COUNCIL OPPOSED TO MINING PLAN.

Byline: Daily News

SANTA CLARITA - The City Council has declared opposition to a plan to mine 150,000 tons per year of a rock mineral in the Angeles National Forest.

The resolution unanimously approved Tuesday commits Santa Clarita to the fight against the Caspar Mine proposed for 10 acres of federal forest property off Soledad Canyon Road.

Pacific Industrial Minerals owner John Heter intends to extract 150,000 tons per year of anorthosite, an asphalt ingredient, for 20 years. The mine is proposed on a 320-acre claim granted by an 1872 mining law, and is under U.S. Forest Service and Los Angeles County review.

The city resolution opposed the project, calling it ``incompatible'' with a growing urban community at its doorstep, as it will create ``significant, cumulative, immitigable impacts to air quality, biota aestheics and water quality.''

Heter called the council's move premature. He told the panel his plan, which still requires state and federal environmental review, deserves a fair hearing.

``What I'm asking here tonight is what I call equal justice,'' he told the council. ``Treat me the same way you would treat any other project. Let the environmental studies go through (before making a decision).''

Mining began on the claim in the 1950s. Heter mined parts of the property for two decades until permits expired in 2000.

A nearby mine proposed by Mexico-based Cemex has long faced city opposition. The company wants to remove 56.1 million tons of sand and gravel on federal property in Soledad Canyon, and the city has tried to block it through lawsuits.