The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is expected to decide soon whether to renew the permit. The smelter is less than a mile from New Mexico's border.

Richardson said he has serious concerns about the smelter's impact on the environment and public health.

"I am concerned that the plant could produce air pollution that could negatively affect our citizens," he said Tuesday.

According to Asarco's permit application with Texas, the company wants to pump several thousand tons of pollutants -- including sulfur dioxide, lead and carbon monoxide -- into the air annually.

Asarco officials have said that several environmental studies have shown that as long as the company abides by the rules of its permit, the smelting operation won't cause or contribute to a condition of air pollution.

New Mexico has voiced technical concerns over the permit for the past three years. The state says air monitoring shows elevated levels of ozone and particulars in the region that includes southern New Mexico's Dona Ana County as well as El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Dona Ana County and Sunland Park also have soils contaminated with lead due, in part, to past operations of the El Paso plant, state officials said.

Asarco's El Paso plant was built in 1887 and shut down in 1999 after the price of copper fell around the world.

If the plant reopens, Asarco is expected to hire about 290 people. Company officials have said the jobs will be largely union with wages of about $20 an hour and health and retirement benefits.