Statement of Rep. Howard P. "Buck" McKeon on Transit Mixed Concrete Proposal

October 11, 2000 Canyon High School

Santa Clarita

Thank you for giving me this opportunity to talk to you about this very important issue.

The fight against TMC is more than just another land-use decision. It cuts to the heart of whether governments in downtown Los Angeles or Washington, D.C. will trust local people to make their own decisions about their own community, or whether outsiders will make those decisions for them.

When my constituents first began expressing concern about this 78-million-ton mining proposal, I tried to get all the facts before I made a decision. It would have been easy, politically speaking, to jump right in and oppose it. However, I believe that all environmental decisions ought to be made based on sound scientific facts, following a full examination of all the evidence.

Accordingly, I and my staff reviewed reams of material. We have also received hundreds of letters and phone calls from constituents. I held a town meeting at Sulphur Springs Elementary School to listen to residents who would be affected by this proposal. I received input from the Santa Clarita City Council, the Agua Dulce Town Council, the Agua Dulce Civic Association, the Acton Town Council, the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce, as well as many other groups and individuals. And in order to be fair, we met with the Bureau of Land Management and representatives of Southdown.

I looked at all sides. I considered the arguments put forth by Southdown. However, after a careful review of all the circumstances, I concluded that this mine is a public health disaster just waiting to happen, and we must defeat it.

This project will cause a significant negative impact on our air quality. This fact is not in dispute. The federal Environmental Impact Statement's Summary states very clearly: "Even after mitigation, impacts on air quality remain significant." And I should add that these so-called mitigation measures do not have adequate enforcement mechanisms. The BLM's California division recently acknowledged to my office that it has never shut down any of its mines for failure to comply with air quality rules. In addition, the report acknowledges that the visual impact of this mining project will also be significant, even after any mitigation is undertaken. However, despite these undisputed impacts, the reports simply conclude that the benefits of the project outweigh the drawbacks. That may make sense -- as long as you don't have to live anywhere near this project. But I get the feeling that the authors of these reports don't live here. They sure aren't speaking for local people.

I am also very concerned by the traffic increase that this project will cause on Soledad Canyon Road and Agua Dulce Canyon Road, as well as the Antelope Valley Freeway. The report says that by Phase 2, there will be 1,284 average daily trips on two-lane Soledad Canyon Road. Almost all of these vehicles will be large, slow trucks. Yet the report states: "no impacts will result." This does raise an important question, however: What planet are these people living on? Again, I suppose that a bureaucrat in downtown Los Angeles or Washington D.C. won't suffer any impacts. But the people out here sure will.

I am also very concerned about issues of water quality, noise, and other environmental issues.

Aside from the impacts of the project itself, I have been very, very disappointed with the approach that Southdown has used to try to force this project down our throats. The company has mounted a very powerful lobbying effort with county supervisors, the BLM and members of Congress. The only people they left out of their strategy has been the local community members who are affected by the project and will have to live with it every day.

Indeed, during one of Southdown's alleged community outreach efforts, some company officials addressed the Santa Clarita City Council. They basically said that this project is a done deal, and federal law makes it impossible for the county supervisors to even turn it down. The phrase "egregious act of shameless arrogance" comes to mind. It's almost like they're singing a country song: "We get the mine, and you get the shaft.

Aside from that, Southdown's claims about federal are not true. The BLM, in its own record of decision, clearly stated that getting approval from Los Angeles County is a condition of mining. This project cannot go forward without approval from the county, as well as several other agencies.

Southdown's activities has been playing a game of uttering misleading half-truths that call into question every other assertion that it has made. I urge you to continue fighting this project. As long as you will, I will.