Rep. Steve Knight
[Rep. Knight] – U.S. Rep. Steve Knight announced Thursday that the decades-long fight to prevent Cemex from mining in Santa Clarita may come to an end as soon as next week.
In a letter delivered to Knight last week, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Acting Principal Deputy Solicitor K. Jack Haugrud stated that the status of Cemex’s appeal regarding BLM’s decision to rescind and withdraw mining contracts in Soledad Canyon would be “ripe” for final consideration after August 9. The correspondence comes as a reply to a letter that Knight sent to the BLM in January requesting that the final judgment on the proposed mine be delivered as soon as possible.
“Our community scored a major victory last August when Cemex’s contracts were cancelled, but this is not over yet,” said Rep. Knight. “An early resolution of this issue will bring a long-term dispute to a well-deserved conclusion.”
This correspondence is the latest in a long series of actions by Rep. Knight to halt the aggregate mine in Santa Clarita. Throughout his tenure in Congress, Rep. Knight worked with local leaders and federal agencies to prevent the mine from breaking ground. This resulted in a decision last August by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to cancel Cemex’s mining contracts in Soledad Canyon. Cemex is currently appealing the ruling, but opponents of the mine are hopeful that they will soon be victorious.
“Preventing CEMEX from breaking ground on this mine has been my top priority since I took office,” said Rep. Knight. “I urge the Bureau of Land Management to respect the wishes of the Santa Clarita community by cancelling the contracts once and for all next week.”
A copy of Rep. Knight’s 2016 letters to the Bureau of Land Management can be found here and here.
A copy of the Bureau’s reply can be found here.
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7 Comments
We don’t want it
So that would mean Canyon Country? No good!
That’s not a good idea
Well, just because Steve says it’s all good doesn’t mean it’s so. Cemex hasn’t sued yet, and hasn’t fired up their $$$ machine in Congress to change things. Not to mention the minor changes that have taken place in the last month or so.
Burned off hillsides won’t make such good photo ops for people who want to declare the sand & gravel mine as a public eyesore and desecration of pristine hillsides and canyons.
I hope that Steve and everyone else involved wins this fight. The dozens of truck trips on Soledad Cyn road and the 14 freeway caused by the tiny little development of Vista Del Canyon has made significant impact on us locals. Cemex’ original plan of hundreds of truck trips daily would have a devastating impact on users of those roadways.
That includes all the folks who have to drive south through Newhall Pass to work every day.
Hopefully the BLM will uphold their previous decision rescinding the permits. We’ll believe it’s over when it’s finally over!
This this is a major impact on our community to finally come to an end, since it has taken so long, I hope the final decision to cancel permits is the answer to our safety, breathing, air conditions and in the long run much happiness. Thank Steve Knight for his determined and completely following through to the end of what we have known as Cemex.
CEMEX will be needed by the 21,000+ new homes of Newhall Ranch. THe developer stooges in city state and federal governmnet are all “bought off” to get this started.
Just like Weste, Mclean and Keller on the Sanitation Board who approved huge property tax increase to get water for Newhall Ranch, all the politicians find ways for the burden of developemnt to be placed on the residents.