The California State Senate has passed overwhelmingly Senate Resolution 96 (SR 96) authored by Senator Scott Wilk (R-Santa Clarita), calling on the federal government to do whatever necessary to finally put an end to the proposed CEMEX, Inc. mega-mine in Soledad Canyon.
“Locating a massive mining operation on a heavily travelled route between the Santa Clarita and Antelope valleys makes no sense for the nearly 175,000 daily commuters in those areas,” Wilk said. “It will choke the 14 freeway and create environmental concerns for anyone living in the area which is why locals have been fighting it for almost 30 years. “This resolution puts the federal government on notice that California, as well as the communities impacted, want the project stopped once and for all.”
The resolution calls on Congress, the Department of the Interior, the Bureau of Land Management, President Trump and Vice President Pence – all of whom have jurisdiction over the mine in one way or another – to take any and all action to stop the further development of the mine. State Senator Henry Stern, who represents a portion of the western Santa Clarita Valley, coauthored the resolution with Wilk.
“We have been entrenched in a decades’ long battle to protect our community from a mining project that would bring the nation’s largest aggregate mine to Soledad Canyon and deplete the water flow from the river,” Wilk added. “Because much of the proposed mine is on federally controlled land, California’s hands are tied as far as what we can do to protect our community from this project. Congress should ask itself why everyone except CEMEX is against this mega-mine.”
“Opening this mine would do deep damage to the Santa Clarita River habitat in Soledad Canyon, and regional air quality and traffic,” commented Senator Henry Stern (D- Canoga Park). “The federal government needs to understand California, on both sides of the aisle, does not want this mega-mine opened in our community.”
Recent efforts led by Congressman Steve Knight have made great progress towards limiting future operations in the Canyon. This resolution urges the federal government, at multiple levels, to take any and all possible action to ensure the current proposal, and the ills it would bring, do not materialize. It dovetails on the work Congressman Knight has done and underscores California’s desire to see that this project is ended once and for all.
The Secretary of the Senate will now transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Majority Leader of the Senate, the Secretary of the Interior, and the Director of the United States Bureau of Land Management
