KEY MINE VOTE LOOMS COUNTY SUPERVISORS TO WEIGH TMC REQUEST FOR PERMIT.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Regardless of how the county Board of Supervisors votes Tuesday on the proposed Transit Mixed Concrete mine, all sides agree the matter will be settled in court.

As hundreds of residents prepare to attend the 9:30 a.m. meeting in downtown Los Angeles, officials said they are uncertain of the outcome but certain the decision on the 460-acre mine in Canyon Country will face legal challenges.

``I have no sense of which way it is going to go,'' said Deputy City Manager Rick Putnam.

City officials will argue once again that the supervisors should nix TMC's mine because it will choke area freeways with traffic, degrade the Santa Clara River, pollute the air, lower property values and threaten the local economy. TMC has pledged to protect the environment, saying the aggregate to be mined is needed for Southern California construction projects.

The last time the supervisors considered the mine, 500 residents packed the hearing to voice their concerns. The supervisors delayed taking action for 90 days, telling both sides to work out a settlement.

Negotiations between a team of city and county officials broke down last month after Azusa-based TMC refused to discuss mining less than 56.1 million tons of sand and gravel, the amount approved by the federal Bureau of Land Management.

TMC officials said the mine is necessary because of a looming sand and gravel crisis in Southern California that could cause construction and public works projects to grind to a halt. City officials dispute that such a shortfall exists.

While city officials have partnered with the county to fight the mine, located south of the Antelope Valley Freeway between Soledad Canyon and Agua Dulce Canyon roads, cracks are forming in the alliance as the hearing date approaches.

``We are not at all satisfied with the county's response to our comments on the environmental impact report,'' Putnam said. ``It was nonresponsive.''

City officials have contended that the EIR for the mine was significantly flawed.

County planners have recommended a few additional environmental mitigation measures in response to the city's concerns, but the voluminous response accepts the crucial 56.1-million-ton figure as the amount of sand and gravel to be mined. Putnam called those measures ``very weak.''

The county's analysis correctly identifies the impact of the mine and addresses those that can be mitigated appropriately, said Daryl Koutnik, senior biologist for the county.

``The city and the community went to a great deal of time and trouble at great expense to prepare professional documents to express our concerns about the mine,'' Putnam said. ``It is a significant failure of the county not to include those documents in the final EIR.''

Under the state law requiring environmental studies, responses and criticisms are usually included in the final report.

The city's comments are in a separate volume, Koutnik said.

Only 3rd District Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky and 5th District Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich are expected to heed the city's urgings and vote against the mine. All of the supervisors have been the subject of intense lobbying campaigns from both sides of the issues.

But even if the Board of Supervisors rejects the project, attorneys for TMC vow to argue that because the federal government controls the mineral rights to the land, it has the ultimate authority, not the county.

The city of Santa Clarita has already filed suit against the BLM, saying the approval process was flawed and that the project violates the Endangered Species Act by imperiling several threatened plants and animals.

CHRONOLOGY

--1991: The federal Bureau of Land Management accepts a bid from Southdown Inc. of Houston, the parent company of Transit Mixed Concrete to dig 83 million tons of sand and gravel from the Soledad Canyon hillside, south of the Antelope Valley Freeway between Agua Dulce Canyon and Soledad Canyon roads. A 10-year review process begins.

--December 1999: The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission rejects the mine, declining to issue Azusa-based TMC mining permits. TMC appeals the decision to the Board of Supervisors. Because the federal government controls the mineral rights to the land, county officials have limited jurisdiction over the project.

--August 2000: The BLM approves TMC's plan to mine 73 million tons. Local elected officials, the school districts and the water agencies appeal the decision, saying the mine would destroy the Santa Clarita Valley's environment and degrade residents' quality of life.

--September 2000: Southdown and TMC are purchased by Cemex Inc., Mexico's largest cement producing company.

--October 2000: City officials launch an all-out effort to stop the mine with a rally of 2,000 residents. Attorneys and consultants are hired to develop arguments against the mine.

--January 2001: The Board of Supervisors delays action on the mine for 90 days, instructing TMC representatives to meet with city officials and negotiate a settlement to the dispute over the mine after 500 residents pack the meeting and voice their opposition. City officials argued that the 56.1 million tons of sand and gravel that TMC plans to mine means the operation would be far too large.

--February 2001: A series of meetings begins between TMC and a team of city and county officials to discuss concerns about the mine. TMC offers to reduce the overall size of the mine by 11 percent, an offer rejected by the city because it does not reduce the crucial 56.1 million tons of aggregate to be sold. The city requests that the mine be reduced by 90 percent.

--March 2001: Negotiations break down, as TMC ends the talks when the city declines to agree that TMC has an unalterable contract with the federal government to mine 56.1 million tons of aggregate.

--April 2001: The Board of Supervisors is expected to decide whether to issue TMC mining permits. Both sides vow to sue if they lose.

CAPTION(S):

box, map

Box: (ran in SAC and AV edition only) CHRONOLOGY (see text)

Map: (ran in SAC and Valley dition only) Proposed Transit Mixed Concrete site