San Rafael Rock Quarry

Board of Supervisors Staff has issued a report on the Draft Environmental Impact Report to be used by the BOS as input to their deliberations. Click here to download the PDF version of that report. Comments on the Draft EIR should be sent no later than April 14 at 5:00 pm to:

Tim Haddad, Environmental Planning Coordinator
3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 308
San Rafael, CA 94903

The SPRC wrote a scoping letter on October 3, 2007 to the County regarding issues it felt should be addressed in the scope of the planned EIR on the SRRQ.

Call Eric Steger, Public Works Senior Engineer, Marin County Dept. of Public Works if you have questions about the project at 415-499-6528, or Tim Haddad if you have questions about the community scoping meeting at 415-499-6269.

Last night, speakers lined up at the first of two scoping sessions to urge the County to include a number of issues in the EIR on the quarry's operating permit. Among the many issues that were raised were:

The accuracy of the facts underlying the baseline that is being used by the County;
The need to analyze the change in the quarry's surroundings, increases in residents in close proximity, and and the resulting incompatibility;
Consistency with the Countywide Plan;
The need for sufficient buffers between the quarry and housing and recreational areas;
Air Quality, including Crystalline Silica and Diesel Emissions;
Noise and Blasting;
Hours of operation; and
Restoration of the wetlands

Thanks to all who attended and especially to those who voiced their concerns!

If you missed the scoping session last night, you can come to the second session which will be held on October 3rd from 6 - 9 pm at Glenwood Elementary school in the multipurpose room. If you want to submit comments in writing about potential impacts from the proposed Quarry operations, they must be postmarked by October 3rd. These should be mailed (not faxed or emailed) to the attention of: Tim Haddad at 3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 308, San Rafael, CA 94903.

NOW is the Time to Comment on Impacts of San Rafael Rock Quarry Operations

If you care about our environment and quality of life in the Pt. San Pedro Road Corridor, now is the time to comment on impacts of the Quarry’s Operations.

At long last, and for the first time in its history, an environmental review of the San Rafael Rock Quarry is underway. The County Community Development Agency announced that residents are invited to a meeting Wednesday, September 12,* from 6 -9 pm, at Glenwood Elementary School, to help identify issues to be studied in the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the San Rafael Rock Quarry’s proposed new mining permit.
 
A preliminary assessment of the Quarry’s proposed Amended Quarry Permit, issued last month, concluded that the proposed operations could have significant environmental impacts and that these should be further analyzed in an EIR. The report is available on-line at the Community Development Agency's website (listed under 3. Other). At this meeting, the public will have a chance to "scope" the extent of the EIR analysis. The session will be:
 
6 to 9 PM, September 12
Glenwood Elementary School
25 West Castlewood Drive, San Rafael

The Quarry has proposed an operations permit that has the following major elements: the quarry would continue to crush, sort and stockpile earth and rock from the site; dock and load barges with earth, sand and rock; operate an asphalt batch plant; load and weight trucks to transport materials over Point San Pedro Road. Hours of proposed operation for the crushing plant are 7 AM to 5 PM December 1 through April 30 and 7 AM to 10 PM May 1 through November 30; with no crushing on Saturday or Sunday. Proposed hours for barge loading are 7 AM to 10 PM year round. Truck traffic is proposed to be limited to 250 one-way trips (125 round trips) Monday through Friday (except holidays) between 7 AM and 5 PM, except in declared emergencies.

Topic areas where the initial study determined that significant impacts could occur as a result of this operations plan are land use and planning, air quality, biological resources, hazards, noise, aesthetics/visual resources and cultural resources. However, members of the public are free to bring up any effect they believe the proposed operations could have - such as debris deposition from trucks, blasting vibration, noise, air pollution from respirable free silica dust and diesel exhaust, etc., – and to ask for further analysis.

Please note that this meeting is not a forum to address the merits of the proposed operations or ask for changes or conditions, but rather to ask for information on how the operations proposed by the quarry would affect the community and the broader environment. In general comments should be phrased as questions in order to be most helpful.
 
After extensive research, an EIR could conclude that proposed operations: 1) would not have negative effects on the community, 2) would have negative effects that could be mitigated if certain measures were taken, or 3) would have negative effects for which there is no mitigation possible. The EIR is intended to give the Board of Supervisors information they need to make a decision on the Quarry’s permit application. When the EIR is complete the public will be invited to review it for adequacy and also to participate in hearings before the Board of Supervisors as they decide on the merits of the proposed operations permit.
 
If you cannot attend on September 12, you may submit comments in writing about potential impacts from the proposed Quarry operations. These should be mailed (not faxed or emailed) to the attention of: Tim Haddad at 3501 Civic Center Drive, Room 308, San Rafael, CA 94903. Letters should be postmarked on or before September 17, 2007. See the footnote below if you are unable to meet this deadline.
 
For further information about the September 12 meeting call Rachel Warner, 499-6863. If you have questions about the project or processing of the Quarry permit application call Eric Steger at the County Department of Public Works, 507-2754.
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* The Coalition did ask the County to change the date of the September 12 meeting to accommodate Jewish members of the community who may be attending religious services that evening for Rosh Hashanah, one of the Jewish High Holidays. Instead of changing the date, the County agreed to hold a second session in October, so that all members of the community can weigh in on this important issue. If you are able to attend the first meeting, or to submit comments in writing before September 17, we urge you to do so because the county intends to start work right away on the EIR. Although written comments will be accepted up to the date of the second scoping session, the sooner comments are submitted, the better it will be to ensure the comments are fully reviewed.