Part of an 8,500-page environmental study paid for by Granite and vetted by Riverside County planners in 2009 concluded the quarry would not harm “tribal archaeological resources” at the site. The tribe disagrees with the study and said county planners ignored their concerns.
Granite wants to build a quarry on at least 135 acres of a 414-acre site sandwiched between Temecula and San Diego County. At its deepest point, the quarry would extend 1,020 feet into the ground. The Empire State Building is 1,250 feet tall.
For 75 years, Granite would use explosives to blast away a projected 270 million tons of aggregate, tiny rocks used as building materials. Asphalt and concrete also would be made at the site. Most of the aggregate would be carried by truck into San Diego County.
Supporters say the quarry would support high-paying jobs, generate hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes and fees and solve an aggregate shortage that threatens to derail economic recovery efforts. Granite also said the quarry would be unnoticed from the outside and improve air quality because diesel-spewing trucks wouldn’t have to travel as far for aggregate.
Critics say the quarry would worsen truck traffic; cause air, noise and light pollution; spoil a neighboring wilderness preserve; sever a crucial wildlife corridor and hurt tourism.
Unless the anti-quarry bill passes — a vote could come before Sept. 9 — the Riverside County Board of Supervisors will decide whether the quarry is approved. The Planning Commission’s fifth hearing on the project is at 9 a.m. Monday at Rancho Community Church, 30300 Rancho Community Way, Temecula. The panel eventually will vote on a series of findings before supervisors take up the issue.
It will be very interesting to see how this plays out in the “real world.” The tribe has two remedies, depending on the outcome of the vote of county supvrs and the outcome of the Planning Commission’s hg(s) on the issue. They can file suit on the County or file a writ of mandamus on the Planning Commission. We shall await with baited breath on the outcome. The tribe would have to show the environmental destruction to their land or harm to their “archaeological resources” in their complaint or petition :=]
