Residents, Officials Voice Concerns About Vulcan Mining Expansion Plan
By Mary Barrows
DUARTE - More than 200 Duarte and Azusa residents and others packed the Azusa Planning Commission public hearing on Feb. 3 to voice their concerns about the potential health hazards, loss of property value, and destruction of the visual beauty of the mountains should the City of Azusa approve a mining company's request to expand operations to the Duarte border.
Vulcan Materials Company has a permit from the City of Azusa to mine 190 acres of its 270-acre property until 2038. Vulcan is now seeking approval of a proposed revised mining plan that would substitute 80 acres on the east side of the Vulcan mining area, acres currently approved for mining, with 80 acres on the west side of the property. This area directly abuts the City of Duarte and is only 0.6 miles from the Fish Canyon residential neighborhood - a neighborhood that includes hundreds of homes, two elementary schools and a senior living community.
"It is not really a swap," said Richard Deem, an Azusa resident and member of Save Our Canyon, a group against the Vulcan mining expansion plan. According to documents issued by Vulcan in 2005, Deem said, the entire 190 acres contains 125 million tons of rock that can be mined. Some 20 million tons of rock are on the east side of the property, and getting harder and more expensive for Vulcan to extract, while there are 105 million tons of rock on the west side. Under the current permit, Vulcan has the right to mine 25 million tons of rock on the west side. If the new plan is approved they would gain an additional 80 million tons of rock.
The impact to people and the environment with such a large expansion of mining is what has residents, elected officials, and public advocacy groups including the Sierra Club so concerned.
Assemblyman Anthony J. Portantino, whose 44th Assembly District includes both Duarte and Azusa, addressed some of his concerns regarding the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) on Vulcan's request to the City of Azusa for a Revised Conditional Use Permit and Reclamation Plan. In a letter presented to the Azusa Planning Commission, he wrote in part:
"Although the project site is located within the City of Azusa, the environmental impact of this project is certain to affect health implications and quality of life standards for the surrounding region including the City of Duarte, which I have the honor of representing. This project is, therefore, of significant concern for me and the constituents whom I serve."
Duarte Mayor Margaret Finlay, speaking at the hearing, likened Vulcan, a two billion dollar corporation, to Goliath versus the Davids of Duarte and Azusa. "Don't be fooled, it's not good for you. The unhealthful air is going right over to Azusa. Do you think that Vulcan cares about you? This is about the bottom line," she said.
But what about the bottom line for the City of Azusa?
Save Our Canyon's Richard Deem reported to the commission that according to Azusa public records, Vulcan has paid only $44,000 in mining taxes to the city in the past eight years. Over the same time period, CEMEX, another mining company doing business in Azusa paid $5.7 million in mining taxes to the city.
Miguel Nava said he and his wife bought their home in Duarte 15 years ago for the mountain view. "Neither my wife or I had asthma. Now both of us and all my kids have asthma. The wind blows form the canyon toward my house. Now the company [Vulcan] wants to destroy the mountain on the other side. I ask you to vote this thing down," he said.
Doug McKinney, another Duarte resident also told the commission that he had no respiratory issues until he moved to Duarte. "There's a law that kids have to wear bike helmets. Now they're going to have to wear masks," he said to protect their lungs from the fine silica dust that will be in the air.
Duarte resident Daniel Hyke expressed the views of many Duarte residents who are concerned about the impact on their home values if Vulcan is permitted to mine, scar, and ultimately take down a mountain facing Duarte homes.
"This will have significant impact to Duarte that is not mitagatable. We will suffer property value damage. We will see the scarring of the mountain on our side. Almost my entire life savings is in my house." Hyke suggested that homeowners may be forced to demand compensation from Vulcan and the City of Azusa.
A third public hearing on the Vulcan plan has been set for Wednesday, Feb. 10, at 7 p.m. at the City of Azusa Council Chamber, 213 E. Foothill Blvd. Azusa will accept written comments on the DEIR through Feb. 20. Following the public comment period, the Planning Commission will vote on the matter and send its recommendation to the Azusa City Council.
Comments may be submitted to azusarockeircomments@ci.azusa.ca.us or by mail to: Conal McNamara, City of Azusa, Department of Economic & Community Development, 213 E. Foothill Blvd., Azusa, CA 91702.
The entire 1,000 page DEIR on the Vulcan Material Company's request for a Revised Conditional Use Permit and Reclamation Plan is available for review on the City of Azusa's official website, www.azusalw.com. The Save Our Canyon website, www.saveourcanyon.org offers detailed information and graphics about the project.
Videotaped coverage of the public hearings is available for viewing on Duarte Public Access (DCTV), Charter Cable Channel 3 in Duarte, and ondemand on DCTV on the Web, www.dctvduarte.com.
In 2008, the Duarte City Council established a $700,000 fund entitled the "Fight Against Vulcan Expansion" fund (FAVE) in response to the anticipated expansion plans by Vulcan and its potential adverse impact on Duarte residents.
For more information about the City of Duarte's Fight Against Vulcan Expansion activities, call Duarte Deputy City Manager, Karen Herrera at (626) 357-7931, ext. 221.
All information and images provided by Save Our Canyon
(626) 629-8335
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