Lehigh Expansion and Reclamation Plan
Updated 10/15/2020 with additional Lehigh data.
One of the most important things city leadership does is care for the health, safety, and welfare of the community. We are bordered by a large cement plant, Lehigh, which has proposed a Reclamation Plan and expansion of mining activities. The project will require environmental review and as of August 13, 2020, the county has hired an outside consultant to assist in planning oversight. Lehigh is the number one
Lehigh is a major air polluter in our state, for example, it ranks #2 in the state for sulfur pollution.
BAAQMD does have the ability to implement local pollution rules that are more stringent than those of the state.
Lehigh, remains a major source of mercury pollution. They're number 2 for mercury (Hg) in the BAAQMD area, behind Phillips 66, which is scheduled to close in 2023.
Data from EPA ECHO for Lehigh:
We need to ensure that our neighbor, Lehigh, is looking out for the residents of Cupertino and Los Altos along with the wildlife and environment at Rancho San Antonio. That is a fair request given their charter was to provide cement for a dam in Shasta back in 1939 yet the mining expanded beyond the initial conception.
First, I encourage you to sign up to be on the Santa Clara County website mailing list for updates on Lehigh here
I have copied the project description below, the entire project description and supporting documents are here
2019 Reclamation Plan Amendment for Quarry Expansion (File PLN19-0106)
Project Description:
On May 22, 2019, Lehigh submitted an application to replace their 2012 Reclamation Plan. This proposed Reclamation Plan Amendment would complete replace the existing Reclamation Plan, and includes the following significant modifications:
Retain in place the overburden material currently stored in the West Materials Storage Area (“WMSA”) rather than use it to backfill the main quarry pit. Instead Lehigh proposed to backfill the pit with clean fill (approximately 20 million cubic yards) which will be trucked in from off-site. This would require approximately 600 new truck trips per day, five days a week for the next 30 year, depending on available supply.
Decrease the lower ridge crest along a portion of the North Quarry highwall by approximately 100 feet, necessitating modification of the 1972 Ridgeline Protection Easement held by the County.
Expand the reclamation plan area by 73.4 acres, increasing the total reclamation plan area from 1,238.6 acres to 1,312 acres. Additionally, the operator proposes to expand mining activities into a new 30-acre area, referred to as the “Rock Plant Reserve”.
Use an existing Pacific Gas & Electric, Co. utility access road, or establish a new haul road between Leigh and Stevens Creek Quarry (“Utility Haul Road”)*.
Reclaim an approximately 3,600-foot segment of the existing Plant Quarry Road and adjacent areas.
*This aspect of the project was proposed under the separate Utility Road Reclamation Plan Amendment Application, File No. PLN19-0067, which has been withdrawn and incorporated into PLN19-0106.
Our resident Environmental Advocate, Rhoda Fry has offered her preliminary introduction to the proposal and with permission I am posting it here:
Why we Need Courageous Elected Officials:
Quarry Expansion Proposal next to Rancho San Antonio is a silent threat
by Rhoda Fry
On a 3500-acre site, adjacent to Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve, is the Lehigh cement manufacturing plant and the Permanente limestone quarry, owned by Heidelberg Cement of Germany (see map and photos above). This site has gone by many names like Kaiser Permanente, Hanson Permanente, Lehigh Hanson, and Lehigh Southwest. Lehigh’s plan to expand its operation threatens to destroy our views from the valley floor, increase traffic, add to air and water pollution, and delay restoration of the Permanente Creek watershed.
The extent to which Lehigh’s expansion proposal moves forward will be up to the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Lehigh has been a bad actor, leading to environmental destruction and costly lawsuits. This is why we must have courageous leaders in our cities, regulatory boards, and County to ensure that Lehigh does not get its way as it has in the past:
· 1996: Bay Area Air Quality Management District quietly permits burning 100,000 automobile and vehicular rubber tires to fuel the cement plant until stopped by public outcry
· 2011: Sierra Club sues Lehigh for Clean Water Act violations
· 2012: Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District sues County and Lehigh on defective environmental plan
· 2015: United States Department of Justice, U.S. EPA, and the California Attorney General (under Kamala Harris) force Lehigh to install a water-treatment plant that the County ruled unnecessary
· 2018: Lehigh builds illegal 40-foot wide road without proper erosion controls, a portion of which is within Cupertino jurisdiction. Steven Creek Quarry processes Lehigh’s mined materials, creating pollution and traffic jams. After many months, County decides it is not permitted.
· 2019: Lehigh receives Notices of Violation from the County and Water Boards for the operation’s threats to Permanente Creek: “The Yeager Yard Landslide mass is moving towards Permanente Creek and its mass is sufficiently large to block the creek . . . creating a new debris flow hazard to structures and residences downstream.”
· 2020: EPA settles with Lehigh for air pollution violations from the 1990s
· Multiple years: EPA launches superfund site investigations
In spite of this history, the County has never levied a fine on Lehigh. Lehigh has always had friends in high places. A County Supervisor was simultaneously employed by the quarry. Two Cupertino City Council members worked for the quarry before and after long tenures in office. The list goes on. And HeidelbergCement’s Chief Executive has blamed Lehigh’s troubles on our community, “The problem is our neighbors are all these Silicon Valley freaks.” Given this track record, we must have independent elected officials in place who will do right by their constituents.
