For the Sake of the Environment - Save the Stacks

Video courtesy of Capstone Productions

By now all of you have probably heard that City Council wants to preserve the stacks but not use any tax money or City indebtedness to do so. Read the Chris Roberts report. 

A few thoughts:

Tuesday revealed that Puga is not a straight-shooter. He claims that there are buyers for the land if there are no stacks. Of course, some investors may say that they are interested but that doesn't mean a contract. It's all speculation at this time.  In point of fact it will take several years to sell the land and that is plenty of time to work out financing which saves the stacks or do whatever. 

Puga claimed that the entire land had to be sold together. As he was questioned on Tuesday, that claim was modified. The point of the matter is that he has discretion to dispose of the property however he as Trustee sees fit.

I keep hearing that the TCEQ really wants to bring the stacks down. Why? Again, I smell a cover-up - the need for a perfect crime.

Many of my readers were adamant that the stacks be taken down either because they are an eyesore or from a motivation of getting rid of the contaminants. Although I share their motivation - all of us who love the environment are so motivated - I fear that bringing the stacks down won't save us and future generations from nasty contaminants, it will actually make it more likely that those contaminants will compromise the ground water and eventually make their way into the Americas Canal and the Rio Grande. 

There are some environmentalists (and I'm talking about trained biologists and geologists) who don't even want anyone walking over this land ever again. They won't agree with my suggestion that the stacks will be good for marketing potential commercial property and creating tourism. There's nasty stuff in those stacks. It has already been proven and admitted that chemicals used in warfare and radioactive wastes were burned there. HKN and Save the Stacks have demonstrated that the stacks are strong, straight and solid. Keep the poisons locked away rather than bringing them to the ground where, in time, they will contaminate our water supply.

Again the motive behind my reasoning is a love for the environment and the safety of humans and other living things. Unlike similar stacks that have been brought down around the country, the construction of the ASARCO stacks are totally different. Demolish and a malevolent jinn is out of the bottle. Our duty as stewards of the environment is to keep the beast locked up.

What is going to happen. The Byrd motion which passed when the Mayor joined 4 Council members to express the City's desire to keep the stacks will have some weight. What Puga needs to understand is that there are citizens who can find solutions and it will be good to work together. Now that we are talking about this issue in earnest, he may discover that many will realize that it will be much better environmentally to keep the strong, straight and solid stacks.

For the sake of our lives and health and the well-being of our environment I'm not going to leave this issue alone.

FMSP December 2012 Event and Hiking Schedule

Click on image to enlarge.

 Click on image to enlarge.

Save the Stacks!

There are several items of special interest on tomorrow’s City Council agenda. Let’s take them one by one.

Item 20D on the agenda could simply be called the Save the Stacks resolution. There are back-up documents including the resolution, a response from the Trustee, Robert Puga, a map, and a “review” of the HKN study which disputes the HKN findings that the stacks are “strong, straight and solid.” However, the HKN document itself is not provided with back-ups.  You can read the HKN report and executive summary on elpasonaturally.  I doubt seriously whether City Council members will read it by tomorrow as it is not part of the agenda back-up materials unless, of course, they read elpasonaturally.

Both the El Paso Inc. and the El Paso Times have done stories about the resolution and the City’s consideration of purchasing the stacks in order to save them. Those stories can be found here and here.  The obstacle seems to be Trustee Robert Puga’s insistence that the stacks be torn down come hell or high water. When citizens first were asked about the stacks, a majority voiced a desire to save them. Then it was announced that saving them would mean a $14Million price tag plus ongoing maintenance, liability, yada, yada, yada. The thrust of the HKN report is that saving the stacks will not mean a $14Million fix but only a $4Million fix. $10Million is the amount that Mr. Puga insists the City pay for the entire site since he hopes to prevent the City from buying just the stacks and the area around the stacks for a monument. It is this $10Million price tag that Puga now threatens the City Council with in an effort to carry out the plan to demolish the chimneys.  Some of the stacks supporters on the Council are willing to save the stacks but not buy the entire land. Frankly, I don’t know why City Attorneys can’t compel Puga to sell just the area with the stacks if he is going to continue to change the rules of the game.

The stacks are safe. They are historically significant. They are and can be objects of art. And they can be much more.

Imagine a commercial area with shops and restaurants. Call it “The Stacks”. Beckoning El Pasoans and eager tourists are two very tall chimneys artistically repainted. These chimneys become beacons of economic opportunity and development for the City of El Paso. They attract not just shoppers but millions of dollars of tax revenue for the City. What better marketing can you have then attractively decorated chimneys? Puga is wrong. Any developer or investor with any amount of imagination can see the value of keeping those stacks.  Historic smokestacks in Baltimore, San Antonio and Cleveland “have been converted into attractions that have generated revenue for their owners,” according to Robert Ardovino of Save the Stacks.

