Local Issues: Soil Contamination - ASARCO

Biggest Environmental Issue Facing Omaha: ASARCO

by Melissa Gardner

Picture postcard of the American Smelting and “Roofing” (actually Refining) Co., Omaha, Nebraska, from 1915. Found in an antique shop in Oklahoma by Rick Galusha.

In the very near future, the Omaha City Council will be asked to vote on the biggest environmental issue that has faced the city of Omaha in the past 25 years. It involves ASARCO Corp., a name that hopefully most of you are familiar with. ASARCO is a multi-billion dollar international corporation and one of the world’s largest producers of nonferrous metals: copper, lead, zinc, and silver. They have 38 mining operations in seven states, and operations in 18 countries outside of the United States. They have a long history of environmental problems in many states other than Nebraska.

For almost 100 years, ASARCO operated a lead refinery in downtown Omaha, next to the Missouri River. During this time they discharged massive quantities of toxic levels of lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals into the city’s air, the Missouri River and in and around their 23-acre site. Even though federal environmental statutes were put into effect in the early 1970s, ASARCO never complied with them, and in the process, saved millions of dollars in operating costs. In 1997, after being successfully sued by two Bellevue citizens, ASARCO chose to close its Omaha plant, rather than spend the $40 million it would have taken to bring the facility in compliance with federal air standards for lead.

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) is the state agency charged with protecting the health, safety and welfare of Nebraska citizens and our environment. NDEQ has a 15-year history of not making ASARCO comply with federal environmental statutes designed to protect citizens and our environment. Although NDEQ knew as early as 1982 that ASARCO was discharging toxic pollutants into the Missouri River, they never brought an enforcement action to stop them, nor did they ever require ASARCO to install interim treatment, even though the technology for such treatment was readily available on the open market. In fact, NDEQ never issued ASARCO a clean water act permit (as required by federal law) until after ASARCO had been sued by private citizens.

We give you this information about ASARCO and NDEQ to impress upon you how much we need your help. Unfortunately, it is usually left up to local citizens like you to ensure that federal environmental laws are complied with and that the health, safety and welfare of local citizens and the environment are protected. This is your chance to make a difference, to make Omaha a cleaner and safer place for your children and all future generations. Now is the time to act, we need your help!

Your City Council member was elected to represent the wants and needs of the people in your district. Please, write your City Council member. Your letter will make a difference! Let him know that you are strongly against the ASARCO/ Mayor Daub proposal for disposition of the ASARCO site for four main reasons: 1) It would subject Omaha taxpayers to overwhelming potential financial liability for future clean-up costs; 2) The proposed cap is inadequate as it will not stop the discharge of toxic groundwater from the site into the Missouri River, a source of public drinking water; 3) The plan proposes to leave huge quantities of the contamination as is. Using the land as a park is a great idea, but let’s have the site properly cleaned up FIRST. We want a safe and non-toxic park; 4) We think ASARCO, and not the Omaha taxpayers, should take responsibility to clean up the mess they made and profited by. This is what is required under federal law, and ASARCO as a multi-billion dollar corporation can afford to clean up after themselves and has done so in other states. Why not Omaha?

If you get a letter back from your City Council member, please send it to Mark Welsch, 5611 Howard St., Omaha, NE 68106-1257.

Please talk to everyone you can about this upcoming ASARCO vote. Share the written information we have given you with friends, family, neighbors and co-workers. If you want a copy of our ASARCO fact sheet and ASARCO action package please call Melissa Gardner 556-5198 or Mark Welsch 558-0463.

We do not know when Mayor Daub will submit the ASARCO issue to the City Council. However, when he does, we will notify by postcard all Sierra Club members as to when the public hearing will be held. Please plan on attending this public meeting. Your presence will make a difference! After the public hearing, the issue will be voted on at the next weekly City Council meeting.