been fighting those fools for YEARS
AND NOW WE HAVE WON Now we have to get them to clean up.
little notes:
The plant shut down in 1999 due to depressed copper prices.
Later a couple EPA people came and tested the soil and found a problem.
There were millions of little battles:
when the EPA tested front yards and back yards for lead and arsenic contamination they asked permission from the homeowners and never informed the renters. Thus families with children were not notified of the contamination of their yards just because they did not own the house.
In 1997 and 1998 ASARCO burned radioactive (yes radioactive) waste and were given a slap on the wrist.
It all started with one lawyer, then grew to 4 people around the dining table in my house and then State Senator Eliot Shapleigh (best guy ever) picked up on the fight and the rest of the community came along. But it all started with one voice. (que "One Voice" Obama ad)