Asarco Pays $1.79 Billion to Fix Site

By Leslie Kaufman

Sourse: New York Times

It was announced on Thursday that after a four year battle a mining company has paid the government $1.79 billions to settle the claims for hazardous waste pollution about nineteen states. The American Smelting and Refining Company, or Arsaco, was the nation’s largest environmental bankruptcy settlement. The company was blamed for illegally getting rid of chemicals and polluting the states instead of getting rid of it properly. The deal required the cooperation of the Justice, Interior and Agriculture Departments as well as the Environmental Protection Agency. At a news conference, officials were jubilant about the outcome. According to the main facts of the lawsuit the government was asking for 3. 6 billion dollars and when the company filed for bankruptcy in the year 2005 they didn’t expect to get a lot of money out of it, but the reality was higher then their expectations.

This demonstrates that just because a company goes into bankruptcy doesn’t mean it will avoid its responsibilities,” some people said. The settlement money is already being distributed to pay off cleanup and restoration at more than 80 contaminated sites. The largest single payment, $436 million, went to clean up a toxic mine site in the Coeur d’Alene Basin in Idaho.A trust for overseeing the cleanup of a smelter site in Omaha that spewed lead over 27 square miles of surrounding water and soil received $219 million. In all, said Mathew V. Stanislaus, assistant administrator for solid waste and emergency response at the Environmental Protection Agency, the money will cover the cleanup of 10.5 million cubic feet of soil and 5 million cubic yards of water “enough to fill 1,500 Olympic-size swimming pools.”

This relates to earth science because it shows how human actions affect all of us and therefore we must take into consideration al of our surroundings when making choices. It also relates to earth science because it portrays how difficult and expensive it is to reverse the negative effects that we produce to the planet even when we don’t have the certainty that the money we are spending will provide a definite solution to the problem. I believe this should be an awakening to all, so that we see the need and importance of making proper choices to keep and preserve our planet.