Vince Davis wrote a Community Forum on April 22 titled, "Quarry will help improve region's environment." Let's examine Davis' positions:
He states that Granite Construction's Liberty Quarry will improve the Rainbow Valley interchange with the Interstate 15. That is where Granite intends to have 1,600 trucks a day entering and exiting the quarry. Mr. Davis calls this an isolated increase in traffic. I don't believe residents would find so many trucks with crushed granite, asphalt or cement an isolated problem. The quarry will be just one mile south of the Temecula city limits, not far from the Border Patrol checkpoint.
Further, Mr. Davis did not share the conclusion of the county's Draft Environmental Impact Report. It states, "DEIR No. 475 determined that the proposed project would result in significant and unavoidable impacts to Air Quality and Traffic/Transportation, which cannot be mitigated to below a level of significance." Evidence is in that the region's environment will be greatly damaged, not improved.
This is a wake-up call.
The Riverside County Planning Commission is poised to soon make a decision about the project. The Board of Supervisors could then decide to approve the project, despite the negative impact report.
Additional evidence of the environmental damage is the type and size of the proposed mile-long quarry. It would be one of the largest quarries in the country. Blasting would take the granite hill down to a depth of 1,000 feet, the height of the Empire State Building. Blasting would continue for 75 years; 10 times a week; six days a week.
Each explosion would be twice as big as the one that took down the federal building in Oklahoma City. The DEIR states that 100,000 pounds of explosives would be used each week, consisting primarily of ammonium nitrate and fuel oil. Airborne crystalline silica, which can cause lung cancer, would definitely be emitted.
The emissions and poor air quality would be funneled into the Temecula Valley with the prevailing northerly ocean breeze.
Temecula, in one of the Native Americans' languages, means "where the mist meets the sun." The mist would be polluted!
Additional evidence is that more than 100 local medical doctors are opposed. They see terrible health problems for children and adults, such as lung, arterial, heart and nerve damage.
The Temecula Valley Unified School District is also against the proposed quarry.
The health of its students is of vital concern, and area residents should also be concerned.
Water is another environmental concern. The quarry would use 130 million gallons of new water a year. Area water shortage is already a problem.
The proposed quarry would be part of the Santa Margarita River watershed. The river, which supplies water for the Marines and their families at Camp Pendleton, would become polluted. Groundwater in the surrounding areas would also be affected.
San Diego State University's Santa Margarita Ecological Reserve borders the proposed quarry site. The 45-year-old reserve is one of the larger outdoor laboratories in the world, with more than 4,300 acres. Plants and animals will definitely be affected.
One other environmental problem is the Lake Elsinore earthquake fault, just 2.1 miles from the proposed site. Experts will not give their assurances that the deep blasting might not cause an earthquake.
In summary: The air, groundwater and adjacent land will become unhealthy and dangerous. These environmental damages will have a wide impact. Real estate, agriculture, business and the basic economy will be devastated.
Traffic to the south will be unbearable. Tourism, which generated more than $23 million in sales tax in 2008, will be particularly harmed. One out of every six jobs locally is in tourism ---- 6,600 jobs.
What will become of this beautiful valley when it becomes known for a huge quarry mine and poor air quality? Will the area be known worldwide as Wine Country, or Mine Country? If you want more information go to www.NoGravelQuarry.com.
MARELLE DORSEY lives in Temecula.
