COUNTY LIKELY TO OK MINE SUPERVISORS TOLD THEY CANNOT BLOCK TMC PROJECT.Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer SANTA CLARITA - The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is the five member governing board of Los Angeles County, California. Members of the board of supervisors are elected by district, the current members as of April 2006 are:
The County Counsel's Office has informed each of the five supervisors that they do not have the authority to prevent Transit Mixed Concrete, of Azusa, from digging deeper into the Soledad Canyon hillside because of the supremacy of a 1916 federal mining law. ``There is partial pre-emption PRE-EMPTION, intern. law. The right of preemption is the right of a nation to detain the merchandise of strangers passing through her territories or seas, in order to afford to her subjects the preference of purchase. 1 Chit. Com. Law, 103; 1 Bl. Com. 287. 2. of local land-use authority in respect to surface mining,'' said Richard Weiss, deputy counsel for the county. This ruling agrees with the argument 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 officials have been making throughout the decade-long approval process. They told the Santa Clarita City Council and local residents last month that there was nothing they could do to stop mining 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 and Agua Dulce Canyon roads. However, the county's attorney says the Board of Supervisors can deny the mining permit if TMC refuses reasonable environmental mitigation measures imposed by the county. ``It's not black and white,'' Weiss said. Opponents of the mine said the county decision was disheartening dis·heart·en tr.v. dis·heart·ened, dis·heart·en·ing, dis·heart·ens To shake or destroy the courage or resolution of; dispirit. See Synonyms at discourage. . ``But not completely unexpected,'' added Andrew Fried, president of Safe Action for the Environment, an organization formed to stop the mine. SAFE and the city of Santa Clarita are among the 20 agencies, organizations and individuals who have appealed the federal Bureau of Land Management's certification of the mining project. TMC will pay the BLM BLM n abbr (US) (= Bureau of Land Management) → les domaines $28 million for the right to mine the land, which is owned by Ben Curtis of Curtis Sand and Gravel Co. The BLM owns the mineral rights. ``We still believe that we can prevail,'' said City Attorney Deborah Prosser. ``We think they are wrong.'' The Santa Clarita City Council has earmarked $1.2 million to fight the mine. The money is for legal fees and public relations. The city, along with U.S. Rep. Howard P. ``Buck'' McKeon, R-Santa Clarita, believes that the county does have the power to deny the mining permit. The supervisors will take up the issue at their Oct. 24 meeting. ``It's going to be a hotly contested issue,'' said David Foy, McKeon's communications director. Critics of the mine say it would harm the Santa Clara River Santa Clara River may refer to:
CAPTION(S): map Map: Proposed Transit Mixed Concrete site |
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