Andrew G. Fried

It would be understandable for anyone who has fought the long, hard fight to keep a massive sand and gravel mine out of Soledad Canyon to reflect upon the last-minute developments of the congressional session that ended just before the holidays, and come to a sobering conclusion: The battle is lost.

Rep. Howard “Buck” McKeon, with his final legislative attempt to cancel the Cemex mining contracts with the Bureau of Land Management, didn’t get the job done in time. His last Cemex bill passed the House, but the Senate version of the bill was dead on arrival as one New Mexico senator, taking advantage of the dwindling congressional schedule, killed it by putting a hold on it.

In the wake of the bill’s failure, Cemex announced it has waited as long as it can. The company released a statement that said in part: “Given these considerations and the uncertain political climate at this time, Cemex will continue to pursue implementation of the Soledad Canyon project with the goal of bringing the project on-line, while also exploring with the city mutually agreeable solutions.”

The mining company has been sitting on these contracts for seven years while the city of Santa Clarita has pursued a legislative solution that would be mutually agreeable. While our nonprofit organization, Safe Action for the Environment Inc., strongly opposes the Cemex mine, we do appreciate the company’s patience in trying to arrive at a legislative solution.

So that’s it, right?

Well, maybe not. While Cemex has said it will now resume pursuing development of the mine in 2015, opportunity still remains with the new Congress — and with the SCV’s newly elected representative, Steve Knight — to pursue passage of the legislation early in the 2015 congressional session.

McKeon’s bill was a companion bill to legislation authored by Sen. Barbara Boxer and supported by Sen. Dianne Feinstein. With support from both members of the California Senate delegation, and Knight pledging to take up the cause on the House side, there still remains a chance that a legislative solution can save the day in 2015.

Our organization, Safe Action for the Environment Inc., is refusing to give up hope. We’re continuing our outreach to congressional leaders, including Martin Heinrich, the New Mexico senator who stood in the way of the bill as the clock ticked down the last minutes of the 2014 session.

SAFE has been involved in this issue since 1999, and we believe the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act reflects a fair-minded approach to a complex situation that has evolved over two decades. By directing the BLM to cancel Cemex’s sand and gravel mining leases in Soledad Canyon and withdrawing the site from future mining, the bill would address the multiple issues of area residents who have long been concerned that the mine would adversely impact their overall quality of life.

Boxer’s bill would bring consistency to federal policy on the Soledad Canyon-Upper Santa Clara River area, a crucial wildlife corridor that has been identified by the National Park Service as having significant ecological resources. Studies, plans and policies put forth by the BLM, the U.S. Forest Service and the National Park Service reflect unfavorably on placing a massive gravel mine in an ecologically sensitive area. SAFE concurs; Soledad Canyon is an inappropriate location for a project of this magnitude.

SAFE, in collaboration with the city of Santa Clarita, the state of California and an unprecedented coalition of businesses, educational bodies, political jurisdictions and governmental entities, environmental groups, labor organizations, media groups and area residents, support Boxer’s legislation as a creative, balanced and fair resolution of this issue.

Based on this collaborative effort, we are asking lawmakers to note the following facts:

1. A 56-million-ton sand and gravel mine, being promulgated by the BLM, is incompatible with President Obama’s recently designated San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. One edge of the National Monument property directly abuts the proposed mining site.

2. Surface mining on the site creates a bifurcated estate, with the city of Santa Clarita owning the surface rights and the BLM administering the federally owned mining rights. Once the mining contracts are cancelled through the legislative process, the city is prepared to convey, at no cost, the surface rights to approximately 490 acres of the property, which will provide a gateway to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument.

3. Three federal studies show that the Upper Santa Clara River area contains nationally significant ecological natural resources.

4. The San Gabriel Watershed and Mountains Special Resource Study identifies the importance of the Santa Clara River, the last natural river in Southern California and the source of groundwater for 1 million Southern California residents.

5. For years, a coalition of local environmental organizations has been working to re-establish the wildlife corridor between the northern and southern sections of the National Forest.

6. The site is within the aforementioned wildlife corridor. Various studies have indicated large-scale sand and gravel mining, with its significant truck traffic and 24-hour operations including blasting, are incompatible with habitat preservation efforts.

7. The BLM’s study, titled the South Coast Resource Management Plan, specifically identifies the Upper Santa Clara River area as appropriate for designation as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern.

8. California Natural Resources Sec. John Laird has expressed support for Boxer’s legislation.

Residents of the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys are extremely concerned that the mine will adversely impact air quality, human health and animal husbandry, traffic, and their overall quality of life.

Therefore, SAFE remains a strong supporter of Boxer’s legislation, and we pledge to continue advocating in favor of the senator’s effort to allow this long-standing issue to finally be positively resolved.

It’s not over.

Andrew Fried is president of Safe Action for the Environment Inc. To find more information regarding SAFE and efforts to save Soledad Canyon, visit www.Safe4Environment.org.