This week, the Pt. San Pedro Road Coalition reached beneficial agreements with the San Rafael Rock Quarry (SRRQ) in advance of approval by the Marin County Board of Supervisors (BOS) of the Quarry’s application to extend its mining and reclamation for 20 years, through 2044. We arrived at agreements for the Quarry to engage an expert for a second opinion regarding the marsh restoration plan and that a plan will be developed to determine when additional air monitoring will be conducted by the County. In addition, it was agreed that the Quarry will engage in discussions with the Coalition to address roadway maintenance.
How did this happen? Numerous organizations and individuals submitted powerful comment letters asking for additional environmental review of the impacts of allowing the extension for an additional 20 years through 2044. These organizations included the Pt. San Pedro Road Coalition, Marin Conservation League, Marin Audubon Society, the Marin group of the Sierra Club, and Point Blue Conservation Science. The links to those comment letters can be found on a previous post titled “Comments on Draft Addendum to SRRQ 2009 Final EIR”. The letters raised significant concerns on a range of issues, among them: wetlands deterioration and restoration, air quality monitoring, greenhouse gas emissions, impacts of climate change, transportation impacts, and roadway maintenance due to truck traffic.
Nonetheless, the County’s environmental consultant concluded that there were no new or substantially more severe environmental impacts related to this extension. That cleared the way for approval of the extension without further review or additional mitigations.
The Coalition and the Quarry agreed to meet to discuss key issues raised by the community and the Coalition. We are pleased that our collaborative discussions produced very positive agreements. Bill Dutra, CEO of the Dutra Group, joined the Coalition’s co-presidents to announce the agreement at the November 2nd BOS meeting. As a result of this agreement, the Coalition will not challenge the BOS approval of the extension.
The Coalition is committed to its ongoing involvement to coordinate with the County and the Quarry to achieve optimal outcomes.
A Marin Independent Journal front page article on the subject from the November 5th edition can be read here and can also be viewed on the IJ website. Â
Bonnie Marmor & Denise Lucy
Co-Presidents
San Pedro Road Coalition