Save the Stacks effort falls short; ASARCO stacks to be demolished in 2013

Roberto Puga, Custodial Trustee of the ASARCO Trust, issued a statement Wednesday, Dec. 5 commending the Save the Stacks Group for all of their hard work during the past 13 months.

“Their passion for saving the stacks is truly admirable,” he stated. “However, because a feasible proposal for saving the stacks, meeting the important criteria that the Trust set forth last year, was not submitted to the Trust, the Trust is resuming the planning for the stacks’ demolition.”

The deadline for an agreement for the purchase of the property to save the site was Dec. 4.

“The Trust Agreement and Settlement Agreement, which provides the Trust with the specific work which may be done and structures how monies shall be spent, does not include provisions for funding either the preservation or rehabilitation of the structural integrity of the stacks, or their long term care or maintenance, nor for the disposition of any real property for less than fair market value. Therefore
there is no unilateral action the Trust can take to save the stacks,” Puga stated.

The Trust’s engineering team will convene shortly and will produce a schedule for the demolition activities. The schedule will be published on www.RecastingTheSmelter.com and a public meeting to discuss the demolition process will be scheduled for 1st Quarter 2013.