Document RaKQL8Nk7xdqv2Bm5GmryoxnB

Mar ch 27, 1972 El Paso Smel t er Envi r onment al Lead Pr obl em A l awsui t now bei ng t r i ed i n t he 41st Di st r i ct Cour t 'i . ! . <*.' of El Paso, Texas, i s of i nt er est and i mpor t ance t o al l oper at or s of smel t er s and r ef i ner i es. Fol l owi ng i s a br i ef descr i pt i on of t he event s l eadi ng t o t he t r i al and of t he pr oceedi ngs t hus' f ar . .. I|n ear l y 1970, t he Ci t y of El Paso and t he St at e of ! ' Texas f i l ed sui t agai nst ASARCO' s El Paso smel t er al l egi ng vi ol at i ons of r egul at i ons pr omul gat ed by t he Texas Ai r Cont r ol Boar d. A hear i ng was hel d i n May, 1970, and ASARCO was di r ect ed -, t o car r y , out cer t ai n pr oj ect s t o cont r ol i t s l ow l evel or '' f ugi t i ve" par t i cl e emi ssi ons. I n addi t i on, ASARCO was di r ect ed by t he Texas Ai r Cont r ol Boar d i n t he Fal l of 1970 t o r epor t each of i t s vi ol at i ons of SO2 ambi ent ai r st andar ds, measur ed by i t s bwn moni t or i ng i nst r ument s, pr ompt l y t o Ci t y and St at e ai r agenci es. The Ci t y cont i nued t o pr ess i t s sui t . On f i ndi ng t hat ASARCO st ack emi ssi ons i ncl uded l ead, cadmi um, and ar seni c oxi des whi ch escaped compl et e col l ect i on by baghouses and N6116 L- el ect r ost at i c pr eci pi t at or s, t he or i gi nal compl ai nt ci t i ng excessi ve l ow l evel par t i cl es and S02 was amended t o i ncl ude a c'nar g^ of emi t t i ng t oxi c subst ances. The Ci t y Heal t h Depar t ment col l ect ed mor e t han t wo ' hundr ed| bl ood sampl es f r om El Paso r esi dent s and anal yzed t he ' sampl es! f or l ead, i n or der t o det er mi ne i f l ead emi ssi ons had . caused gener al l y el evat ed bl ood l ead concent r at i ons among t he ci t i zen^. The sampl i ng f ai l ed t o show any such gener al pr obl em, but el evat ed bl ood l ead l evel s wer e f ound i n some chi l dr en l i vi ng i n Smel per t own, a 100- f ami l y, l ow- i ncome communi t y on a nar r ow st r i p of l and bet ween t he hi ghway i mmedi at el y t o t he west of ASARCO' s pl ant and t he Ri o Gr ande Ri ver and about 80 f eet bel ow t he l evel of smel t er l and. ' ASARCO f i r st l ear ned about t he Smel t er t own si t uat i on dur i ng a pr e- t r i al deposi t i on on Febr uar y 19, 1972. We wer e sur pr i sed by t he di scl osur e and at once began our own i nvest i gat i on whi ch gener al l y conf i r med t he Ci t y' s f i ndi ng. Most of t he chi l dr en under ei ght year s ol d had bl ood l evel concent r at i ons above t he nor mal r ange. Ol der chi l dr en and adul t s had essent i al l y nor mal bl ood l evel s. The nar r ow st r eet s and smal l yar ds wher e chi l dr en, pl ayed i n Smel t er t own wer e cover ed wi t h l oose, dr y, dust y soi l . Young chi l dr en mi ght have i ngest ed enough di r t and i nhal ed enough 3 dust f r om t he st r eet s and yar ds t o cause a pr obl em i f t he soi l wei j .e l ead- cont ami nat ed. Anal yses r eveal ed l ead i n var yi ng concent r at i ons gener al l y i n t he r ange of 0. 5% and i n t wo cases sampl es j showi ng over 1%. Al so, ol d, peel i ng pai nt i n. a f ew homes cont ai ned up t o 8. 4% l ead. The Ci t y f ound i mpr oper l y l ead- gl qzed f oodwar e i n use. Ai r bor ne l ead may have been . cont r i but ed f r om heavy t r af f i c on t he mai n hi ghway, f r om . vehi cl es] movi ng on t he. dust y r oads wi t hi n. Smel t er t own, and f r om t he; ASARCO pl ant . These cont r i but i ons ar e now bei ng eval uat ej d. . t1 ASARCO t ook i mmedi at e act i on, t o r educe l ead exposur es by r emovj i ng al l l oose soi l f r om t he st r eet s. Roadways wer e swept and wet down wi t h soi l bi nder s t o suppr ess dust i ng. Yar d soi | l i s bei ng r emoved and r epl aced wi t h l ead- f r ee soi l . Par ent s wer e war ned of t he danger s of soi l and pai nt i ngest i on by chi l dr en and wer e t ol d t he r esul t s of t hei r chi l dr en' s bl ood anal yses; . Par ent s of chi l dr