El Paso, Texas, has a proud mining history. The smoke stack of the former ASARCO Smelter towers more than 800 feet over the site, and is perhaps the most recognisable built landmark of the city. Yet within a year, it will no longer exist.
For 15 years, the copper and lead manufacturing smelter has been closed. Now, Roberto Puga, the Site Custodial Trustee, is leading a team of talented people to safely demolish the smelter buildings and remediate the site eady for future use.
Roberto guided Geoff Wilkinson, Marty Howell [our host at the El Paso City Council], two Council representatives, two University of Texas El Paso lecturers and me around the site this afternoon.
We donned our high-viz safety jackets and explored the site, looking at some of the buildings which will be restored for the future, and the remainder are being removed, recycled and demolished. We looked at some of the site monitoring devices, and inspected old slag heaps [but not the most toxic].
Roberto is refreshingly open about what he is doing. He has put a lot of energy into working with the community so that they can see and understand what is being done. The site custodian's website, RecastingThe Smelter.com, provides up to date information on progress, and also provides candid responses to concerns raised by interested people. It's worth a look!
Not only is he ensuring demolition is undertaken safely, he is looking to maximise the amount of funding available for site remediation by smart marketing of site assets and working with local historical groups and UTEP to preserve historical records, both of the mine itself and the stories of the people who worked there.
He is also pushing to restore the arroyos, which is not a requirement of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality who have oversight of the project. His vision is for the arroyos [the old watercourses by the slag heaps] to be remediated to their natural state, with people using the space for informal recreation, walking and cycling. A recent El Paso Times reader's poll gave 80% support to undertake this restoration, even though it will cost more.
Thank you Roberto for showing us how to make an at times controversial project so accessible.