Is it over yet? Are we there yet? How much longer?

It appears the BLM has pulled support for Cemex mining in the Santa Clarita Valley. You know the BLM (Bureau of Land Management), the federal government’s answer to land mismanagement. The same folks who now have heavy-duty weapons and up-armored vehicles to manage federal lands.

I still don’t know why they have their own SWAT teams. Guess they have to protect the vast, empty lands in the United States from dangerous citizens and endangered animals like cows and wild horses.

Anyway, now that I’m back from my previous digression, that agency has stated in a letter that Cemex should not mine in the SCV because it is too close to residential areas, among other things. It was about time someone recognized the fact that we were about to have a mega-mine very close to homes.

Just a couple of questions:

1. Did anyone besides me notice that the mine would also be awfully close to a proposed route of the California High Speed Rail Boondoggle?

2. Did anyone notice that Congress is now controlled by the same political party in both the House and the Senate?

It may also be noted that Mr. Howard “Take the Buck” McKeon is now out of office and can’t stall a bill to stop the mine any longer. Gee, Buck … just what did you accomplish in 22 years? Oh, I know, you get a lifetime retirement income. You also got us a little bit for the vaunted and already overcrowded cross-valley connector.

But I’m not here to bash the Buckster. I want to celebrate the demise of Cemex in our little corner of the world. I hope the BLM letter means what I think it means and will do what we all hope it will do.

I do know our City Council has been working long and hard on the Cemex problem in spite of what some wags on Facebook say. All of the City Council members are to be congratulated for working on the Cemex issue, but three stand out as being involved all the years it has been a problem. Those three are Laurene Weste, Bob Kellar and Marsha McLean. Through thick and thin, they have led the way when others thought it lost.

So we may be there. The trip is almost over. It has taken a long, long time.

With Cemex going, what is our next problem to overcome?

Chiquita Canyon Landfill expansion?

The lack of the kind of chain restaurant you like? (Maybe a Cheesecake Factory or such.)

The everlasting roadwork between Old Town Newhall and the 14 freeway? Just how long does that work take?

Brine injection wells to get rid of the chlorides in our waste water? Let’s pipe it to Sacramento and see if they can find some way to tax it to help pay for the High Speed Rail Boondoggle.

If Cemex is really leaving our valley, I’m sure I’ll have plenty to write about anyway. Congress will be in session, as will those pesky little meetings of our state reps up in the humid river town of Sacra-tomato. I’m sure my “friends” in City Hall and the county folks in Norwalk will also provide all kinds of grist for my mill.

Cemex, Chiquita and High Speed Rail.

Waste water chlorides, too.

I’ve got plenty of subjects for a long time to come.

Plus, could some of you send ideas for some.

And improve my attempts at poetry.

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley, where he serves as executive director of the SCV Historical Society. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com. His older commentaries are archived at DManzer.com; his newer commentaries can be accessed [here]. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].