Home » Santa Clarita News » Politics » Knight Pens Another Letter To Cemex On Mining Decision
Federal official sent a letter Monday questioning whether Cemex performed due diligence regarding permits to mine Soledad Canyon. The Bureau of Land Management’s 2000 approval was conditional upon “significant conditions,” according to federal officials.

Knight Pens Another Letter To Cemex On Mining Decision

Santa Clarita Congressman Steve Knight sent a letter Wednesday to the Department of the Interior asking for action at the “earliest opportunity,” for a decision on Cemex.


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In a letter to the Department of the Interior, Knight notes Cemex has completed the Bureau of Land Management has completed its appeals process, and the decision rests solely with the Interior Bureau of Land Appeals.

The time to act is now, per the letter.

“I believe it is in the interest of all parties for IBLA to render a determination at the earliest opportunity,” the letter states. “Any facilitation of that goal by you would be most appreciated.”

The Cemex decision involves a dispute in the hands of the federal government over two mining contracts that could alter the east side of the Santa Clarita Valley for decades.

Site: Santa Clarita Waiting To Hear Next Step On Cemex Appeal

The federal government’s perspective on one of the most important political decisions to ever affect the Santa Clarita Valley’s future — regarding Cemex, two mining contracts and the potential for decades of pollution — faces a new development Tuesday, more than 2,600 miles away.

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The Bureau of Land Management announced Friday it would release its response Tuesday regarding the Cemex appeal of a BLM move to cancel two contracts Cemex had the rights to, which would have let Cemex mine approximately 56 million tons of sand and gravel from Soledad Canyon over the next 20 years.

The BLM will issue its response to Cemex’s appeal, and then the Interior Bureau of Land Appeals can weigh in on the appropriate response, which is all important for Santa Clarita, an ardent opponent to “mega-mining” — its term for Cemex’s SCV plans.

Cemex officials initially said they were crafting a statement when reached Friday for comment, then declined to comment Monday through spokeswoman Megan Lawrence. The city of Santa Clarita has been outspoken in its opposition.

“The city’s concerns with this type of use are for air quality, traffic, quality of life and impacts to our residents and existing businesses in the area,” said Jason Crawford, marketing and economic development manager for the city of Santa Clarita.

The background on Santa Clarita and Cemex

The BLM canceled the contracts last August, which prompted an appeal by Cemex to the Interior Bureau of Land Appeals. Cemex was first awarded the contract in 1990.

The contracts lay dormant for years as the city and Cemex worked on a solution. Cemex owned the mineral rights underneath the surface, but Ben Curtis, of Curtis Sand and Gravel, and then eventually the city of Santa Clarita, which purchased the land from Curtis, owned the surface property and access, touching off a legal battle.

The BLM cancelled the contracts for the 493-acre plot, which has a listed address for mining operations as 12101 Soledad Canyon Road, last summer.

From 1999 to 2006, the two sides engaged in “an aggressive legal and public relations battle,” and Santa Clarita officials have spent more than $7 million in fighting the mine, before a truce was reached in 2008.

That truce appeared to vanish in February of last year, when, after repeated attempts by Congressman Buck McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, to make a deal with the mine that would have prevented its opening failed, Cemex eventually announced it planned to pursue its mining contracts.

The projected impacts to area residents include “excavation activities going on 17 hours per day, six days per week. Processing is scheduled to take place 16 hours a day and shipping activities are expected to take place 24 hours a day.”

Congressman Steve Knight, R-Palmdale, has picked up the mantle and is now seeking to stop the mine on behalf of the city. The BLM’s response this week is to letters sent by Knight regarding the contracts’ cancellation.

Cemex and Santa Clarita Valley mining

Curtis, a longtime Santa Clarita Valley resident and the only other bidder on the contracts Cemex won in 1990 — which were subsequently canceled and appealed, bringing us to Tuesday —  provides a unique perspective on the Cemex situation.

Curtis operated a mine in Soledad Canyon from 1984-2003, before federal rules reclassified the aggregate he had been mining. The reclassification prompted a long legal battle Curtis eventually withdrew from around the beginning of the last decade due to financial concerns, he said.

He noted two things first and foremost: mining could be accomplished without making it nearly as intrusive as some of the local concern; and two, while that’s possible, that probably won’t be the case if the scale that Cemex is considering is allowed.

Historic mining levels would be considered approximately 300,000-400,000 tons a year, said Curtis, noting Santa Clarita roads and homes are built from local aggregate.

However, Cemex’ proposal calls for mining on a much, much larger scale, which the city is referring to as “Mega-mining.” Speculative figures being thrown around concerning mining plans call for about 1.2 million tons the first few years and ramping up of the course of the contracts.

The mining company would have 20 years, if the contracts are re-issued, to acquire the 56 million tons.

The justification for granting the contracts calls for a regional need for aggregate, but the most responsible way to use aggregate is as a local resource, Curtis said, not just due to the traffic concern, but because of the economy of transporting tons of rock.

“I always thought they could mine it and do it correctly,” Curtis said. “People didn’t even know we were there, and we were there for 20 years.”

City, business perspective

Mike Murphy, the city of Santa Clarita’s intergovernmental officer, doesn’t believe the Interior Bureau of Land Appeals will weigh in Tuesday on the decision, but the IBLA needs the response from the BLM before a determination is made, he said.

Tuesday is likely the latest step in a more than 20-year process for the city, and a process unlikely to be resolved this week, either way, despite the exasperation of many who’ve been patiently waiting and watching the back-and-forth for decades.

“We’re all hopeful that we’ll be able to avoid having more of these issues, and we can put (the mine) to bed,” said Nancy Starcyzk, board member for the SCV Chamber of Commerce and president of the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. “We’re all hopeful and they’re all exhausted from the fight,” she added. “We started this in the 90s.”

There are concerns from realtors that it will make the area less desirable for a number of factors, with several noting the potential for an east-side mine already has been in their area disclosures realtors legally have to make for years.

“Well the No. 1 concern is the blight on the community, and the burden that it would put on our highways and our resources — our fresh water, our fresh air, etc.,” Starcyzk said. “And you know you worry that that might affect property values.”

Murphy also noted there were a number of factors encouraging a favorable response for the city, noting a recent South Coast Air Quality Management study for the area; the feds’ recent designation of the area of critical environmental concern; the issue of how much time would be left on them; and the federal government’s recent inclination toward creating a corridor connecting the northern and southern halves of the national forest in the region.

However, ultimately, the city, which has even suggested financial incentives for Cemex that could pay them millions not to mine, will follow any legal administrative course it can to prevent the mine, Murphy said.

If nothing else, city officials might be at least approaching the end of the proverbial tunnel, or mine shaft — regardless of whether they can see the light, yet.

“This is the last piece of an administrative review process,” Murphy said. “(City Council) is on record as not wanting the mine. Whatever path that may take us that direction, we’ll most likely want to follow.”

 

KHTS AM 1220 - Santa Clarita Radio

Knight Pens Another Letter To Cemex On Mining Decision

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About Perry Smith

Perry Smith is a print and broadcast journalist who has won several awards for his focused, hyperlocal community coverage in several different regions of the country. In addition to five years of experience covering the Santa Clarita Valley, Smith, a San Fernando Valley native, has worked in newspapers and news websites in Los Angeles, the Northwest, the Central Valley and the South, before coming to KHTS in 2012. To contact Smith, email him at Perry@hometownstation.com.