San Rafael Rock Quarry Committee
Open Letter from Coalition Co-President on FEIR Vote
I have received lots of feedback concerning the Board of Supervisors vote yesterday (October 27, 2009) to certify the quarry EIR. One discouraged resident wrote: "So essentially we lost and we are stuck with them for another 17 years, effectively the rest of our lives...." The vote does not mean that the quarry’s project plans have been approved! The Coalition pointed out several ways that the EIR was inadequate, but the Board of Supervisors vote indicated their belief the EIR is sufficient to guide them when making decisions regarding the actual project proposals. (If you missed the 10/27/09 hearing, you can watch it online: http://www.co.marin.ca.us/depts/BS/Archive/Meetings.cfm, click on the 10/27/09 Video link, then scroll down the agenda and click on Item 17) Many residents spoke out about how the quarry impacts their lives.
Although the EIR concluded that there are significant impacts that cannot be mitigated in the the areas of Land Use Incompatibility and Cumulative Health Risk, the project may be approved in spite of this. However, the conditions under which the quarry may operate will undoubtedly be the subject of much debate. Supervisor Susan Adams and Supervisor Steve Kinsey will be working with the quarry and the community in the coming months to try reach agreement as to some of the operating conditions.
The next phase of the process is to determine the Merits of the project proposal. The Board of Supervisors will be deciding which of several alternatives set forth in the EIR may be approved. The BOS can choose from the EIR alternatives, or may modify them in any way they deem appropriate. To inform its decision, the BOS will invite public comments. The Coalition's position regarding the proposed Operating Permit is that the EIR's Reduced Alternative, with certain modifications that would limit operations, would be acceptable, as long as the emissions from operations are shown to be safe.
In my comments yesterday, I urged the Supervisors to apply the Precautionary Principle, which provides that "When an activity raises threats of harm to the environment or human health, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically." Crystalline silica dust is a known carcinogen, and its dangers have been shown in occupational exposures, but have not been studied so that we can quantify the risks to residents in close proximity to the quarry. Therefore, I asked them to take precaution and place the burden of proof on the quarry, as proponents of the project, to show it will be safe, not on the public to prove the contrary.
Judi Shils, one of the authors of the recent Marin Voice piece "Quarry requires new thinking," wrote to Supervisor Adams about her disappointment with the hearing yesterday. She agreed I could share her letter with you. Here are some of her comments:
"On the same day that CNN Health published a story that rates of breast cancer in tweens are on the rise, where a huge collective of people who have never smoked are dying of lung cancer with quite a few right here in Marin, where the Precautionary Principle is all that we have at this point as our guidepost but we don't use it, where debate trumps health at every turn, where any company can pay off any expert to say exactly what they need and five years later we find out the truth from them in an interview with 60 minutes. How does human health not come first. How can a population left in your hands get this news as their future forecast for heath and for that of their children, many suffering with asthma. How are we making our decisions. Why does money make them for us. This is very very sad news in our community that truly is not priding itself on the values that are most important to us, with human health being foremost. What can we do to change this? We need that to be the question we are asking ourselves everyday. Not how can we debate away the important stuff. I think we all know the impacts of the silica that is being spewed and of diesel fumes in these quantities."