Snuffing Asarco

From the El Paso Times staff editorial:

There appears to be new hope that Asarco will not reopen its copper smelter in El Paso, no thanks to our own state agency, but thanks to the federal government. Indications are the Environmental Protection Agency will soon greatly tighten health standards for allowable airborne lead -- cutting back 93 percent. (...)

We've long said that Asarco is an outdated early 20th-century smoke-belching beast that should not be allowed to operate amid populated areas. Medical data show, according to an Associated Press report Thursday, that lead can be inhaled or ingested after it settles out of the air. It's rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. It adversely affects many human organs.

We received no help from our own state in keeping El Pasoans healthy. We applaud the actions of the EPA, and hope new lead emission standards will allow for permanent closure of Asarco in El Paso.