WHEREAS, ASARCO contaminated the all of the cities of the Paso del Norte region on both sides of the U.S./Mexican border for many, many years; and
WHEREAS, during the last several years it operated the smelter secretly burned hazardous waste; and
WHEREAS, ASARCO’s smelter is located just upstream from the point that the City of El Paso takes its water supply during the months from March through October; and
WHEREAS, ASARCO is located on top of the aquifer from which El Paso, TX, Sunland Park, NM and Ciudad Juarez, MX takes its water supply; and
WHEREAS, ASARCO incurred massive civil and criminal liabilities as a result of its operations; and
WHEREAS, ASARCO concealed both the contamination and the public health hazards that resulted from that contamination from its neighbors on both sides of the U.S/Mexican border; and
WHEREAS, ASARCO compromised federal, state and local officials on both sides of the border and these officials have breached their positions of trust and have helped ASARCO conceal its massive liabilities from the people of the Paso del Norte Region who have suffered the damage from ASARCO’s operations; and
WHEREAS, a group of powerful individuals acquired ownership of ASARCO, stripped it of its assets, then fraudulently utilized the United States Bankruptcy Court to conceal its true liabilities; and
WHEREAS, throughout the bankruptcy proceeding ASARCO, with the help of compromised federal, state and local officials concealed the true nature and extent of the contamination of both Corpus Christi, Texas, and the Paso del Norte Region; and
WHEREAS, as a result of the fraudulent bankruptcy proceedings the enormous costs of cleaning up the contamination and the enormous costs of caring for the individuals that ASARCO has poisoned have been dumped upon the communities of the Paso del Norte Region; and
WHEREAS, citizens of the Paso del Norte Region have come into possession of evidence that proves that both ASARCO and federal, state and local officials are concealing both the nature and impact of ASARCO’s contamination and have asked, time and time again, that the evidence be addressed by un-conflicted individuals; and
WHEREAS, the requests to address the evidence include:
A letter dated October 26, 2006, from the Sunland Park Grassroots Environmental Group to New Mexico’s Governor Bill Richardson which is attached (without exhibits) as Appendix 1 to this Resolution.
An e-mail entitled “EMERGENCY NOTICE OF FRAUD IN ASARCO’S BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDING” dated October 16, 2007, from the Sunland Park Grassroots Group to the United States Trustee assigned to the ASARCO bankruptcy proceeding, with copies to various attorneys participating in the proceeding, including the attorney representing ASARCO; and
WHEREAS, each and every official, including the Governor of New Mexico, the United has ducked, dodged and stonewalled requests to address the evidence that was presented to them; and
WHEREAS, the conduct of such officials, each of whom had a duty to address the evidence, is an admission that they cannot address the evidence because the evidence is true; and
WHEREAS, the efforts by corrupted public officials to stonewall the evidence exposing ASARCO’s contamination will continue unless the organizations such as those represented by the delegates of the 2010 National Latino Congress come to the aid of the residents of the Paso del Norte Region;
1. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the organizations represented by the delegates of the 2010 National Latino Congress strongly urge all federal state and local officials who are a part of the decision-making process relating to the ASARCO past and future operations to; and
2. FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the organizations represented by the delegates of the 2010 National Latino Congress strongly urge all federal state and local officials who are a part of the decision-making process relating to the ASARCO past and future operations to remove each and every individual who either knew, or should have known, that ASARCO’s contamination of the Paso del Norte Region (or any other community) was being concealed from its neighbors be removed from the decision making process because they have potential conflicts of interest; and
3. FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the organizations represented by the delegates of the 2010 National Latino Congress strongly urge all federal state and local officials who are a part of the decision-making process relating to the ASARCO past and future operations to ensure that a judicial officer who has participated in any aspect of the ASARCO bankruptcy proceeding be provided with a copy of the EMERGENCY NOTICE OF FRAUD IN THE ASARCO BANKRUPTCY PROCEEDING; and
4. FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the organizations represented by the delegates of the 2010 National Latino Congress strongly urge all federal state and local officials who are a part of the decision-making process relating to the ASARCO past and future operations to ensure that both ASARCO and federal, state and local officials come clean and make a full disclosure of the evidence that has been concealed from the public, why it was concealed, and who concealed the evidence; and
5. FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the organizations represented by the delegates of the 2010 National Latino Congress strongly urge all federal state and local officials who are a part of the decision-making process relating to the ASARCO past and future operations to ensure that an environmental assessment is made by independent scientists and engineers of each community of the Paso del Norte Region that was impacted by ASARCO’s operations; and
6. FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the organizations represented by the delegates of the 2010 National Latino Congress strongly urge all federal state and local officials who are a part of the decision-making process relating to the ASARCO past and future operations to ensure that each individual whose health has been adversely impacted by ASARCO’s contamination be treated and fairly compensated; and
7. FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the organizations represented by the delegates of the 2010 National Latino Congress strongly urge all federal state and local officials who are a part of the decision-making process relating to the ASARCO past and future operations to ensure that each community that has been adversely impacted by ASARCO’s contamination has a voice as well as the ability to be certain that the items A through E have been complied with; and
8. FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED that the organizations represented by the delegates of the 2010 National Latino Congress strongly urge all federal state and local officials who are a part of the decision-making process relating to the ASARCO past and future operations to ensure that items A through F take place without further delay.
en Estados Unidos multiplican acciones de cabildeo en el Congreso para pedir a los senadores que introduzcan modificaciones al proyecto de ley de reforma migratoria que resolvieron comenzar a debatir el lunes.
