This article's lead section may be too long. Please edit it to move non-essential details to the body, or discuss this on the talk page. See the lead section guidelines.(May 2020)
The Soledad Canyon Sand and Gravel Mining Project is the legal name of a mining project in Northern Los Angeles County east of the City of Santa Clarita, California, United States. First mined in 1921, the property was later mined by Curtis Sand and Gravel from the early 1960s until 1989, when, as a result of a legal settlement, the Bureau of Land Management put two 10-year leases to mine sand and gravel from the site out to competitive bid. The contracts were awarded to Transit Mixed Concrete, which eventually sold them to Cemex Corporation.[1]
mining camp
The former operator, Curtis Sand & Gravel, sued in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn the contracts. After Curtis' legal options had been exhausted, the City of Santa Clarita started questioning the validity of Transit Mixed's contracts as part of a public relations campaign to cause the mining contracts to be cancelled. The BLM approved the project in 2000 by issuing a Record of Decision[2] after a review process which lasted over 10 years. The city challenged the approval in court, alleging that the project would spoil air quality, increase traffic on the 14 Freeway and town roads and would threaten endangered fish and wildlife species. Eventually, Cemex, with the United States (Bureau of Land Management) intervening, successfully sued the County of Los Angeles for unreasonable delays. The result was a "consent decree" or settlement enjoining the county from further interference, and requiring the county to issue a permit and certify the EIR for the federally-approved project in 2004.[3] A 2008 United States District Court decision awarded Cemex attorney fees of $524,476.60 from the City of Santa Clarita. In the decision, Judge A. Howard Matz responded to the City's claim that its action against decertifying the CEQA decision on the Soledad Canyon Sand and Gravel Mining Project constituted "a CEQA Action (sic) as permitted under California law" by pointing out that "every party seeking to enforce CEQA or any comparable environmental statute - - indeed, all statutes, even anti-discrimination laws - - has the duty to comply with applicable professional and judicial requirements. Merely purporting to promote or protect a societal "good" or interest reflected in a statute does not immunize a plaintiff from the consequences of litigation abuse".[4]
The city's PR campaign eventually forced Cemex to agree to a "truce"[5] with the city which was intended to "explore mutually acceptable solutions that will result in a win-win for both parties."
During this time, the city and Cemex attempted to pass a number of bills through Congress to prevent mining in Soledad Canyon through California's 25th district Representative Howard Buck McKeon, but none were successful. The first Bill, sponsored in the Senate by Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and co-sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) is S.771, the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act from 2013.[6] S.771 and a subsequent piece of legislation sought to engage Congress to direct the Bureau of Land Management to sell vacant land in the desert near Victorville, California, the proceeds of which would go to Cemex Corporation to buy out their interest in mining Soledad Canyon. A subsequent bill (S. 2938[7]), with its House version successfully passed, was held up in the Senate for environmental reasons by Martin Heinrich, Democratic senator from New Mexico.[8] Heinrich objected to selling public lands as a budget offset to pay for the buyout of the mining contracts.
On August 28, 2015 the BLM issued a cancellation of the contracts,[9] and the decision is currently being appealed by CEMEX. Cemex also filed a petition for stay[10] which along with the Notice of Appeal, is to be heard in an administrative capacity by the Interior Board of Land Appeals. Congressman Steve Knight (politician) (who replaced Buck McKeon as representative of California's 25th District in 2014) "welcomed an announcement by Cemex that [the BLM] will cancel their mining contracts in the Santa Clarita Valley".[11] Any decision by the Interior Board of Land Appeals is expected to be appealed to the courts.
^Salt, Tim. "Record of Decision for the Soledad Canyon Sand and Gravel Mining Project". www.blm.gov. Bureau of Land Management. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
^Hartl, James. "Surface Mining Permit No. 91--165-(5)" (PDF). lacounty.gov. Los Angeles County. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
^"Award of Attorney Fees | PDF | Consent Decree | Lawsuit". Scribd. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^"City of Santa Clarita and CEMEX Announce a Truce - City of Santa Clarita and CEMEX Announce a Truce - CEMEX USA - CEMEX". www.cemexusa.com. Retrieved 2021-10-15.
^"Text - S.771 (H.R.5742 in the House) - 113th Congress (2013-2014): Soledad Canyon Settlement Act". congress.gov.
