MOORPARK : State Investigates Mining Operation

The state has given Ventura County officials 45 days to justify why they have allowed Blue Star Ready Mix Inc. to operate a quarry for almost five years without a permit.

The State Mining and Geology Board told the Ventura County Board of Supervisors in a letter Oct. 9 that the county must explain why Blue Star has operated without a mining permit since Nov. 18, 1986. State law requires mining operations to have permits, said Nancy Steiner, a Mining and Geology Board analyst.

The county has 45 days from receipt of the letter to respond. If the state is not satisfied with the county’s response, the Mining and Geology Board will consider taking over mining regulation in Ventura County, Steiner said.

Blue Star began operating its gravel quarry north of Moorpark in 1976, and its original 10-year mining permit expired in 1986. Since that time, the company has been in the process of applying for a new permit that would allow it to more than double the quarry’s size by adding 284 acres over the next 50 years.

The state’s investigation was prompted by a complaint by Pat and Tom Schleve. The Schleves live near the quarry, which is just north of Moorpark.

“It’s just nice to know that our feelings are fairly well justified,” Pat Schleve said.

County planner Janna Minsk, who is in charge of processing Blue Star’s application for a new permit, said the county received the letter from the state on Oct. 15. She said the Planning Department may ask the county counsel to prepare the response to the state.

County planners have said that they allowed Blue Star to continue mining without a permit because the company met the county requirement of filing an application for a new permit before the old permit expired.

The planners have blamed the five-year delay in processing the new application on staff changes and delays in completing an environmental report on the proposed mining expansion.

But state law “says that until (new permits) are approved, mining activities should cease,” Steiner said.

If the Mining and Geology Board is not satisfied with the county’s explanation of the Blue Star matter, it will hold a public hearing in Ventura County to determine if the county is doing its job in regulating local mining activities, Steiner said.