Valley Floor Views:
Lehigh estimates that their proposed expansion would require ~1100 tons of explosives per year. The largest area, “North Highwall Reserve” would lower our scenic ridgeline adjacent to Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve by ~100 feet. But, our scenic ridgeline is protected by the 1972 Ridgeline Protection Easement Deed, signed by the quarry and the Board of Supervisors. Lehigh expects the Board of Supervisors to re-write the Easement Deed so that the ridgeline can be mined for profit (as can be seen on the geology map showing limestone in blue at the top of the map). This is a significant deviation from Lehigh’s approved 2012 plan which stabilizes the over-mined ridgeline without altering our viewshed. Cupertino City Manager Feng wrote, “Lehigh attempts to mask its proposal as necessary to prevent natural erosion of the ridgeline, this proposal appears designed to increase production ... Lehigh reveals its intent to further develop this area when it notes that that the 1972 Easement ‘inhibits’ production.” And another proposed mining area, “Rock Plant Reserve” is located just above Stevens Creek Quarry. We must not allow our County Supervisors to change the Deed and destroy our viewshed.
Another assault to our viewshed would increase the height of a ~220-acre mining-waste area known as the “West Materials Storage Area (WMSA).” The approved 2012 plan moves this mining-waste back into the empty quarry. Lehigh’s new proposal grows the WMSA and converts the quarry pit into a dump site for imported construction waste (such as Vallco) at a rate of ~600 trucks per day for 30 years. Even County staff has questioned the availability of this much fill.
Traffic: Added to the ~600 daily truck trips, Lehigh proposes to sell usable mining-waste as aggregate which would generate an undetermined amount of additional traffic. Presently, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District allows the cement plant 70,000 truck trips per year and the County Conditional Use Permit allows Stevens Creek Quarry 1300 truck trips per day.
Air and Water Pollution: Lehigh has been perpetually out of compliance with both the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act. These public health issues could have been mitigated at the County level and through local politicians who serve on regulatory boards.
To manufacture cement, limestone and imported materials, such as bauxite and iron ore, are heated in a giant kiln fueled by petroleum coke to make cement, which is a fractional component of concrete. Not only is petroleum coke (pet coke) a cheap and filthy fuel, the local limestone contains unusually high amounts of naturally-occuring contaminants that pollute our air and water. Lehigh is one of our State’s biggest air polluters, ahead of refineries. For example, most recent data available from the California Air Resources Board has Lehigh ranking #2 for Sulfur Oxides, #3 for Hydrochloric Acid, #6 for Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), #7 for Nitrogen Oxides, and #12 for Hexavalent Chromium.
In spite of a court-imposed state-of-the-art water-treatment plant, threats to the Permanente Creek Watershed continue, not only from exceedances of pollutants but also from other sources such as the “Yeager Yard Landslide” above Permanente Creek.
Lehigh’s Ability to Repair Land: For reasons unknown, Lehigh intends to defer the court-ordered Permanente Creek restoration project by a decade. And Lehigh is supposed to perform a massive reclammation project to return the land to secondary beneficial use, such as open space. The quarry, which employs about 24 people, appears to be cutting corners by hiring out-of-state non-union labor. The site has been slapped with staggering labor-safety fines by the U.S. Department of Labor (~$1.4M from 2017-2019, nearly 10 times more than the previous three years). Does HeidelbergCement have enough money to clean up their mess? Jobs would be created by restoring the Permanente Creek on schedule. Jobs would also be created by adhering to Lehigh’s approved 2012 plan that retains our viewshed by butressing the ridgeline (rather than mining it). The Cities of Cupertino, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills and the MidPeninsula Regional Open Space District have submitted letters to the County supporting the approved 2012 plan in lieu of Lehigh’s brazen expansion proposal. We must have elected officials who are vigilant in protecting our viewshed, environment and public health.
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Proposed Plan and Diagrams (new City labels added for legibility):
https://www.sccgov.org/sites/dpd/Programs/SMARA/PermanenteQuarry/Pages/PermanenteRPA.aspx
Photographs: http://www.couperus.org/Albums/Quarry/
1972 Ridgeline Protection Easement Deed:
http://www.southbayquarrylibrary.org/Catalog/Kaiser%20Cement%20&%20Gypsum%20Corp%201972%2008%2018%20Ridgeline%20Protection%20Easement%20Deed.pdf
EPA ECHO data shows that Lehigh is out of compliance with the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts.
CARB mapping tool provides 2017 air-pollution data (as of 8/2020, 2018 is not available)
MSHA provides employment and safety fine data
Quotation from Cupertino City Manager, letter to County 7/03/2019
Quotation regarding landslide, 5/12/2020 BOS Agenda item 20 Packet Pg. 774
Quotation from HeidelbergCement to financial anaylsts August 1, 2017
-Rhoda Fry, Environmental Advocate, previous Cupertino Environmental Review Committee member at-large