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This article s lead section may be too long Please edit it to move non essential details to the body or discuss this on the talk page See the lead section guidelines May 2020 The Soledad Canyon Sand and Gravel Mining Project is the legal name of a mining project in Northern Los Angeles County east of the City of Santa Clarita California United States First mined in 1921 the property was later mined by Curtis Sand and Gravel from the early 1960s until 1989 when as a result of a legal settlement the Bureau of Land Management put two 10 year leases to mine sand and gravel from the site out to competitive bid The contracts were awarded to Transit Mixed Concrete which eventually sold them to Cemex Corporation 1 mining campThe former operator Curtis Sand amp Gravel sued in an unsuccessful attempt to overturn the contracts After Curtis legal options had been exhausted the City of Santa Clarita started questioning the validity of Transit Mixed s contracts as part of a public relations campaign to cause the mining contracts to be cancelled The BLM approved the project in 2000 by issuing a Record of Decision 2 after a review process which lasted over 10 years The city challenged the approval in court alleging that the project would spoil air quality increase traffic on the 14 Freeway and town roads and would threaten endangered fish and wildlife species Eventually Cemex with the United States Bureau of Land Management intervening successfully sued the County of Los Angeles for unreasonable delays The result was a consent decree or settlement enjoining the county from further interference and requiring the county to issue a permit and certify the EIR for the federally approved project in 2004 3 A 2008 United States District Court decision awarded Cemex attorney fees of 524 476 60 from the City of Santa Clarita In the decision Judge A Howard Matz responded to the City s claim that its action against decertifying the CEQA decision on the Soledad Canyon Sand and Gravel Mining Project constituted a CEQA Action sic as permitted under California law by pointing out that every party seeking to enforce CEQA or any comparable environmental statute indeed all statutes even anti discrimination laws has the duty to comply with applicable professional and judicial requirements Merely purporting to promote or protect a societal good or interest reflected in a statute does not immunize a plaintiff from the consequences of litigation abuse 4 The city s PR campaign eventually forced Cemex to agree to a truce 5 with the city which was intended to explore mutually acceptable solutions that will result in a win win for both parties During this time the city and Cemex attempted to pass a number of bills through Congress to prevent mining in Soledad Canyon through California s 25th district Representative Howard Buck McKeon but none were successful The first Bill sponsored in the Senate by Barbara Boxer D CA and co sponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein D CA is S 771 the Soledad Canyon Settlement Act from 2013 6 S 771 and a subsequent piece of legislation sought to engage Congress to direct the Bureau of Land Management to sell vacant land in the desert near Victorville California the proceeds of which would go to Cemex Corporation to buy out their interest in mining Soledad Canyon A subsequent bill S 2938 7 with its House version successfully passed was held up in the Senate for environmental reasons by Martin Heinrich Democratic senator from New Mexico 8 Heinrich objected to selling public lands as a budget offset to pay for the buyout of the mining contracts On August 28 2015 the BLM issued a cancellation of the contracts 9 and the decision is currently being appealed by CEMEX Cemex also filed a petition for stay 10 which along with the Notice of Appeal is to be heard in an administrative capacity by the Interior Board of Land Appeals Congressman Steve Knight politician who replaced Buck McKeon as representative of California s 25th District in 2014 welcomed an announcement by Cemex that the BLM will cancel their mining contracts in the Santa Clarita Valley 11 Any decision by the Interior Board of Land Appeals is expected to be appealed to the courts References edit SCVHistory com JK0017 Soledad Soledad Canyon Mining Operations 1967 70 scvhistory com Salt Tim Record of Decision for the Soledad Canyon Sand and Gravel Mining Project www blm gov Bureau of Land Management Retrieved 11 November 2015 Hartl James Surface Mining Permit No 91 165 5 PDF lacounty gov Los Angeles County Retrieved 11 November 2015 Award of Attorney Fees PDF Consent Decree Lawsuit Scribd Retrieved 2021 10 15 City of Santa Clarita and CEMEX Announce a Truce City of Santa Clarita and CEMEX Announce a Truce CEMEX USA CEMEX www cemexusa com Retrieved 2021 10 15 Text S 771 H R 5742 in the House 113th Congress 2013 2014 Soledad Canyon Settlement Act congress gov govinfo www govinfo gov Retrieved 2021 10 15 Holdout Senator Says Cemex Bill Sets Bad Precedent SCVNews com 2014 12 15 Retrieved 2021 10 15 BLM Decision To Rescind Mining Contracts in Soledad Canyon 8 15 15 PDF Scribd Retrieved 2021 10 15 Cemex Petition for Stay Exhibits 10 and 12 Redacted text Enhanced Scribd THESCVBEACON Knight Declares Victory in Cemex Fight Mining Contracts Cancelled westranchbeacon com Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Soledad Canyon Sand and Gravel Mining Project amp oldid 1144743792, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
