The KUSP Land Use Report #40: Is There A Mine In Monterey County’s Future?

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Gary Patton, Executive Director of LandWatch Monterey County, presents the following Land Use Report. The opinions expressed by Mr. Patton are not necessarily those of KUSP Radio, nor of any of our sponsors.

A significant proposal made its first public appearance on April 17th. Granite Construction Company is proposing a new, 333-acre mine, and an asphalt batch plant, and a cement plant, to be located on the East side of the Salinas Valley.

There will be a lot of opportunity for public involvement as this proposal moves through the permit process. That’s good. There’s a lot to think about, and a lot to discuss. The proposed mine would operate for 120 years. It would require the construction of a new road, one and a half miles long, through the middle of agricultural lands, and would use 290 acre feet of water per year. That means about 95 million gallons, or about 259,000 gallons per day. There are some potential traffic impacts, too. The mine could generate up to 870 one-way truck trips per day. If each of those trucks were sixty feet long, and maintained a one truck-length separation from the next truck, the line of trucks generated by the mine would stretch for twenty miles along Highway 101.

If you’d like to find out more, you should contact the Monterey County Planning and Building Department, at their office in Marina. Ask to get a copy of the Notice of Preparation of an Environmental Impact Report on the proposed mine project, and ask to receive mailed notice for all further proceedings.

For KUSP, this is Gary Patton.

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