Fillmore, Growers Lose Suit Against Mine Site Status

The city of Fillmore and local citrus ranchers lost a preliminary legal battle Thursday in their fight against a proposed gravel mining operation on Boulder Creek, west of the city.

Superior Court Judge William L. Peck ruled that the state Mining and Geology Board had properly classified the 500-acre site as a significant mineral resource.

Southern Pacific Milling Co., which hopes to mine the site, obtained the designation almost a year ago, but the city and other opponents of the mining plan filed a lawsuit challenging the classification.

“I’m a little disappointed, but it only means SP Milling won the first round,” said City Councilman Roger Campbell, a spokesman for Stop Mining in Rural Fillmore.

“We will fight this every step of the way,” Campbell said. The lawsuit was a signal to the company, he said, that the group is committed to preventing the mining operation.

Two years ago SP Milling applied for a permit with the Ventura County Planning Division to mine the site, but the application was put on hold by the company.

Meanwhile, SP Milling obtained the designation that opponents contend will make it easier for the company to eventually get permission from the county to mine the area, now used for citrus farming. But the classification and the lawsuit are separate from the mining application process.

Allen F. Camp, an attorney for SP Milling, called the lawsuit frivolous and a nuisance action.

“It was a waste of taxpayers’ money for the citizens of Fillmore and a waste of money for SMIRF,” he said.

He said the mining permit application was put on hold because William Berger, vice president and general manager at SP Milling, wanted to take a new look at the proposal.

“There is no doubt there will be a new proposal,” said Camp, who did not know when the application would be reactivated. But it will be different from the earlier proposal, he said.

“The plan is being rethought, based on input” from the opponents, Camp said. “They have very real concerns about it.” He said the company will try to listen to their concerns and accommodate them.

He insisted that the company didn’t seek the classification with the state Mining and Geology Board simply as a strategic ploy. He said it will save some time so county officials won’t have to deal with the issue of whether the area is a significant resource.

During a hearing earlier this month, Susan Brandt-Hawley, an attorney for the city and the ranchers, argued that the classification should not have been given because SP Milling had not shown that there was an imminent threat of losing the mineral resource because of surrounding development.

But Peck determined that there was evidence of possible development based on development of other agricultural lands in the county. He also ruled that the board did not need an environmental impact report as Brandt-Hawley had contended.

“The City of Fillmore, its citizens and an organization of farmers and others in the area are clearly making an effort to stop mining on the property,” the judge wrote in his ruling.

Rancher Keith Barnard said the real battle for the opponents will be when the mining permit comes up for consideration.

“We’ll just hang in there and fight it all the way,” said Barnard, who grows citrus and avocado trees on 110 acres a quarter of a mile from the proposed mining site. The dust and traffic are primary concerns for the 22 ranchers who are fighting the project.

“It will be a disaster for the area,” Barnard said.