Cleanup Plans for the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) Site, El Paso, Texas

Site Background

On March 19, 2009, the TCEQ, the EPA, and ASARCO filed a settlement agreement in the bankruptcy court entitled, "Consent Decree and Settlement Agreement Establishing a Custodial Trust for the Owned Smelter Site in El Paso, Texas and the Owned Zinc Smelter Site in Amarillo, Texas." Under the settlement agreement, ASARCO's El Paso smelter property (approximately 458 acres) will be placed in an environmental custodial trust. The custodial trust will be funded with a payment of $52,000,000 from ASARCO to address contamination on the property. An additional $80,000 will be placed in the custodial trust for maintenance of a cap on property in Amarillo, for total trust funding of $52,080,000.

Notice of the settlement and information on how the public may comment has been published in both the Texas Register and the Federal Register. While both the state and federal comment periods on the settlement are currently closed, the comment period re-opened for the duration of the public meeting on May 11, 2009. At this public meeting, presentations were given by the U.S. Department of Justice, the  EPA, and the TCEQ.

Within the ASARCO bankruptcy, parties in that case have until April 6, 2009, to object to the settlement. A hearing on the settlement was held on May 18-19, 2009. The TCEQ has exchanged two expert's reports with other parties in the bankruptcy proceedings that support the $52 million cost figure for the settlement.

On May 14, 2009, TCEQ's responses to the comments received on the settlement were filed with the bankruptcy court. On May 15, 2009, the United States filed its responses to comments concerning the El Paso settlement as well as other environmental settlements under consideration by the bankruptcy court.

On June 5, 2009, the bankruptcy court approved the settlement agreement concerning the El Paso Smelter and the Amarillo Smelter Sites.  On November 13, 2009, the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division, issued an order confirming the plan of reorganization put forth by Americas Mining Corporation, the parent corporation of the debtor.  This plan implements the settlement referenced above that places $52,080,000 in an environmental custodial trust to address remedial activities.

The site began operations as a lead smelter in 1887. It was owned by Consolidated Kansas Smelting and Refining Company, which later merged with the American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO). ASARCO started producing copper in 1910, operated a Godfrey roaster for cadmium oxide productions in the 1930s, and constructed a slag fuming plant for zinc recovery in 1948. ASARCO added an antimony plant in 1970. The zinc plant was closed in 1982, the lead plant closed in 1985, the antimony plant shut down in 1986, and the cadmium plant was shut down in 1992. Most recently, in February 2009, the state air permit for the copper smelter was voided by the TCEQ at ASARCOs request. Figure 1 is an aerial photograph of the ASARCO El Paso smelter site.

In 1994 and 1995, after a series of compliance inspections, it was determined that unauthorized discharges of solid waste, wastewater, and storm water had occurred at the facility. The Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC; the immediate predecessor of the TCEQ) issued an Agreed Order. The Order instructed ASARCO to conduct a site characterization, define the horizontal and vertical extent of soil and groundwater contamination, and define the extent of contamination across property boundaries.

In October 1998, ASARCO completed the initial site investigation and submitted the report, ASARCO El Paso Copper Smelter Remedial Investigation Report, El Paso, Texas.

In April 1999, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Texas filed a civil enforcement action in federal district court that alleged ASARCO violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) by failing to properly manage hazardous waste and engaging in unlawful recycling practices. This action resulted in an April 1999 Consent Decree (H-99-1136) being entered in federal district court. In addition to addressing other ASARCO sites, the Consent Decree directed ASARCO to complete the corrective action work at the El Paso site under the 1996 State of Texas Agreed Order. The Consent Decree was subsequently modified in 2004.

On May 20, 2005, the TCEQ issued a Corrective Action Directive to ASARCO to conduct remedial action for the El Paso site. In 2005, ASARCO and related entities declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The bankruptcy case is still pending in federal court in Corpus Christi, Texas. TCEQ is working within the bankruptcy process to ensure that the El Paso site is addressed.

Off-site Activities and Information - EPA

The EPA has conducted off-site soil sampling and cleanup of residential yards. For more information, read the EPA’s Web page about ASARCO. 

The EPA has also posted a detailed map of sampling locations and residential cleanups.