en havi ng bl ood l ead l evel s of 40 or mot e mi cr ogr ams per 100 gr ams of whol e bl ood wer e ur ged t o have t hei r chi l dr en exami ned ei t her by t he Ci t y- Count y heal t h aut hor i t i es, or anot her pedi at r i ci an at ASARCO' s expense. The Ci t y Heal t h Depar t ment had t est ed t went y chi l dr en and had Or der ed medi cal exami nat i ons of ni ne or t en havi ng t he hi ghest bl ood l eads. None was f ound t o have cl i ni cal sympt oms of l ead i nt oxi cat i on but some wer e subsequent l y hospi t al i zed f or obser vat i on and f i nal l y r ecei ved i nt r amuscul ar i nj ect i ons of BALt- EDTA t o pr omot e l ead excr et i on. About 25 of t he hi gh l ead chi l dr en di scover ed by ASARCO' s compl et e sur vey have been hospi t al i zed and t r eat ed but wer e al so asympt omat i c, Al l chi l dr en admi t t ed t o t he hospi t al ei t her have been r el eased, or ar e schedul ed t o be r el eased wi t hi n a f ew days of t hei r admi t t ance. - ASARCO bel i eves t hat Smel t er t own soi l was t he pr i nci pal sour ce of l ead exposur e. However , an ext ensi ve ai r moni t or i ng pf ogr ar f i wi t h sever al t ypes of i nst r ument s i s now i n pr ogr ess. Ther e ar e no st at e or l ocal emi ssi on or ambi ent ai r st andar ds f or l ead appl i cabl e i n El Paso. Ambi ent ai r st andar ds adopt ed by ot her U. S. j ur i sdi ct i on have r anged f r om. 1. 5 t o 10 mi cr ogr ams per cubi c met er , 30- day aver age. The act ual saf e concent r/at i on or concent r at i ons not causi ng si gni f i cant bl ood l ead r i ses i n. chi l dr en have not been pr eci sel y det er mi ned. The Enyii r onm.ent al Pr ot ect i on Agency, i n a r ecent publ i cat i on on addi t i ves t o gasol i ne, has suggest ed 2 mi cr ogr ams per cubi c i' met er , aver aged over 90 days or l onger , as a saf e at mospher i c l ead l qvel . I t i s not known whet her t hi s suggest i on wi l l f i nd accept ance gener al l y i n. t he sci ent i f i c communi t y. . - 5- / / ASARCO has moni t or ed SO2 and ai r bor ne l ead, cadmi um, and ar seni c i n cer t ai n sect i ons of El Paso f or many year s. The l ead concent r at i ons have been of t he or der of one i _' . mi cr og^am i n r esi dent i al ar eas and t wo mi cr ogr ams i n busi ness sect i ons wi t h heavy t r af f i c. These l evel s ar e common i n U. S. ci t i es. ; . Ai r moni t or i ng has not been done i n t he past i n Smel t er t own. . .. As a r esul t of t he di scover y of l ead absor pt i on among young chi l dr en i n Smel t er t own, t he emphasi s of t he sui t agai nst ASARCO has shi f t ed away f r om vi ol at i ons of SO2 and par t i cul at e r egul at i ons. The char ges now i ncl ude t hat of bei ng a publ i c nui sance and t he- i ni t i al demands of t he Ci t y- St at e at t or neys i ncl ude a cl ai m f or a one mi l l i on dol l ar f i ne and t hat ASARCO be r eqpi r ed t o shut down oper at i ons at t he cl ose of t he case f or so l ong as necessar y t o i nst al l f ur t her , t hough unspeci f i ed, emi ssi qn cont r ol s. ]Kfo l egal st eps t o ef f ect i mmedi at e shut - down of t he smel t er have been t aken, by t he Ci t y or St at e. However , we have announced our i nt ent i on t o st op oper at i ons i f our i nvest i gat i on shows oper at i ons cannot be cont i nued wi t hout j eopar di zi ng t he publ i c heal t h by r eason of l ead emi ssi ons. We hope and bel i eve t hat measur es al r eady t aken have ! _ r educed l ead i nt ake of Smel t er t own chi l dr en. Anot her r ound of 6 bl ood anal yses t o begi n shor t l y may pr ovi de an answer . We f ur t her Rel i eve t hat f ut ur e, si gni f i cant cont ami nat i on of I. ' t he ar ea' i s ai r and soi l can be pr event ed. An al l - out ef f or t i s bei ng j made t o r educe mi scel l aneous f ugi t i ve emi ssi ons f r om t he pl anf . As a f ur t her move t owar d el i mi nat i ng f ut ur e pr obl ems jj we ar e expl or i ng wi t h Ci t y of f i ci al s ways of f i ndi ng ot her homes f or Smel t er t own r esi dent s.