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January 15, 2006
SAND & GRAVEL MINES
TO SEND HUNDREDS OF TRUCKS PER
DAY THROUGH FOREST
Proposed
Diamond Rock Mine to Add Traffic Along
Highway 33 Through Heart of National Forest,
Threatening Quality of Life in Ojai and Cuyama Valley
Three new sand and gravel mines are proposed for the Cuyama
River in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties near the Los Padres
National Forest. If approved, the mines and associated truck
traffic will have a profound impact on forest
recreation, traffic, and the rural quality of life in the Cuyama and Ojai
valleys, according to a draft environmental report released last
month.
The three
mines combined could add more than 300 daily truck trips on
California Scenic Highway 33, which connects the Cuyama Valley
with Ojai. The "Jacinto Reyes Scenic Byway" cuts through some of
the most spectacular scenery of the Los Padres National Forest,
from the Pine Mountain Summit through the Sespe Wild & Scenic
River corridor.
A gravel
truck rumbles down Highway 33.
The first
mine to be approved - and the largest of the three - is the
Diamond Rock Sand and Gravel Mine, proposed for 133 acres in the
Cuyama Valley. The site is located along Highway 33 near the
Ventura-Santa Barbara county line.
Here, the
project applicant - Troesh Ready Mix of Nipomo - proposes to
excavate sand and gravel from 84 acres of the Cuyama River
channel, leaving a mining pit up to ninety feet deep. The
material would then be transported to a processing, stockpiling,
and truck loading area along the highway. Once loaded, the
trucks would travel south along Highway 33 through Ojai, or
north to Highway 166.
The Diamond
Rock mine would produce more than thirteen million tons of
product over a thirty-year period. The material would be used to
produce Portland cement concrete-grade aggregate for housing and
commercial construction and infrastructure projects such as
roads.
The proposed
Diamond Rock Mine site,
with the Los Padres National Forest in the background.
The proposed mining operations would occur up to 303 days per
year, with some operations occurring year-round. Mining would
occur Monday through Saturday during daylight hours, with
processing allowed up to 10:00pm. Truck loading could occur 24
hours a day on weekdays and weekends.
In addition
to the proposed Diamond Rock mine, two other existing operations
in the area are proposing to dramatically expand their
operations.
One of the
existing mines - Ozena Valley Ranch Sand & Gravel Mine - is
seeking to more than double its size, from 15 to 36.8 acres.
This mine is located on Lockwood Valley Road, about one mile
east of Highway 33. The other existing mine - the GPS River Rock
Products mine - is located 1000 feet north of the proposed
Diamond Rock mine, and is proposing to extend its operations for
another ten years.
MORE TRUCKS THROUGH THE
FOREST
Many of us have traveled Highway 33 at one time or another, and
we all have our own stories to tell about how oncoming trucks
from these mines have nearly run us off the narrow winding road.
Homeowners who live along the highway live with noise and safety
issues posed by these trucks on a daily basis.
Trucks
currently come from three sites - the GPS mine, the Ozena mine,
and the Lima Gypsum Mine. If the proposed Diamond Rock mine is
approved, nearby homeowners and forest visitors could see
upwards of 519 daily truck trips on Highway 33:
|
Mine |
Average Daily Trips |
Hour
Restrictions |
| Lima
Gypsum |
240 |
6am - 6pm |
| Ozena
Mine |
132 |
3am - 5pm; no Ojai
traffic from 7-9am and 3-6pm |
| GPS Mine |
55 |
5am - 5pm |
| Diamond
Rock |
92 |
? |
|
TOTAL
|
519 |
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Source: Diamond Rock DEIR
pp. 6-1 and 6-2.
Highway
33 snakes down Pine Mountain Summit on the way to the Cuyama
Valley.
Highway 33 is the only officially-designated Scenic Byway in the
Los Padres National Forest, and is a popular route for
motorcyclists and drivers alike. It takes travelers from the
Ojai Valley through the spectacular Sespe Wild & Scenic River
gorge, cresting Pine Mountain Summit before descending down into
the rural Cuyama Valley. Many of these trucks would travel south
on Highway 33, changing the character of this scenic route.
AIR POLLUTION EXCEEDS
THRESHOLDS
If a new project emits more than 55 pounds of air pollutants
like nitrous oxide, Santa Barbara County considers that to be a
"significant" impact. The pollution from the proposed Diamond
Rock mine would greatly exceed this threshold, adding 179 pounds
of NOx pollutants per day in an average year, and 268 pounds per
day during a peak production year - three to five times the
County standard.
The Draft Environmental Impact Report for the Diamond Rock mine
states that the proposed mining "would result in a significant,
unavoidable impact (Class I) on air quality. The proposed
project would create a new source of nitrogen oxide (NOx) and
reactive organic compound (ROC) emissions due to onsite mining,
onsite hauling, and processing activities. Both the average and
peak daily NOx and ROC would exceed the County Planning and
Development and APCD significance thresholds for emissions
during operation (55 pounds per day for ROC or NOx)." DEIR at p.
ES-4.
RURAL QUALITY OF LIFE
More than 63
Cuyama Valley residents wrote letters to Santa Barbara County
last year, urging the agency to protect the rural quality of
life in the area. Such an influx of mining operations and truck
traffic would surely degrade the area's rural feel with
additional noise, pollution, visual blight, and public safety
issues.
A
vineyard in the Cuyama Valley.
"We are having a difficult time understanding how 138 daily
truck trips, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a
year benefits anyone in our community," wrote the residents in a
letter last year. "We unequivocally and unanimously believe that
the proposed mine will indelibly degrade our quality of life,
lower land value and create grave safety issues for our rural
agricultural community," they wrote, urging the County to
address a variety of issues before approving the project.
WHAT'S NEXT
The County is currently accepting comments on the Draft Environmental
Impact Report. The County then plans to
present the issue to the Planning Commission at a hearing in
March or April.
If you share our concern about increased truck traffic through
the forest, ForestWatch encourages you to write
a letter to Santa Barbara County.
Meanwhile, Ventura County is proceeding with plans to approve
the Ozena Ranch mine. The County released its environmental
documents in July 2006, concluding that there would be no
significant impact on the environment. As a result of letters
from ForestWatch and other groups, the County postponed a public
hearing scheduled on the matter and plans to reschedule the
hearing for later this Spring.
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