SANTA PAULA : Mine Proposal Prompts Concerns

Santa Paula and Fillmore residents voiced concerns Monday about a plan by Southern Pacific Milling Co. to begin a sand- and gravel-mining operation on 500 acres near Boulder Creek between the two cities.

Representatives of a 16-member committee attended the regular bimonthly Santa Paula City Council meeting to ask that environmental hearings be held in the affected communities and at a time convenient for residents.

Opponents of the proposed mine contend that it would have a destructive effect on the agricultural greenbelt between the cities. The dust from the mine would kill insects used to combat crop-eating bugs, and traffic in the area would increase by more than 1,500 trips a day, they say.

They said the mine would use more than 5,000 acre-feet of water a year from the Santa Clara River aquifer.

Southern Pacific Milling officials said the company manufactures such materials as concrete, of which there is a shortage. Also, they said traffic would increase only on the Santa Paula Freeway west of Santa Paula, and that there would be no effect on beneficial insects.

Because the company plans to phase out two mines in the county as it installs the Boulder Creek operation, water use would remain virtually the same, officials said.

But many residents living next to the site of the proposed mine remained skeptical.

Fillmore lemon rancher Joanne King said destruction of biological controls could raise pest-control costs. “Costs could go up by 10 times from what we are now paying,” she said.

Two other mining proposals are also being considered for the area. No action was taken on any of them, pending the review of an environmental report.

Later in the meeting, the council raised Southern Pacific’s monthly rent for a separate 86-acre mining operation that it runs in the Santa Clara River.