In her book, Tainted Earth, Marianne Sullivan examines the impact that smelting has damaged pollution control for nearly a century in three cities, El Paso being one. Smelting is the process of extracting metal from ore and during this process, lead and arsenic is released into the air. These toxins pollute the sky and many company owners of smelting businesses continued to manufacture even when they knew of the consequences it would have on the environment. El Paso specifically developed problems among children where blood lead levels elevated and health issues occurred because of it. This encouraged manufacturers of smelting to be aware and control the toxins being produced into the air and prosecute owners who are not taking action. As a
