The Point San Pedro Road Coalition (Coalition) recognizes that for the past decade or so, the rate at which the San Rafael Rock Quarry has extracted rock has only been about 25-33% of what the Quarry had mined in past years. This rate of extraction was far less than anticipated and utilized in determining the predicted 2024 date for termination of operations as stated in the existing Amended Reclamation Plan (ARP). The owners have the legal right to seek modification of that date, given that reduced rate of extraction.
The Quarry’s initial four-page Application to Extend Mining Operations for another 15 years, until 2039, was filed in December of 2018. That application was withdrawn by the Quarry after the Coalition voiced concerns about its inadequacy. In September, the Quarry filed a new 1,360-page document, including many attachments, with the County seeking to extend the termination date by 20 years, until 2044. Thereafter, the Coalition’s leadership and counsel met with the Quarry’s ownership and management team and their legal counsel to discuss the new application, which had been filed with the County a week earlier.
It appears that some of the major shortcomings of the initial application have been addressed, but the Coalition is still reviewing the application. A complete review is ongoing to determine whether relevant operational and environmental issues raised by the additional 20 years of operation are properly addressed. Notably, by extending the termination date, the Quarry extends the date by which it is required to submit a development plan for post-mining use of the Quarry to the County from the current deadline (no later than 2021) by 20 years to no later than 2041, three years prior to the end of quarrying operations in 2044.
The Quarry has projected there will be an increase in the rate at which rock is extracted to address sea level rise and other factors. We are optimistic that, even if the Quarry ramps up operations higher than levels in recent years, the 172 operating conditions in the modified Quarrying Permit that the Quarry accepted in 2010, and the County’s diligent enforcement of same, will help to protect the community from substantial adverse impacts on our neighborhoods.
Those operating conditions were imposed as a part of the settlement of the lawsuit the Coalition, Marin County, and the California Attorney General jointly brought against the Quarry in which the Marin Superior Court found the Quarry engaged in unfair business practices that were “a substantial violation of their Reclamation Plan in violation of the Public Resources Code, the Marin County Code, and the Peacock Gap Neighborhood Plan.”
We will continue to work with the County and Quarry to ensure compliance with the Quarrying Permit operating conditions, the Reclamation Plan, and relevant land use law.