Our first El Paso Witness Seminar was held from 2:30-5:30 pm on Saturday, August 3, 2013, in the Maud Sullivan Room at the El Paso Public Library, 501 North Oregon Street in El Paso, Texas.

Welcome and Introductions (23 minutes):

Brief words of welcome from moderator Christopher Sellers. Everyone around the table introduces themselves.

Opening Statements by Seminar Leaders (starting 00:23:20; 19 minutes):

What event or development stands out the most in your recollections of the last 25 years of smelter—community relations, and why?

Statements by Carlos Rodriguez, Jorge Villalobos, Joe Pinon, Bill Addington.

Commentary by Others (starting 00:42:01; 8 minutes)

Advantages/Disadvantages of Having Smelter in El Paso (Prior to Closure) (starting
00:49:56; 53 minutes):

For you personally, prior to smelter’s closure what were the main advantages and disadvantages of having the smelter in or near your community?
Do you remember any ways that your sense of the balance between these advantages and disadvantages changed over the final twenty-five or so years of the plant’s history?

Changing knowledge and Recommendations for Lead Exposure (starting  02:00:55; 44 minutes):

Discussion of growing concern about lower-level exposures to lead among national public health experts, when and how El Pasoans may have learned of this knowledge.

 

Opening Statements by Seminar Leaders

Commentary by Others

Advantages/Disadvantages of Having Smelter in El Paso (Prior to Closure)

Changing knowledge and Recommendations for Lead Exposure