An Interview with Dr.Staudt...

She Answers...

In your eyes, what is ASARCO?

A copper smelting, heavy industrial operation that started at the outskirts of El Paso , but is now located inside the city, next door to our good-neighbor country ( Mexico ) with which the U.S. has signed the La Paz Treaty, an important environmental agreement. La Paz also gives Mexico a voice on environmental issues close to the border. Mexico also suffered the consequences of ASARCO’s pollution on its people and soil.

Is ASARCO bad,why?

In its past, ASARCO was a polluter, with likely negative effects on health and soil on both sides of the border.

How has ASARCO affected your life?

When I first moved to El Paso for work at UTEP in 1977, I remember tasting sulfur in the air on polluted days. I remember waking up in the morning after ASARCO released ‘who-knows-what’ in the air, so much so that it was like a fog on the west side of El Paso. As someone who specializes in government, the re-opening of ASARCO symbolizes much of what is unhealthy for our democracy: government-business collusion, no matter the preferences of the vast majority of ordinary people.

Should we keep ASARCO closed?

I believe ASARCO should remain closed, as do the majority of El Pasoans and virtually all of El Paso ’s public representatives.