Smeltertown

In 1881, ASARCO, the American Smelting and Refining Company, began building a smelting complex in El Paso that would eventually process lead, copper and zinc from mines across Mexico and the Southwestern U.S. The plant became a major and long-term employer and economic dynamo for the area.

However, by 1970 the plant was entangled in litigation with the City of El Paso and the State of Texas for sulfur dioxide and dust violations. Further investigations revealed serious lead and arsenic contamination, with extensive health problems in the adjoining Smeltertown neighborhood. In 1973, ASARCO evicted Smeltertown residents, and bulldozed the community.

By 2005, ASARCO had declared bankruptcy, and the trustee overseeing the abandoned site determined that the plant’s 612-foot and 828-foot stacks stood in the way of the site’s cleanup and eventual redevelopment, and would be too costly to maintain and insure. On April 13, 2013, 300 pounds of dynamite were used to collapse the structures, leaving little visual evidence of the site’s 130-year history.