What happens if Puga and company drop the stacks? Two things: First, even though the stacks would be collapsed into a ditches created for them and dropped while huge water sprayers attempt to keep down most (but not all) of the dust, there is still the possibility of contamination now contained within the strong, solid and straight walls of the chimneys. Second, as elpasonaturally previously surmised, the “evidence” of more insidious contamination will be destroyed. Some future law suit which would benefit all not just the victims will be impossible, because the evidence of insidious contamination will have been destroyed – the crime scene compromised – the evidence now locked away in the chimneys forever gone.

Bottom line – Save the Stacks.  They are monuments now and can never be used again industrially – never.  Ask your City Council member to save the stacks and to read the HKN reports:

Ann Morgan Lilly: district1@elpasotexas.gov
Susie Byrd: district2@elpasotexas.gov
Emma Acosta: district3@elpasotexas.gov
Carl Robinson: district4@elpasotexas.gov
Dr. Michael Noe: district5@elpasotexas.gov
Eddie Holguin Jr.: district6@elpasotexas.gov
Steve Ortega: district7@elpasotexas.gov
Cortney Niland: district8@elpasotexas.gov
Mayor John Cook: mayor@elpasotexas.gov

Item 18 asks Council to approve the same resolution already passed by the PSB to make the Rio Bosque Wetlands Park part of the PSB’s holdings. The plan means more water for the Bosque and millions of dollars of eco-tourist dollars for El Paso. Read the Chris Robert’s El Paso Times story.  Also read Water Prospects Brighten in this month’s Rio Bosque news.

An issue that probably won’t go away any time soon is considered in item 20E. The issue in short is this: Although the City owns the land (and it is part of the PSB inventory and part of the NE Master Plan), the mineral rights beneath a square mile of the land are owned by the General Land Office of the State of Texas. They have agreed to lease that land to Jobe to quarry. Jobe currently operates a quarry adjacent to and north of this land. The Chris Roberts story in the Times provides good summary and insight. See the Council’s back-up material on this agenda item. There is a significant archaeological site on the land which raises the concern that the Texas Historical Commission may still object. Jobe will have to remediate the land that has extensive archaeological materials – something which may take time and great expense. The lease impacts the NE Master Plan. Although asked how much revenue the City may lose, Ed Archuleta, so far has not responded. Another keen observer calculates that the 900 acres of land lost at $35Thousand an acre will be a loss of $31.5Million in  income. If $300Thousand can be recouped each year from royalties, it will take 100 years to make up the difference. Jobe is currently doing a survey to determine how much and what part of the land will be quarried.

Items 14A and 14B are simply an update on the NW Master Plan/petition process.  “We’re finalizing the survey, Low Impact Development, and Dover Kohl regulating plan,” Carlos Gallinar told me.  “The PSB is still finalizing the deal with Texas Parks and Wildlife but still needs an official survey,” he said.  Gallinar will ask Council for one more postponement and will get its final report to council in early 2013.

Finally, an estimated 200 people packed the Mecca Lounge at Ardovino’s Desert Crossing yesterday to celebrate and pay tribute to the life of Kevin Von Finger. See some pictures. Be sure you read the best online tribute to Kevin written by Kevin Bixby of the Southwest Environmental Center.

Strong, Straight and Solid - the Engineering Reports

An engineering study by HKN of El Paso has concluded in the words of Robert Ardovino that the ASARCO stacks are "strong, straight and solid." As historic icons, architectural wonders and potential canvasses for future El Paso Southwest art, the stacks could become beacons of economic opportunity and development in El Paso.

One thing for sure: they can never be used again to burn insidious or any other kind of waste. They are monuments now and not industrial machines.

Here are the HKN reports not included in the back-up material for City Council members as they consider tomorrow a resolution to save the stacks

Structural Analysis of ASARCO Stacks HKN ASARCO Stack Report Engineering Report Executive Summary about ASARCO Smoke Stacks

May the Desert Flourish Where Your Footsteps Walked

An estimated 200 people packed into the Mecca Lounge of Ardovino's Desert Crossing yesterday to pay tribute to Kevin Von Finger. El Paso Preservationist, Bernie Sargent (known for his love of six guns and shady ladies), created a video tribute and "emceed" the event. Kevin's brother, Mark Finger of Chicago, greeted and thanked people for coming. Eddie Holland, a band member of The San Patricios, mused that a drone strike would have wiped out much of of the El Paso region's environmental activists. Kevin Bixby's tribute to Kevin in the Southwest Environmental Center's news says why Kevin was such a conservation champion - sui generis really.

Here are pictures from the event courtesy of Fred Eiland:

Bernie Sargent sets up the video tribute.

Jennifer Barr Ardovino eulogizes Kevin.

 A toast to Kevin

Mark Finger, Kevin's brother - center, visits with John Walton, r, and Maggie and John Moses

 Henry Drake and Marina Ardovino

 Robert Ardovino, left, makes a point with Jamie Ackerman.

Visiting and remembering 

Ardovino's always has excellent, beautiful service.

