COUNTY SHUNS MINE LIMITS OFFICIALS: CITY RULES WOULD HARM AREA.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - A laundry list of mitigations designed by city officials to reduce the effect of a planned sand and gravel mine in Soledad Canyon could actually worsen the gravel pit's impact on the environment of the Santa Clarita Valley, according to county officials.

Those findings, contained in a report released Tuesday by the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning, make it clear that Santa Clarita officials and residents will have a difficult time convincing the Board of Supervisors to reject or reduce the size of Transit Mixed Concrete's planned 56.1-million-ton mine at its Nov. 27 hearing.

The mitigation measures proposed by the city could actually harm the area's biological and visual resources - and would probably not reduce the effects of the mine on the Valley's water resources, traffic congestion and air quality to less than significant levels, according to the report.

City and TMC representatives declined to comment Tuesday on the specifics of the report before reviewing the lengthy document.

Santa Clarita is gearing up for the next round in the fight over the mine. A rally against the mine is planned for 7 p.m. Nov. 19 at Canyon High School. Hundreds of residents are then expected to travel to Los Angeles for what is expected to be the final hearing in a yearlong battle.

City officials asked that TMC build a rail line to haul aggregate away, install a pipeline to import water, and not to lower a ridgeline along the Antelope Valley Freeway by an average of 45 feet. Those measures would allow TMC to mine 38 million tons of aggregate from the canyon.

County Director of Planning James Hartl recommended that each of those measures be rejected because they would make the project unprofitable. The city's proposals would also warrant a new environmental impact report and another lengthy series of hearings.

The proposed measures could add between $39.8 million and $292 million to the Azusa-based company's bottom line, the report found. Depending on which measures are adopted, that could make the project unfeasible, Hartl said.

The federal Bureau of Land Management, which controls mineral rights to the land, approved plans for the mine more than a year ago. County officials can only impose reasonable measures to protect the environment.

A measure - or a combination of measures - that make the mine economically unfeasible would violate federal law, according to the Los Angeles County Counsel's Office.

The report recommends that the mine operate six days a week from 5 a.m. to 10 p.m., and that no more than 40 trucks be allowed to leave the mine during the morning and afternoon rush hours.

Other requests made by the city that were rejected by the county staff include a requirement to retrofit the air conditioning systems of several nearby schools and to restrict truck traffic from Sierra Highway, Aqua Dulce Canyon Road and Soledad Canyon Road.

However, the report does recommend that the Board of Supervisors add a litany of conditions before approving the mine, including requirements for strict reporting, an on-site, 24-hour-a-day monitor, and the establishment of a community advisory committee that will allow residents to communicate with county officials and other agencies about problems with the mine.

In addition, TMC would pay $500,000 up front and $25,000 a year into a fund that would be used to purchase open space near the mine, and pay $650,000 to several school districts for clean school buses. TMC will also issue a $50 million bond that could be tapped by residents made ill by the mine.