Food Pantries Open in Kearny, Tucson and Amarillo
Leaders from the Arizona AFL-CIO, MALF, USW and Teamsters open Local 915’s food pantry.
Thanks to support from the Arizona AFL-CIO, the Maricopa Area Labor Federation (MALF) and local churches, a food pantry has been established at the USW Local 915 union hall in Kearny.
Leaders from the Arizona AFL-CIO, MALF, USW and Teamsters open Local 915’s food pantry.
The pantry will be open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Strikers and their families in the Copper Basin can come down to the union hall and pick up a bag of groceries
Strikers in the Tucson area can access the food pantry operating out of the IBW Local 570 hall at 750 S. Tucson Boulevard in Tucson.
In Amarillo, USW Local 5613 operates a food pantry at the union hall Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is also available on an as-needed basis outside of those hours.
Union Files MSHA Complaint in Hayden
A union miners’ representative at Hayden has filed a complaint with MSHA concerning Asarco's failure to suppress dust from the tailings, potentially exposing the community to hazardous, airborne contaminants, including lead.
In 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Finding of Violation (FOV) to Asarco LLC when finding the Hayden facility to be in violation National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESAP)
and the Clean Air Act (CAA) for failing to operate in accordance to requirements described for a major source facility.
After Asarco spent years denying these allegations, a consent decree was filed on December 30, 2015 in United States v. ASARCO LLC, No. CV-15-02206-PHX-DLR (D. Ariz.).
Under the consent decree, in order to reduce fugitive emissions, Asarco agreed to create a "Fugitive Dust Plan" and operate in compliance with the plan.
Fugitive emissions are emissions from activities such as materials handling and storage that cannot be reasonably passed through a vent, stack, or chimney system to reduce emissions.
Maintaining the roadways, ramps, and slopes in accordance to MSHA standards are key in Asarco’s ability to keep the Tailings/Stock Pile compliant to the fugitive dust plan.
The complaint filed with MSHA alleges that Asarco is currently not compliant with portions of the Fugitive Dust Plan relating to the condition of the roadways, ramps, and slopes of the Tailings/Stock Pile.
Asarco needs to be accountable and operate in a responsible manner. We will continue to document and report credible non-compliant conditions as they come to our attention.
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