FILLMORE : Suit Filed to Block Sand, Gravel Mine

The city of Fillmore and local citrus ranchers have filed suit against the state Mining and Geology Board in an attempt to block a sand and gravel mine proposed by Southern Pacific Milling Co. for an area west of the city.

The Superior Court suit charges that the board failed to follow its guidelines when it accepted a petition filed by SP Milling to classify 500 acres on Boulder Creek near Sycamore Road as a significant source of sand and gravel, said Susan Brandt-Hawley, who filed the suit for the city.

“The guidelines state that petitioners must prove the imminent threat of a permanent loss of the resource, such as building a parking lot,” Brandt-Hawley said. “But the area has been in agriculture for decades, which is not a threat to mining. If anything, it’s the reverse--the mining is a threat to agriculture.”

Allen Camp, SP Milling attorney, said the suit’s allegations were without merit. “I think most environmental attorneys would agree,” he said. “The guidelines allow for considerable discretion on the part of the board in determining the threat of an incompatible land use.”

The suit, filed Monday, also states that the board should do an environmental study before granting the classification, Brandt-Hawley said. A hearing will be held in Ventura County “hopefully by July or August,” she said.

In presentations last year, SP Milling officials said the 30-year project would remove citrus trees and re-route a creek to mine the 500 acres in sections. Traffic would increase on California 126 by about 1,000 truck trips daily, and the facility would include permanent asphalt and concrete plants.

Farmers have said dust from the project would injure crops and hamper the work of beneficial insects.

Camp said the mining company did not need to have the classification to receive a permit from the county, “but having the classification does require that the value of the mineral resource be considered when local officials make a land-use decision.”

The board must now review submitted materials and have the area examined by a geologist, board executive officer Deborah Herrmann said.