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"THE ONLY THING NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING"
--Burke

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

TCEQ and Sham Permitting

To:  Mr. Harrison, Mr. Patterson and Mr. Nelson, OPA and OAG contacts
Fr:   Heather McMurray, El Paso TX
cc:   Mary Mahaney

sb:  Sham Permitting

Thank you for your email.  The Permit 4151 is a sham in regards to "no-increase".  There is no way to re-open the ore-handling process on that ore-handling-pad at Asarco El Paso and say that emissions won't increase unless the TCEQ is ignoring the Toxic Contamination from Encycle, Corpus Christi, TX.  There has been no "decontamination" of this Asarco El Paso site.   The smoking gun memo (authenticated) that the SOAH Judges refused to allow as evidence during the 2005 Asarco El Paso Air hearing lets us know that contamination is being concealed from the peoples of this region by high officials in the EPA and the TCEQ.   To discuss the 4151 permit as a "no-increase" permit as if it is a legitimate process is ludicrous when we now know that illegal toxic-waste was brought in, handled and incinerated in our ConTop furnaces for profit, and that it was stored on that ore-handling pad.

The contamination is still being concealed, and we would like to know what is being concealed, before any more permits are renewed or allowed.   The entire permitting/SOAH process has become a sham-process because the TCEQ and EPA continue to hide the contamination from Asarco's sham-recycling; and, the ConTop's permitting in 1992 conned the public into thinking that these furnaces were there to reduce emission when they were there to make monies as hazardous waste incinerators.

We want the responsible EPA and TCEQ officials to step down, and for honest officials to take their place, to let us know what contamination has been concealed, and for clean-up to begin.

Mary Mahaney wrote:
Good afternoon Ms. Murray:
 
The renewal application for Permit 4151 is a "no-increase" renewal, therefore there will be no comment period after the RTC (response to comments document), and no period for filing further hearing requests.  The RTC will be mailed out with a letter setting the date for Agenda.  The timely hearing requests (those received within 15 days of the original notice) will be considered at Agenda.
 
The comment period for this permit renewal application closed 15 days after the original notice.  There will be no further opportunity to comment.
 
If I can be of further assistance, please contact me at (512) 239-2427 or by e-mail (mmahaney@tceq.state.tx.us).
 
Sincerely,
 
Mary Mahaney
Air Permits Division
Open Records Coordinator

>>> <heamc@earthlink.net> 6/7/2007 1:02 PM >>>
Thank you, Mary,
Since the technical review is still on-going for the Asarco El Paso ore-handling permit #4151, please confirm that the public comment period remains open for this permit?

Attached is my original request for party status on this permit.

Heather McMurray

Monday, June 11, 2007

Rocky Flats workers told to go home and die

(Rocky Mountain Arsenal quench water came to El Paso for smelting)

URL: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5580337,00.html

"Rocky Flats workers face likely denial of compensation

Board members say their hands are tied

By Laura Frank And Ann Imse, Rocky Mountain News
June 11, 2007

Barring any "shocking" revelations, there is "little chance" that a White House advisory board will vote Tuesday in favor of immediate compensation for most sick Rocky Flats workers, said the board member in charge of the Flats case....."

Sunday, June 10, 2007

Water and Air to breathe may become more precious than Copper

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2643033.ece <http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article2643033.ece>
The wrath of 2007: America's great drought By Andrew Gumbel in Los Angeles Published: 11 June 2007

America is facing its worst summer drought since the Dust Bowl years of the Great Depression. Or perhaps worse still....
...the long-term implications are escaping nobody. Climatologists see a growing volatility in the south-east's weather - today's drought coming close on the heels of devastating hurricanes two to three years ago. In the West, meanwhile, a growing body of scientific evidence suggests a movement towards a state of perpetual drought by the middle of this century. "The 1930s drought lasted less than a decade. This is something that could remain for 100 years," said Richard Seager a climatologist at Columbia University and lead researcher of a report published recently by the government's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).....Across the West, farmers and city water consumers are locked in a perennial battle over water rights - one that the cities are slowly winning. Down the line, though, there are serious questions about how to keep showers and lawn sprinklers going in the retirement communities of Nevada and Arizona. Lake Powell, the reservoir on the upper Colorado River that helps provide water across a vast expanse of the West, has been less than half full for years, with little prospect of filling up in the foreseeable future.....According to the NOAA's recent report, the West can expect 10-20 per cent less rainfall by mid-century, which will increase air pollution in the cities, kill off trees and water-retaining giant cactus plants and shrink the available water supply by as much as 25 per cent....