Granite Construction Rearing Its Head Again

Updates with more concessions made by Granite in its revised proposal for a quarry.

Granite Construction Co. on Wednesday submitted a revised proposal for a smaller version of its original Liberty Quarry plan, which had been rejected by the Riverside Count Board of Supervisors.

The new proposal outlines a potentially more prolific concern, with less environmental impacts.

In addition to imposing a 20-cent per ton fee to buyers of the aggregate that would be produced by the quarry -- presumably San Diego County builders -- the company also attached the following provisions to its proposal:

• 30 percent reduction in life of the project -- 25 fewer total years;
• 20 percent reduction in maximum truck trips per day 160 fewer truck trips/day;
• 25 percent reduction in maximum aggregate production over the life of the project -- reduced from 235 million to 174 million tons over the life of the project;
• 20 percent reduction in annual production -- 1 million fewer tons per year;
• 30 percent reduction in mining depth  --300 feet and;
• Mining activity will be restricted to daylight hours only

 The fee that would be imposed is expected to generate $92 million in revenue -- $61.3 million of which would presumably come from San Diego County buyers of the aggregate created in the quarry.

"The revised Liberty Quarry project will create hundreds of new jobs and provide a new source of ongoing revenue for Riverside County to support public safety and other public services,” said Gary Johnson, aggregate resource development manager for the company.

"At the same time, this revised proposal substantially reduces the potential environmental impacts of the project," he added.

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Granite Construction, the beleagured company that saw its plans for a quarry outside Temecula go up in smoke, has submitted a smaller version of its development plan, it was reported Wednesday.

The company, which for years had worked to get its Liberty Quarry plan approved, proposes a mine that would produce 4 million tons of aggregate material a year, according to the North County Times.

Originally, the granite proposal called for 5 million tons per year at peak production, according to published reports.

Opponents long lobbied against the quarry, contending it would ruin air quality with silica particles coming from the plant, proposed for the western end of the city.

Supporters argued that the quarry could bring jobs and money to the area.

In an effort to sweeten the deal for the County Board of Supervisors, Granite also proposed to charge a 20 cents per ton levy – the fee would generate as much as $92 million for the county, the NCT article states.

That money would come from San Diego County builders, who would presumably buy the product, according to the Times.

The move by Granite came after the Temecula City Council on Tuesday announced it would file suit against Riverside County for its certification of the company's environmental impact report in May, the Times reported.

To read more about the quarry fight, please click