NEIGHBORS FACE CHANGES MOTOR HOME PARK QUIET NOW BUT BIG CEMEX PLANT LOOMS.

Byline: Susan Abram Staff Writer

SAUGUS - In the 14 years he's managed his parents' motor home park, Ray Kline can't think of a quieter place.

Sometimes, giant dump trucks rumble along Soledad Canyon Road, but otherwise, the River's End park where the Santa Clara River bends, just past Santa Clarita city limits, is about as peaceful a place you can find.

But unbeknown to the owners and some residents here, this tiny hideaway gets a mention in the long list of project conditions agreed upon between Los Angeles County and Cemex Inc., the Mexico-based company that wants to mine up to 56.1 million tons of sand and gravel just up the road from the park.

As part of the settlement between Cemex and Los Angeles County supervisors, who approved it on a split vote, Cemex will ``comply with all air quality, noise control, and visual quality mitigation measures. ... The soundwalls required by the project's (environmental impact report) near River's End Trailer Park shall be constructed by the permittee within one year of the effective date of this grant.''

Kline said he's heard nothing about soundwalls.

``I haven't heard a thing about a wall,'' Kline said recently. ``No one has come here to tell us about it.''

A few smaller mining companies operate near the park behind a canyon ridge. But the mountain protects the park from the noise, he said.

``I don't see a lot of dust or anything,'' Kline said. ``Sometimes as trucks go by, dust falls on the highway.''

Kline said he is uncertain whether the project will have an impact on the daily operations at the park. Up to 30 motor homes stop to rent a space out there at any given time.

But in some parts of the nation, where other Cemex projects operate, some residents who live near quarries have formed hard-core watchdog groups as a result of the mines. Water quality, adverse effects on property values, noise and truck traffic are all concerns. Other cities have benefited from the quarries, places where Cemex Inc. has been honored for its commitment to the environment.

Cemex is the largest cement manufacturer in the nation, operating 13 plants.

``It's a constant drone of trucks, a sound that carries over forever,'' said Jan Smolinski, a resident of Green County, Ohio. Smolinski and his wife are part of the Xenia/Bath/Miami Township Action group, which formed more than two years ago. The group raised thousands of dollars to fight a legal battle against Cemex, which wants to expand its operations. The case has reached the state level.

The Smolinskis live almost a mile from the quarry, which mines sand and gravel but also makes cement.

The company built a man-made ridge around the operation, but that hasn't quelled the noise or the dust that rises from the mines.

``I've got a pond on my front yard, and on a still night, there'll be a layer of dust,'' Smolinski said.

The group also has staged all-night vigils on the roads, counting up to 200 semi-trucks entering and leaving the quarry in a 24-hour period.

In Lyons, Colo. state air-pollution officials charged Cemex with more than $282,000 in fines last month, according to recent published reports. Health officials there called the violations a result of lack of management of environmental compliance.

The company has said it has made the corrections, according to published reports.

By comparison, Cemex was honored as Business of the Year by the Demopolis, Ala., Chamber of Commerce recently.

And in 2002, Cemex received an overall award from the World Environment Center's 18th annual Gold Medal for International Corporate Environmental achievement, for distinguishing itself as a company that demonstrated ``pre-eminent industry leadership and contributes to worldwide economy.''

Brian Mastin, spokesman for Cemex in Southern California, said the company strives to meet the mitigation standards it sets. The settlement involving the Canyon Country mine, a year-long mitigation process between the county and his company, is proof of its efforts to mitigate several environmental and quality-of-life issues, he said.

The quarry in Santa Clarita would replace a similar-sized mine in Irwindale, which has been depleted of sand and gravel in its century-long history. A housing project there known as Parkside, Azusa is currently under construction ``a stone's throw away from the quarry,'' Mastin said, and according to its developers, each home sells for up to $471,000.

In 2002, U.S. Reps. Hilda Solis and Henry A. Waxman issued a study on the environmental effects of mining in the San Gabriel Valley because of residents' concerns of the mining process on air and water quality.

But the report concluded that federal and state regulators lacked basic information to assess the magnitude of air pollution risk generated by the mining operations.

As part of the agreement released last month for the proposed project in Santa Clarita, Cemex Inc. has agreed to dozens of environmental and safety-related conditions to mine sand and gravel, including establishing an open space, air quality and traffic fund of about $1.5 million over an 11-year period to address citizens' concerns.

Also, under the terms of agreement, Cemex would be allowed to develop water wells and pumping facilities near the Santa Clara River. Downstream, underground flow from the river is a source of water for Santa Clarita.

``Careful considerations were taken to help protect the local environment,'' Mastin said. ``The county determined that in this case, the agreement was appropriate for the road noise, though there's been a history since the 1960s of trucks hauling aggregate from the canyons there.''

Cemex and Los Angeles County filed a consent decree last month and are awaiting a final review by the U.S. District Court, due March 15.

Santa Clarita, which previously wasn't allowed to interfere in the mitigation process between Cemex and the county, was granted the right to intervene and oppose the settlement by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals a day after the consent decree was filed.

Meanwhile, the city has spent more than $2 million in opposing the plans for the mine just outside its city limits. On Tuesday, the City Council is expected to allocate up to an additional $291,371 to its opposition strategy.

County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who voted against the settlement, has said the proposed project is likely to ``deplete valuable water resources and adds congestion to our freeways.''

County supervisors Gloria Molina, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke and Don Knabe, who cast the approving votes, did not return calls placed last week seeking to find out why they agreed to the project.

Susan Abram, [phone]

susan.abram(at)dailynews.com