Post by Mountain Times Editor on May 16, 2004 8:48:37 GMT -8
www.sgvtribune.com/Stories/0,1413,205~12220~2151664,00.html
Mining firm caught between rock, hard place
Azusa wants to limit Vulcan Materials' operations in foothills
By Diana L. Roemer , Staff Writer
AZUSA -- The city and a mining company are facing off over 80 acres of pristine Azusa hillside that the company wants to mine and the city wants to preserve.
Vulcan Materials, which is mining rocks from 270 acres above Azusa, wants to mine 80 more acres to the west of the ongoing operation.
Most of the infrastructure of the area was built with rocks mined and ground from the pit, said Vulcan spokesman Todd Spitler.
"This pit built Los Angeles,' Spitler said.
But Azusa officials say Vulcan ruins land during mining operations. Much of the hillside has been stripped of vegetation. They want to keep the 80 acres green.
"No more mining in Azusa,' Mayor Cristina Madrid said. "They need to find their rocks somewhere else. We've done our fair share.'
Under a 1956 agreement with the city, Vulcan must be issued permits from City Hall to expand mining operations. Some city officials say they won't issue the permit.
The point of contention is whether mining on the 80 acres would constitute an expansion, according to map boundaries drawn in the agreement. City officials believe it does. Vulcan officials say no.
Part of the problem is that borders of the property are not clearly defined in the older documents and no officials have maps which show exact boundaries of the agreed-upon mining area, Vulcan Manager Jim Gore said.
"We have the right to mine,' Gore said.
The Azusa quarry is one of the company's two local facilities and supplies tons of rocks crushed at other sites and used as building materials.
To sweeten its request to continue mining, Vulcan is promising to fix up hillsides as it mines, not years later as it did previously.
That fix-it process, called reclamation, would re-create a natural hillside.
Vulcan's current process of mining includes drilling and blasting into the sides of the mountains, loading rocks into trucks and transporting them to a rock-crushing facility in Irwindale. When a hillside is done being mined, plants are set back on the bald side of the mountain in rows.
Vulcan officials admit that doesn't look natural.
Resident Linda Shehee wants to see mining stop.
"It makes me want to cry. I love these mountains, they're beautiful. To see them scarred is painful,' she said.
Vulcan took over the Azusa Rock Quarry and merged with its earlier operator, CalMat, in 1999. CalMat had bought out the former company there, ConRock.
The reclamation plan will be presented again during public hearings this year, said Roy Bruckner, Azusa's director of community development.
Gore said Vulcan is determined to convince the public the new mining method will not scar the land.
"If we can lay the cards on the table ... then we can show what we can do and accomplish,' he said.
-- Diana L. Roemer can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2105, or by e-mail at diana.roemer@sgvn.com .
Mining firm caught between rock, hard place
Azusa wants to limit Vulcan Materials' operations in foothills
By Diana L. Roemer , Staff Writer
AZUSA -- The city and a mining company are facing off over 80 acres of pristine Azusa hillside that the company wants to mine and the city wants to preserve.
Vulcan Materials, which is mining rocks from 270 acres above Azusa, wants to mine 80 more acres to the west of the ongoing operation.
Most of the infrastructure of the area was built with rocks mined and ground from the pit, said Vulcan spokesman Todd Spitler.
"This pit built Los Angeles,' Spitler said.
But Azusa officials say Vulcan ruins land during mining operations. Much of the hillside has been stripped of vegetation. They want to keep the 80 acres green.
"No more mining in Azusa,' Mayor Cristina Madrid said. "They need to find their rocks somewhere else. We've done our fair share.'
Under a 1956 agreement with the city, Vulcan must be issued permits from City Hall to expand mining operations. Some city officials say they won't issue the permit.
The point of contention is whether mining on the 80 acres would constitute an expansion, according to map boundaries drawn in the agreement. City officials believe it does. Vulcan officials say no.
Part of the problem is that borders of the property are not clearly defined in the older documents and no officials have maps which show exact boundaries of the agreed-upon mining area, Vulcan Manager Jim Gore said.
"We have the right to mine,' Gore said.
The Azusa quarry is one of the company's two local facilities and supplies tons of rocks crushed at other sites and used as building materials.
To sweeten its request to continue mining, Vulcan is promising to fix up hillsides as it mines, not years later as it did previously.
That fix-it process, called reclamation, would re-create a natural hillside.
Vulcan's current process of mining includes drilling and blasting into the sides of the mountains, loading rocks into trucks and transporting them to a rock-crushing facility in Irwindale. When a hillside is done being mined, plants are set back on the bald side of the mountain in rows.
Vulcan officials admit that doesn't look natural.
Resident Linda Shehee wants to see mining stop.
"It makes me want to cry. I love these mountains, they're beautiful. To see them scarred is painful,' she said.
Vulcan took over the Azusa Rock Quarry and merged with its earlier operator, CalMat, in 1999. CalMat had bought out the former company there, ConRock.
The reclamation plan will be presented again during public hearings this year, said Roy Bruckner, Azusa's director of community development.
Gore said Vulcan is determined to convince the public the new mining method will not scar the land.
"If we can lay the cards on the table ... then we can show what we can do and accomplish,' he said.
-- Diana L. Roemer can be reached at (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2105, or by e-mail at diana.roemer@sgvn.com .