County may approve 1,700-acre mining operation
January 15, 2009
The county commission yesterday weighed the consequences of a zone change that, if approved, will allow a 1,726-acre sand and gravel mining operation in Valencia County.
The mining would take place about three and a half miles from Meadow Lake, on the east mesa. The owners of the property, represented by Sun Ranch Development, Ltd., would lease the land for mining to Lafarge, a corporation with international mining and sales operations.
The land in question is zoned as “Outland District” and would need to be changed to “Mineral Resource” for the mining to take place.
The mining is expected to extract sand and gravel at a depth of 50 to 90 feet, but because the water table is under 600 feet in the area, may go lower if it is cost effective, according to experts and employees speaking on behalf of Sun Ranch Development and Lafarge.
The mining would include on-site rock crushing equipment to break up large rocks.
Commissioner Ron Gentry, later echoed by other commissioners, suggested his biggest concern was that the county would not receive a significant tax benefit from the mining. Gentry questioned if the point of sale for the sand and gravel would be in Valencia County, and if so, how much of a tax benefit it would be to the county. The company was unable to immediately provide specific numbers on the county’s expected tax revenue.
“We have a tremendous burden on our highways and on our resources,” said Commission Chairman Pedro Rael. “I want to make sure some of those taxes come our way.”
The burden Rael mentioned involves the potential of a maximum 400 trucks, or 800 trips a day, using Highway 47 and other connecting roadways. While the companies requesting the zone change said they would not haul their materials through Meadow Lake, there would be a burden to other areas, including near Ann Parish Elementary School.
Commissioner Don Holliday said Ann Parish Elementary had been in contact with him to discuss school officials’ concerns. Holliday said approximately 43 school buses use the same roads that the trucks would be using every day, creating potentially dangerous road conditions for students, bus drivers and citizens.
Company officials said the burden to the roads would not likely be as high as the 400 trucks suggested by their own traffic expert, because the faltering economy meant the operation would be “slow growth,” with expansion of their operation over a period of five to 10 years and a total lifespan for the mining operations of 50 years.
The company also noted that the mining would have a positive economic impact for local truck drivers, who would more than likely be contracted to haul the material from the site to construction sites.
Lafarge envisions expanding their operations to include local facilities for producing concrete mix and asphalt, but those plans were long-range, not a part of the zone change request and would require the company to come before the commission to request such facilities.
The environmental impact would be minimal, according to Lafarge and its experts, who said the company had water available to control dust, was ready to reclaim the mined area with revegetation, and could guarantee there would be no impact to the recharge of the two nearest aquifers.
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