Senator would rather talk first before legislation

This afternoon United States Senator Diane Feinstein visited Santa Clarita to speak on several issues.

 

The luncheon was hosted by the City of Santa Clarita, the Santa Clarita Chamber of Commerce and the Valley Industrial Association. Over three hundred  people attended the lunch.

 

Senator Feinstein spoke about her involvement with one of Santa Clarita’s most standout issues; that of the Cemex mega mine proposed for an area off of Soledad Canyon Road. The mega mine would have many effects on Santa Clarita with a sizable increase in truck traffic and other air quality issues.

 

She noted that Congressman Buck McKeon had spoken with her about the issue, and she surprised the crowd by saying that she arrived in Santa Clarita early and actually visited the mine site.

 

[view:node_ad=5]Many have questioned whether Senator Feinstein will pursue legislation to prevent Cemex from operating such a large scale mine in the Santa Clarita Valley. At the lunch, she commented on her intentions by offering to hold talks with the city of Santa Clarita and Cemex to try and find an alternative solution. According to the Senator, a number of alternatives or changes could help discussions between the City and Cemex.

 

“What I’d like to do, if the parties want me to, is to sit down with them and see what might be worked out,” said Senator Feinstein. “Perhaps in a land trade, perhaps in a reduction in the number of trucks, perhaps in confining the movement to certain times during the night…there are a number of variations. But right now on the basis of the contract and the nearness of development, these trucks will be a problem for the community, there’s no question of that in my mind.”

 

But for now, that is what Senator Feinstein would like to do, should both parties ask her to. Legislation at this point is not in her plans. “I’m not going to talk legislation right now,” she told reporters after the lunch. 

 

Senator Feinstein also spoke about several national issues, including her desire to see a strategy for removing troops from Iraq and global warming.