Supervisors Reject Proposed Soledad Canyon Gravel Mine

After an outpouring of opposition from residents and city officials, the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday rejected a proposal to mine 56 million tons of sand and gravel in Soledad Canyon.

Citing the project’s size and its effect on the environment, the board voted 4 to 0 with Supervisor Gloria Molina absent to deny the project proposed by Transit Mixed Concrete Co., upholding a 1999 decision by the county Regional Planning Commission.

Board members said they would be willing to consider an alternative proposal and instructed county planning staff to return in 60 days with a study of options proposed by the city of Santa Clarita.

“I am not in favor of simply denying,” Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky said. “The issue is . . . how it sizes up against the environmental analysis.”

The board’s action appeared to stun mining company officials, who declined to comment “until we figure out what transpired here,” spokesman Brian Mastin said.

The proposed mine would be on 460 acres along the Antelope Valley Freeway, south of Agua Dulce and just east of Santa Clarita city limits.

Residents and officials of those communities, along with those of Acton and Palmdale, have been outspoken in their opposition to Transit Mixed’s plans.

About 300 residents--many wearing buttons or red T-shirts emblazoned with “Blast Transit Mixed Concrete” across the chest--attended Tuesday’s hearing. As they had at a previous meeting on the issue, most arrived aboard buses chartered by Santa Clarita as part of its $1.2-million campaign to block the mine.

“None of those people who want to have the mine live anywhere near there,” said David Jay of Canyon Country. “It might have belonged there 10 years ago, but they’ve been building so many homes in the area, it doesn’t now. You don’t put a huge mine in a suburban area.”

Santa Clarita leaders stopped short of claiming victory after Tuesday’s ruling.

“Let’s just say we’re very pleased with the consideration of the board and the action they took,” Deputy City Manager Rick Putnam said. “They showed real sensitivity to our community.”

The federal Bureau of Land Management, which owns surface mining rights to the property, approved the project in August. Nevertheless, Transit Mixed must still secure a permit from the county to mine the sand and gravel.

At the board’s Jan. 23 meeting before some 500 opponents and about 50 supporters, the supervisors delayed the hearing for 90 days, stipulating that Transit Mixed work with the city and town councils to negotiate an acceptable proposal.

Negotiations broke down last month after several meetings, with the two sides still far apart in what each considered an acceptable size for the mining operation.

Transit Mixed, owned by international mining giant Cemex of Mexico, needs the sand and gravel--also called aggregate--to meet demand in the county, where builders could deplete the current supply by 2015, Mastin said in January.

The aggregate used in the construction of homes and roads sells for an average of $6 per ton, with big-rig trucks carrying about 25 tons per trip, Mastin said.

“It’s a very low-cost commodity,” he said. “That’s why transporting it long distances, such as from Palmdale, can easily double the price.”

If supervisors had approved the proposal Tuesday, Transit Mixed’s mining plan would have added as many as 47 trucks an hour to the heavily traveled Antelope Valley and Golden State freeways--the primary commuting routes for residents of the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys.

The trucks would move 24 hours a day.