Panel Opposes Bid to Deepen Gravel Pits
The Ventura County Planning Commission is recommending rejection of a proposal to expand a Saticoy gravel mining operation because of concerns that it could harm Oxnard ground water supplies.
The commission voted 3 to 1 on Thursday to urge the Board of Supervisors to deny CalMat Co.’s proposal to deepen existing gravel pits down to 100 feet. Commissioner Michael Wesner was absent.
The proposed mining area is at the intersection of Los Angeles and Vineyard avenues and includes spots where water from the Santa Clara River and sewage treatment plants collects and seeps through the earth into underground aquifers.
Environmentalists argue that if CalMat is allowed to move forward with its deep pit mining, the natural filtration process would be eliminated, allowing contaminants to enter the ground water. They said this would put Oxnard’s water supplies in danger.
But CalMat officials argue that deepening the existing gravel pits would not increase the risk of contamination already posed by the pits, which are now no deeper than 25 feet.
The supervisors will consider the Planning Commission’s recommendation on Dec. 17.
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