The front page of the June 29, 2018 IJ reports “San Rafael Rock Quarry begins reclamation project” (reprinted below). The article mentions the 2002 litigation against the Quarry in which the Pt. San Pedro Road Coalition, the County of Marin and the California Attorney General jointly sued the Quarry. As a result of the litigation, new operating conditions were imposed on the Quarry in 2010 and an Amended Reclamation Plan was approved.
Many residents along the Pt. San Pedro Road peninsula have never visited the Quarry and know little about it. However, those who live close to the Quarry, and particularly if they have lived in the area for a decade or longer, will very likely remember extraordinary levels of noise, dust and truck traffic generated by past Quarry operations. In recent years, however, and aside from occasional complaints generated by the Quarry’s periodic blasting, Quarry neighbors have had much less to complain about. Some of that is due to reduced demand for Quarry materials in the last eight years or so, but much of it is likely attributable to the new operating conditions and reclamation mitigations that the Coalition successfully insisted be imposed on the Quarry.
What is reclamation? The California Surface Mining and Reclamation Act of 1975 (SMARA) was enacted by the California legislature to address the need for a continuing supply of mineral resources and to prevent or minimize the negative impacts of surface mining to public health, property and the environment. Following completion of mining activities, and in accordance with the approved reclamation plan and relevant permit conditions, mining operators must return mined lands to a second, productive use. Possible post-mining uses include open space, wildlife habitat, agricultural lands, grazing, park lands and preparing the land for industrial, commercial or residential uses. The process of reclamation includes maintaining water and air quality, minimizing flooding, erosion and damage to wildlife and aquatic habitats caused by surface mining. The final step in this process is often topsoil replacement and revegetation with suitable plant species. SMARA requires reclamation of the Quarry site, and the current Quarry plans are the first step in that process.
Specific information about this first phase of San Rafael Rock Quarry’s reclamation is posted on our website posting Posted 6/28/19: S.R. Rock Quarry Reclamation Update. More information on the Quarry, including its history and the history of the legal efforts mention above can also be found on our website under the San Rafael Rock Quarry section.
San Rafael Rock Quarry begins reclamation project
7-acre area not used for mining will be restored
By Mark Prado, Marin Independent Journal
Friday, June 29, 2018
After years of delays — in part because of the discovery of a rare frog — the San Rafael Rock Quarry is expected to start a project to restore about 7 acres of lands at its operation in the coming weeks.
A section of the eastern San Rafael quarry is no longer viable for mining and will be restored through a four-year process as part a state requirement of the Dutra Group, which owns the business. The work will start July 9.
“The work is identified in a specific reclamation plan,” said Berenice Davidson, civil engineer with the county’s Department of Public Works. The county is overseeing the work. “It will be phased over time and work will occur for 10 weeks each year.”
The project will see up to 150,000 tons of material moved as part the grading of about 300,000 square feet of the northeast quadrant of the quarry. That will be followed by erosion and sediment control measures, and the planting of new vegetation. Work will occur from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“Dutra is pleased to finally begin the reclamation process and we fully intend to work collaboratively with our local leadership and neighborhood groups during this process to minimize any impacts,” said Aimi Dutra Krause, Dutra spokeswoman, in an email. “Dutra remains responsive to the concerns of our community and has a website available for up to date information regarding our reclamation activities at (the quarry).”
The reclamation work was to have begun soon after Dutra submitted its work plan in 2014, but California red-legged frogs were found on site. The frog is listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act and work was delayed to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. A plan is now in place to protect the species.
Marin’s public works department — which is the permitting agency for the quarry — will use Sonoma Technologies, Inc. to monitor air quality during the reclamation project, including dust and emissions. The $250,000 contract for monitoring will cover the initial two years of the project. Based on the results of the monitoring, however, the contract may be extended. Dutra will reimburse the county for the cost.
The monitoring is intended to ensure that the work stays within state and federal standards. The work site is about a quarter mile from Marin Bay Park, a residential area above Point San Pedro Road.
Quarry materials are used for local public works and private development projects. Building materials from the site have a role in approximately 90 percent of Marin County projects, according to Dutra.
The quarry site was originally a dairy farm in the late 1800s and operated simultaneously with the McNear brickyard. After the dairy farm declined and hard rock was discovered below the shale brick resource, the rock mining started in 1939 by the Basalt Rock Co.
In the early 1980s, the quarry changed hands from Basalt Rock Co. to the Dillingham Corp. and in 1986, Dillingham sold the quarry to the Dutra Group.
In the early 2000s, the quarry was the subject of controversy and legal action by neighbors upset over issues such as noise, dust, blasting, truck traffic and environmental impacts.
In 2002, the quarry’s right to operate and continue mining was challenged in court. Two years later, the Marin County Superior Court found that it had a vested right to continue mining. The quarry was required to submit an amended reclamation plan and to comply with other interim operating conditions.
While the quarry’s relationship with neighbors was rocky in the early 2000s, more than a decade later, relations have greatly improved.
“There is a much better system of communicating with the quarry now,” said Bonnie Marmor, co-president of the Point San Pedro Road Coalition. “They have been open to input from the community and have made an effort to improve communication with neighbors. We are glad to see they are moving forward with the reclamation.”