Superfund Work at 40 Sites in Jeopardy as Funding Dries Up
Contractors are likely to be stung in a funding mess now playing out at 40 Asarco Superfund sites across the U.S. Water and/or soil are contaminated with arsenic, copper and lead from smelting operations, but the firm has only $125 million to pay for $500 million in cleanups.
Old mines and smelters helped build the Guggenheim family fortune over a century ago when Meyer Guggenheim gained control of the American Smelting and Refining Co. Mexico City-based Grupo Mexico bought Asarcos remaining assets in 1999 and has been battling mounting losses and ducking cleanup responsibilities ever since (ENR 3/25 p. 12).