Expert: Asarco demolition less of a concern to environment than leaving it standing

The ASARCO demolition has sent some into a panic over the possible environmental effects or health hazards.

Many question the impact the demolition could have on the borderland's water supply.

Experts told KFOX14, it's highly unlikely there will be any impact at all.

Hydrologist and The University of Texas at El Paso professor of civil engineering, John Walton said the old smelter site currently does more environmental harm than dropping the stacks could do. "When we take down the stacks we will see a little puff of dust but I think that contamination is small compared to what we've seen in the past," said Walton.

Walton said, thanks to the drought, El Paso's water supply is not coming from the Rio Grande at this time so any dust or debris from the demolition will not affect the water that comes through your tap.

El Paso Water Utilities confirms they are not using any river water at this time.

In the rare case contaminates do somehow settle on the riverbank and then make it into our water supply, Walton said EPWU testing would prevent it from ever coming through your tap.

"They test the water before it ever goes in the pipes to make sure it's safe to drink," said Walton.

But Walton said the bigger issue is the large body of contaminated groundwater underneath the ASARCO site itself that has more than a century's accumulation of arsenic, lead and other heavy metal in it.

"Now they have plans to try to clean up that groundwater, but they don't have enough funding and it's almost technically impossible to completely clean it up. So there will be some residual amount of contamination from the groundwater for hundreds, perhaps thousands of years in the future," said Walton.

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Expert: Asarco demolition less of a concern to environment than leaving it standing