And this tribute from Bernie Sargent:

Strong, Straight and Solid - So Save the Stacks!

People often ask how I became a proponent of stack preservation.

My history with these stacks started at a young age, with orange skies on the school playground and the taste of sulfur in my mouth.  Many of my friends from this time are no longer here to share their unfortunate stories of how ASARCO affected them.  Inexplicable illness and mortality runs common through the lives of both former smelter workers and the people it affected.  For this reason, I joined a group that helped close ASARCO down – a historic day.

The stack is not just part of my history, but El Paso’s history. The stack represents thousands of families who bettered their lives through hard work, realizing the American dream here on our border. The smelter’s contributions led to the growth and development of our community, including support for the establishment of the Texas State School of Mines and Metallurgy, later Texas Western College, and now UTEP.

"The stacks are, I think, an important cultural icon in El Paso" - Robert Puga, ASARCO Site Custodial Trustee

El Pasoans recognize the importance of this history.  In June, 2010, an El Paso Times poll put 58% in favor of smokestack preservation.  Trustee Robert Puga stated that the turn-of-the-century Powerhouse would be saved during remediation of the site. Mr. Puga also said, “The stacks are, I think, an important cultural icon in El Paso.” 

"The stack is strong, straight and solid."

Then Mr. Puga wrongly asserted that stack preservation would cost $14 million.  Public attitudes changed on this information - released without an actual stack inspection. Save The Stacks formed, commissioning a $50,000+ engineering analysis of the stack, confirming the stack is strong, straight and solid.  Moreover, the cost of stack maintenance over the next 50 years is now estimated at $3 million – $11 million less than asserted.  Most importantly, the citizens of El Paso – through local funding and local efforts - have met all the requirements Mr. Puga had dictated for stack preservation. 

We should look at our history, actual facts, and public opinion, and weigh all this against an outside interest – namely, the Trust led by Robert Puga – which has no background in El Paso, no interest in preserving our history, and no interest in saving our landmarks.  Even the historic Powerhouse is now slated for demolition. Why commit historic landmarks for demolition?  The Bottom Line.  The Trust thinks it will make more money by selling land free of buildings.  This is not local taxpayer money; it is money associated with ASARCO’s bankruptcy. 

"In other communities . . . historic smokestacks have been converted into attractions that generate revenue for their owners."

In other communities – such as San Antonio, Baltimore, and Cleveland - historic smokestacks have been converted into attractions that generate revenue for their owners. In El Paso, the decisions of outsiders cannot dictate our future.

In 2011, strong city leaders approved a comprehensive plan for a more vibrant El Paso - an El Paso with a vision that is Strong, Straight, and Solid. Recent elections reaffirmed its relevance.  Plan El Paso calls for “restoration and strategic repair of historic structures, which can serve as valuable tourism opportunities. Use these buildings and include new ones to create a rich cultural center for residents and visitors. Museums could potentially honor the History of Asarco and those who worked there, and the industrial heritage of The United States and Mexico.”

We have presented a concept of how this landmark is destined to be recognized as a Historic Monument, memorializing not only the former smelter workers but all the citizens of the region it has affected. 

The tallest monument in the United States is the St. Louis arch, at 630 feet.  The second is the San Jacinto Monument, at 570 feet.  Strong, Straight, and Solid, our monument stands 826 feet Tall!

"Let us keep our history, and not give up that right to one person who has no stake in our community." 

On Tuesday, please support City Council by asking them to stand up for our heritage. Let us keep our history, and not give up that right to one person who has no stake in our community.  We must stand strong, straight and solid in support of what is Our History, and demand that this Stack – our monument - remain.

by Robert Ardovino, leader of many environmental causes in El Paso and Sunland Park, and owner of Ardovino's Desert Crossing with his sister, Marina.

Support the Conservation Easement Incentive

Saving Land: Something We Can All Agree On

Dear Editor:

The Frontera Land Alliance had a recent workshop that discussed the tax incentives that landowners may benefit from if they place their land under a conservation agreement. When December 31^st comes, those incentives might be gone if congress does not take action.

Unless Congress acts in the next few weeks, we will be left without something that benefits everyone in our community. Despite remarkable bipartisan support, we may lose an important tax incentive that helps protect clean water, natural areas and working family farms and ranches.  The incentive enhances the federal tax benefits for landowners of modest means who donate conservation easements.  These agreements help conserve natural resources important to west Texas while keeping land in productive private ownership.

The enhanced incentive has proven effective, helping land trusts across the country increase the pace of conservation by a third – to over a million acres per year. The Frontera Land Alliance joins America’s 1,700 land trusts and their five million supporters in calling on Congress to make this important conservation tool permanent this year.

We encourage our local Representative and Senators to find a way to extend the conservation easement incentive as part of any year-end tax deal. Thanks to thoughtful landowners and responsible action in Congress, we'll be able to conserve even more natural and working land in west Texas for years to come

Janae’ Reneaud Field

Executive Director 

To take action, visit the Land Trust Alliance now.