COUNTY AGREES TO MINE PLAN CEMEX SETTLEMENT EXPECTED.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, - Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County officials have tentatively agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by mining company Cemex Inc. and are expected to allow a massive sand and gravel mine to be built in Soledad Canyon Soledad Canyon is a long narrow canyon / valley located in Los Angeles County, California between the cities of Palmdale and Santa Clarita. Soledad Canyon contains the localities of Vincent, Acton, Ravenna, and Agua Dulce. , according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. court records. The Board of Supervisors voted April 22 behind closed doors to approve a settlement in regard to the size and scope of the mine. The terms of that agreement have not been made public, although attorneys for Cemex said it includes ``substantive project conditions,'' according to documents filed this week. U.S. District Court Judge Dickran Tevrizian Dickran M. Tevrizian, Jr. (born 1940 in Los Angeles, California) was a United States federal judge for the Central District of California. Confirmed in 1985, he is noteworthy for being the first United States federal judge of Armenian ancestry. has prohibited each side from discussing the settlement negotiations that began in February and were mediated by retired U.S. District Court Judge Layn Phillips. Neither Cemex spokesman Brian Mastin nor County Attorney Deborah Fox returned phone messages left Friday afternoon. Cemex has repeatedly insisted that it has the right, under federal law, to mine 56.1 million tons of sand and gravel from the Soledad Canyon hillside despite objections from the city of Santa Clarita and some Los Angeles County officials. It is extremely unlikely that Cemex would agree to a settlement that significantly reduces the size or scope of the mine, officials said. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Monday morning, and both sides are expected to ask Tevrizian to decide whether the analysis of the traffic created by the mine should be reviewed again by the county and the public. That is the last remaining point of contention between the two sides, according to court records. Cemex officials contend that the traffic study is adequate and that any further analysis by county officials or the public is pre-empted by federal law. The Bureau of Land Management owns the rights to the 460 acres of sand and gravel south of the Antelope Valley Freeway The Antelope Valley Freeway is a freeway in Los Angeles and Kern counties in southern California. It is signed as California State Highway 14 along its length. It connects Greater Los Angeles to the rapidly developing Antelope Valley. between Soledad Canyon Road and Agua Dulce Agua Dulce is Spanish for "sweet water". It also refers to various locations: In Mexico:
County attorneys argue that state environmental law requires environmental impact reports to be re-examined when significant new information is added before the report is certified. That demand cannot be trumped by federal law or a consent decree A settlement of a lawsuit or criminal case in which a person or company agrees to take specific actions without admitting fault or guilt for the situation that led to the lawsuit. A consent decree is a settlement that is contained in a court order. , according to documents filed by county attorneys. If the two sides cannot reach an agreement on this issue, the agreed- upon settlement would become moot, according to court records. In February 2002, the supervisors found that the project's traffic studies did not properly analyze the effect of more than 700 daily truck trips on Soledad Canyon Road. When Cemex refused to allow additional review, the supervisors rejected the company's application for a surface mining permit. Cemex's suit claims that county officials inappropriately used the environmental review process, which lasted more than a year, as a tool to delay and interfere with the federal government's approval of the mine. The fight over the mine began a decade ago, when the federal government awarded two 10-year contracts to Transit Mixed Concrete to mine the rich aggregate deposits in Canyon Country in return for royalty payments of $28 million. Azusa-based TMC TMC Technology Marketing Corporation (Norwalk, Connecticut) TMC Texas Medical Center (Houston, TX) TMC Traffic Message Channel TMC The Movie Channel TMC Traffic Management Center was later purchased by Cemex, a Mexican firm. City officials contend that the mine would have a devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. impact on the north Los Angeles County area by polluting the air, choking area roads and freeways with traffic and threatening the Santa Clarita Valley's water supply. Company officials counter that the dozens of mitigation measures attached to the project would protect the environment, while most residents wouldn't even know the mine is operating. Santa Clarita has spent more than $2 million trying to derail de·rail intr. & tr.v. de·railed, de·rail·ing, de·rails 1. To run or cause to run off the rails. 2. the mine, and city officials vowed Friday to continue the fight. ``It's not a real surprise,'' said Planning Director Jeff Lambert. ``We knew they were making progress in the negotiations. But we're not giving up hope yet that the agreement will fall through.'' Heather MacDonald, (661) 257-5257 heather.macdonald(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): map Map: Proposed gravel mine |
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