Only Clean Trucks Allowed at Quarry

Only trucks with clean-air engines will be used on a proposed quarry just south of Temecula.

Granite Construction, the company proposing the quarry, made the decision last week based on the recommendation of the Coalition for Clean Air and the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

To read their letters to Granite, click on the photo gallery.

The resolution should reduce truck emissions 90 percent, said Karie Reuther, a spokesperson for the company.

“It is the first time any project in the Inland Empire of any type has made such a commitment,” she wrote in an announcement.

The 135-acre, mile-long “Liberty Quarry” is proposed to go just south of Temecula’s city boundary and just north of the county line. Its applications are in the county’s review process.

To read more about the project, .

The company will also use solar panels to generate some of its electricity, Reuther said.

“Granite Construction has a proud history of leadership when it comes to supporting sustainability and new environmental technology,” stated Gary Johnson, the company’s aggregate resource manager, in an emailed statement. “In the case of Liberty Quarry, we have the opportunity to require clean technology for every aggregate and concrete truck using the facility from day one. This will accelerate clean air efforts in the region which we believe is the right thing to do.”

To read about an ethical award it won, .

Requiring new engines for all the trucks it will use exceeds the regulatory requirements for the project, Johnson said.

 “We appreciate the ongoing discussions with AQMD staff in the creation of this program as well as their pledge to assist with the necessary technology to insure its implementation and air monitoring of the project,” stated Johnson.

Some residents criticized the project for potentially emitting dangerous particulates of silica, degrading the air quality of Temecula. To see a video on residents speaking out for and against the project,

The County Planning Commission scheduled the next hearing – the third of an unknown number – to consider the project at 9 a.m. on June 22 at Rancho Community Church.