EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) —On this day, 10 years ago, two of Asarco’s smokestacks were demolished and completely changed the El Paso skyline.
Asarco Inc. or American Smelting and Refining Company was founded in the 1880’s by Robert Towne. The facility was a custom smelter that processed different metals such as, lead, zinc and copper, according to UTEP’s historical records online.
The records add that the facility closed down in 1999, and in 2009 the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality took over the land as part of a bankruptcy agreement.
The 600-foot and 828-foot smoke towers were both demolished on April 13, 2013 and people from all over the Borderland tuned in to watch the standing landmarks one last time, according to the El Paso Inc. website.
The website adds that the smoke towers fell into soft beds of earth lined with water cannons to ‘minimize dust.’
