Liberty Quarry Must Be Rejected

I am opposed to Liberty Quarry in Temecula.

Undoubtedly, we all are going through a difficult economic times and, financially speaking, we are not quite at the levels we were in the past.

This particular era of our lives is where we are most vulnerable, and tend to make mistakes that will have a forever-lasting repercussion.

In the case of , it will be a 75-year-long repercussion. We all need to seriously ponder before coming to a committed decision.

The county's was scheduled to finalize a vote they made rejecting the quarry, though it may be postponed. To read about it, .

Long-term projects like the proposed Liberty Quarry will, without a doubt, impact all of us one way or another. Despite the stubbornness of few in favor, this project has been studied for months. Thousands of pages of EIR (Environmental Impact Report) have been reviewed by county staff and ultimately filtered through the planning commissioners and the .

We live in  a beautiful area to grow our families and our children, we cannot let something of this magnitude to take place.

That’s why we are praying that the will unanimously vote against it.

Keep in mind that we have only one chance to defeat Liberty Quarry. After that, we may as well give the key of the city to strangers, and prepare ourselves to withstand the consequences. There will be no point of return, history will be written, decisions will be made, and your legacy will resound in an endless echo to posterity.

Is this what we really want for our community? Is this the only way to make Temecula shine?

Not too many years ago, Temecula rose from healthy land with healthy principals, governed by intelligent people that made the right decisions. That’s why today, we can enjoy the fruit of it.

Temecula is the city of hot air balloons, wineries, avocado groves and a fantastic horse community where families come to live a simple healthy life and to educate their children in one of the most functional school system in the state of California.

Make no mistake. This quarry will not be just for the harvesting of aggregates, it will also be a cement plant, an asphalt plant and God knows what else will be added once they will be the king of the hill, maybe a mechanic facility, just in case a truck or two breaks down, exactly where they want to be -- out of site, out of mind.

Neither of us will be there when the charges will be ready to blow, to make sure that westerly wind will be below the 15 mile per hour, as they say, to eliminate the risk of airborne particles of silica, diesel, radon gas and natural asbestos. What do you realistically think will happen when the wind will be 20 or 25 miles per hour? Would they care to wait for mother nature to slow down?

What about when the Santa Ana winds come about. Do you think that their operation will ceased until the wind will died down? Will they blast? Remember, out of site, out of mind.

We will not have control of the quarry once in full production. We'll be witnessing the destruction, the plume of silica dust and diesel particles in the air, the congestion on the freeway, and we'll have absolutely no say.

Right now, we know for a fact there is no air pollution, we know for sure there is no excessive traffic, blasting nor light pollution. According to Granite Construction's officials, all this will be better with their arrival, and we will be able to fully enjoy their services.

More than 400 local businesses are opposed to this quarry in our city! Hundreds of local physicians are expressing their denial to this project, fully aware of the health consequences that may cause.

to read what the physicians had to say. Who should we listen to? 

We are already losing revenues in the real estate industry because you must disclose all the material facts affecting the desirability of the property. We are already disclosing that a quarry is proposed for this area, and potential buyers are canceling their contracts, wanting to wait until the final decision will be made by our officials in merit.

As real estate professionals, we have the ethical duty to inform potential clients of any material facts that will create a nuisance or negatively affect or devalue a property. If Liberty Quarry is allowed in our hills, numerous areas will be affected, including Red Hawk, Vail Ranch, Paloma del Sol, Paseo del Sol, Santiago Estates, Glean Oaks and all the wineries east of the proposed site.

In West Virginia in May, 1998, a mining company decided to expand their operation just above the small town of Blair. Rocks and soil from the mountain top would subsequently bury Pigeon Roost Hollow and Creek. In the face of thunderous blasting and lung-choking dust caused by mountain top mining, only 40 out of 300 families remain, that is an 87 percent exodus, thanks to the mine.

We cannot afford to lose anybody, whether a business or a resident. To read about further concerns about the quarry, click here.