[FONT=Verdana]Asarco will continue to tear down buildings at its former East Helena smelter site after a bankruptcy court judge allowed the financially strapped company to hire a contractor for the demolition work.

The order signed July 10 by U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Richard S. Schmidt was needed because Asarco's funds are tied up as the company works its way through bankruptcy proceedings, and expenditures are not allowed without the court's approval.

Tom Aldrich, Asarco's vice president of environmental affairs, said the environmental remediation company Envirocon is finishing work begun last year, and has agreed to do the additional demolitions.

Aldrich declined to state the amount of the contract, but documents with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality put the price tag for only a portion of the work at $3 million.[/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana]The plan calls for tearing down about a dozen structures at the East Helena site by the end of this year.

"It's probably going to be a tight schedule," Aldrich told the newspaper. "I think we probably wish we could have gotten started earlier."

Aldrich said he doesn't believe any of the trademark smokestacks will be dismantled, and some buildings will remain standing on the site. The concrete foundations of most of the demolished buildings, some of which are at least 5 feet thick, would be left in place.

Asarco, the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the state DEQ are talking about using part of the onsite slag pile to level out the areas in and around the demolished buildings, then putting a temporary cap over it.

"As they are tearing down the buildings, apparently there are some deep depressions. Our concern was that water could pool and become a preferential pathway for water movement," said Linda Jacobson with the EPA. "We wanted some interim action taken until a more permanent solution is taken."

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