El Paso’s role in the once mighty metal smelting industry preserved at UTEP library

For more than 100 years the American Smelting and Refining Company, ASARCO, loomed large on the El Paso landscape. From its purchase of a copper refining plant in Smeltertown in 1910 until its massive towers were demolished in 2013, ASARCO was a major icon of El Paso’s role in the history of the mining industry. In this video, Borderzine multimedia reporter Ariadne Venegas walks us through the UT El Paso library exhibit on the history and impact of El Paso’s metal ore processing operations with ASARCO. Former employees share their memories of working at the plant.

A panoramic picture shows Interstate 10 right after the smokestacks fall. The cloud of dust followed the same path. (Sarah Duenas/Borderzine.com)

A pang of sorrow hit as the ASARCO smokestacks came tumbling down

EL PASO – The skyline in El Paso changed forever on Saturday April 13 when the two ASARCO smokestacks imploded leaving an empty space, a day prior to the demolition of City Hall. The stacks fell in slow motion, as if slowly saying goodbye to their longtime home. Viewing the demolition from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) parking lot across from Interstate 10, I reflected on the experience I had writing a story on the last-ditch efforts to save the stacks. The stacks had a profound historical impact on the city and many people wanted to stop the demolition. The first event I attended was a protest lead by El Paso AWARE, an organization that focused on stopping the demolition until proper testing was done.

Protestors wore red and white shirts or masks at an April 6 protest. (Sarah A. Duenas/Borderzine.com)

Protesters make last-ditch effort to save El Paso’s ASARCO smokestacks

EL PASO – A large red and white striped flag waved in the wind as protestors made last-ditch efforts to stop the demolition of the ASARCO smokestack, which was erected in 1966 by the bankrupt copper smelting company. After the plant was closed, the City Council decided on December 5, 2012 to take it and a second smaller chimney down. Because of environmental concerns and the company’s more than 100-year history in El Paso, protests ensued. The stacks are scheduled for demolition on April 13 at 6:30 a.m., but two groups – Save the Stacks and El Paso AWARE – are making last minute efforts to save the two structures. Geoffrey Wright, president of the Save the Stacks, said that the group has received support from various sources.

In learning about my family and Smelter Town, I found out that my great, great grandma is buried in Smelter cemetary. (Ernie Chacon/Borderzine.com)

Smelter Town – a personal look at a ghost town firmly embedded in El Paso history

EL PASO  – Smelter Town, a deserted ghost town on the north side of the Rio Grande inhabited for a century starting in the late 1880s by residents who worked for the copper smelting company that would become ASARCO has no inhabitants but is loaded with history. I was born in the late 1980s and I had heard stories from my grandma about her time living in Smelter Town when I was young. Of course, then I was a child who didn’t care about any of those things. I just wanted to play videogames, or run around outside pretending I was Indiana Jones with my rope which I imagined was the famous whip from the movies. I do remember news stories that were being reported about ASARCO in the 90s.

UTEP interested in ASARCO property

El PASO, Texas — After many years of contaminating the El Paso-Ciudad Juarez community, Asarco is promising to clean up its mess. The land is highly polluted and will need an estimated $52 million to complete the project, according to Karl McElhaney, a spokesman for Senator Silvestre Reyes. Once the property is decontaminated, the University of Texas at El Paso may be interested in purchasing a parcel of land. Richard Adauto III, UTEP Executive Vice President for Advancement and Oversight, says UTEP has already started talking with the Custodial Trustee, Roberto Puga, in charge of the Asarco cleaning up project. “We are interested in getting the part of ASARCO’s property that is across Interstate 10 from the plant, but we need to wait for them to do their environmental research first”, Adauto says.