LOCKYER BACKS CITY ON MINE SUIT SUPPORTS ACTION AGAINST CEMEX INC.

Byline: Eugene Tong Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - The state Attorney General's Office has filed a brief in support of the city of Santa Clarita's battle against a proposed Soledad Canyon gravel mine, citing concerns over the legality of a federal consent decree allowing the project to move forward.

The friend-of-the-court brief filed last week with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals argued the settlement between mine operator Cemex Inc. and Los Angeles County was too restrictive for county government to function, and could hamper county and state enforcement of environmental laws such as the California Environmental Quality Act.

``We've been following this case for a long time, and this is just another chapter in our involvement in the Cemex case,'' Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for state Attorney General Bill Lockyer's office, said Friday.

Officials for Cemex could not be reached Friday for comment. The Mexico-based company contends it has the right under an 1872 federal law to mine 56.1 million tons of sand and gravel in the area, despite protests from Santa Clarita city officials that the operation would result in diminished air quality and would burden local roads.

The county initially rejected the mine but yielded when Cemex sued in federal court. County supervisors grudgingly granted the mining permit in June under a court-approved consent decree, which also imposed a slate of environmental mitigations on the mine.

Both the county and city are appealing the case, claiming the decree and the environmental impact report violate CEQA, the federal Clean Water and Clean Air acts, and the National Environmental Policy Act. The city also is suing the county, claiming officials failed to analyze the mine's impacts.

The state attorney general's brief argued the consent decree is ``so unusually vague, broad, and ambiguous'' that county officials can't determine whether any of their actions would violate the federal order.

The consent decree states the county cannot ``interfere with, conflict with, or otherwise frustrate or impair'' the agreement with Cemex, which the attorney general argued could infringe on the county's powers over environmental laws and right of free speech.

The brief urged the appellate court to either throw out the consent decree, or open to challenge the project's environmental review process in state court.

Both the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the state Department of Fish and Game have identified problems with the environmental impact report for the mine and have ordered that their respective sections of the report be reviewed.

The state attorney general is among the most powerful allies in the city's drawn-out legal battle against the mine. Since June, 15 other civic and environmental groups have filed arguments in court opposing the project.

They include the League of California Cities, the Sierra Club and California Association of Realtors. But city officials believe the support of Lockyer's office has boosted their case.

``The chief legal officer of the state is recognizing that the consent decree has elements in it that are wrong, that violate the authority of state and local government,'' said Michael Murphy, the city's intergovernment relations officer.

Eugene Tong, [phone]

eugene.tong(at)dailynews.com