Azusa Rock Quarry mining proposal is narrowly rejected
By Daniel Tedford, Staff Writer
Posted: 05/18/2010 02:05:22 AM PDT
AZUSA - After months of review and a six-hour council meeting, the Azusa City Council voted 3-2 against an Azusa Rock Quarry mining proposal early Tuesday.
The vote was handed down about 12:50 a.m. following public comment, a detailed review of Vulcan Materials Co.'s mining proposal, various criticisms against it, and many questions and comments from council members.
In the end, Mayor Joe Rocha, and Councilmen Robert Gonzales and Uriel Macias voted against the proposal, while Councilmen Keith Hanks and Angel Carrillo voted in favor.
Rocha said he didn't understand why Vulcan Materials Co. would want to swap sides for operational efficiencies when the amount of aggregate allegedly was less with the new proposal by about 1 million tons.
He also questioned the adequacy of measures to restore the hillsides with plants and other restoration methods.
"As a teacher of 38 years, I set my standards high," Rocha said. "This is not superior reclamation."
Vulcan has a permit to mine 190 acres near Fish Canyon. The company asked to exchange a permit to mine 80 acres on its eastern property line for 80 undisturbed acres near its western property line.
The 270-acre Vulcan property is in Azusa but rests near the Duarte border. Without approval to mine the western 80 acres, Vulcan can only act under its existing permit, which allows it to mine 190 acres, including the eastern most 80 acres.
And while under the new plan Vulcan promised to use a new method to reshape the hillsides post-mining, a technique often referred to as micro-benching due to its use of small one- to two-foot benches, the existing plan calls for 30- to 50-foot benches to be built into the hillside after mining. Those benches are commonly known as the "Mayan steps" some of which can be seen at the mine site where a previous owner built them following earlier mining.
Hanks said he believed the city made the worst of two choices presented to them.
"I think (the current plan) is a much worse visual impact than going to the west and that would be our legacy," Hanks said at the meeting.
Hanks said his fear now is that Vulcan will sue for vesting mining rights.
Even if the city of Duarte contributed the money it had set aside to sue Azusa if the proposal passed to help it fight Vulcan, Hanks doesn't believe they have enough money to compete with Vulcan.
"We don't have enough money in our coffers to keep them from going to the west," Hanks said. "I don't know if (Duarte's help) will make a difference."
Duarte officials have been strong opponents of the proposal. The city had put away $700,000 in 2008 to fight the plan and has submitted hundreds of pages of comments against the proposal. The city also commissioned a report from a consultant that alleged the city's environmental impact report was flawed and dangerous aspects of the project were not considered.
In the EIR, the one unmitigated impact was the view to Duarte residents.
"They won," Hanks said. "What they wished to happen did happen."
While the permit was denied, the Council did vote 3-2 in favor of certifying the environmental impact report concerning the project.
What the implications of certifying the document, but not passing the project were are still unknown. If the city were to come up with a modified plan that showed less impact than the last proposal, such as less acreage, a review and vote could be done using the same environmental impact report, officials said.
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