MESSAGE FROM THE CITY MANAGER KEN PULSKAMP
May 2004

By the time you read this message, Federal Judge Dickran Tevrizian is expected to have signed a consent decree, validating an agreement made between Cemex and Los Angeles County, which will allow for the construction of Transit Mixed Concrete, or TMC, a 56-million ton mega-mining project in Soledad Canyon.

While the City and the 100-plus organizations opposed to this project protested the consent decree and the resulting mega-mining project, the international Cemex Corporation is continuing to work towards ignoring the public’s wishes and constructing this project. The signing of the consent decree triggers a public hearing by the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors to approve the TMC environmental impact report, despite old and flawed information. This hearing will be scheduled within 60 days after the signing of the consent decree, at a date yet to be determined.

The City of Santa Clarita was validated earlier this year by an overturning of Judge Tevrizian’s decision, refusing to let the City of Santa Clarita be a party to the TMC lawsuit. In their ruling, the Ninth District Court of Appeals admonished the judge for his decision not to allow Santa Clarita’s input. This ruling opens the door for the City to oppose the consent decree, which if it is signed and put into effect, we will surely do.

Because of the detrimental impacts to our community by this mining project, the City has spent considerable resources to prevent the siting of TMC mega-mining project in Soledad Canyon. This massive work effort is being led on several fronts including legal, legislative and with the community. As you may know, our Congressman Howard “Buck” McKeon has introduced legislation to Congress which will limit mining in Soledad canyon to historical levels – about one-tenth of Cemex is proposing. This is a plan we can live with and we are doing everything we can to help this legislation become reality. On the Senate side, Senator Barbara Boxer has introduced similar legislation in the Senate.

The third front is with the community and that is where you come in. Your support, your letter and postcard writing efforts, your attendance at key hearings have truly made all the difference in helping to keep this issue alive for the people making decisions. We were told by federal legislators that their receipt of nearly 3,000 TMC response postcards opposing the project weighed heavily on their decision to oppose the mining project.

As mentioned earlier in this message, the County Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing later this spring. Our plan is to not only attend the hearing to protest the adoption of the environmental impact report, but to bring as many residents to the hearing with us as possible. We will do our best to learn the date of the hearing and let you know about it ahead of time, as well as provide bus transportation from City Hall to the hearing. What we do know is that these Board of Supervisors’ meetings are held during the day on Tuesdays, and that land issues such as these are typically held at the end of the month. That leaves the end of May or the end of June as possible dates. Please plan to attend the public hearing with us and let the Board of Supervisors know once again that you and your family are adamantly opposed to this massive mining project in Soledad Canyon.

If you are interested in attending the public hearing at the L.A. County Board of Supervisors’ offices in downtown Los Angeles, please call or email Lori Powell at lpowell@santa-clarita.com, 661/255-4367. We need your attendance at this meeting! Thank you for your interest and support. Should you wish more information about the TMC project, it is available on our website at www.santaclarita. com or at www.stoptmc.org.

As always, I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas. Feel free to email me at kpulskamp@santa-clarita.com

Sincerely,


Ken Pulskamp
City Manager