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Duarte, Calif., Council Dodges Bullet on Azusa Quarry According to a report in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, no criminal charges will be filed against the California city of Duarte's council for misuse of public funds re‐ garding the use of a lobbyist in advocating against Vul‐ can Materials Co.'s Azusa, Calif., quarry mining plan. The Public Integrity division of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office was investigating the case. The city faced allegations that it used the lobbyist to help orchestrate a referendum effort against the Azusa plan, which is a violation of the law. Officials with the Public Integrity office said the case was closed. Vulcan has a permit from Azusa to mine 190 acres of its prop‐ erty near Fish Canyon. With the council's approval, Vul‐ can will be able to mine 80 acres on the western part of its property instead of 80 acres on the east. Voters later approved the plan following the referendum in ques‐ tion that put the plan on the ballot. E Liberty Quarry Hits a Roadblock Granite Construction's plans for its Liberty Quarry site near Temecula, Calif., took a major hit when the River‐ side County Planning Commission denied a mining per‐ mit and other items needed to move forward on the project. The five‐member commission voted 4‐1 to re‐ ject the permit and a noise ordinance exemption for the quarry, according to a report in The Press-Enterprise. Commissioners also voted to recommend the county Board of Supervisors not approve a zoning change for the quarry, sought for six years for a 414‐acre site be‐ tween Temecula and the San Diego County line, be‐ cause it determined the quarry's negatives outweighed its benefits. The commission took no action on whether to certify the quarry's 8,500‐page environmental im‐ pact report. Gary Johnson, Granite Construction's ag‐ gregate resource development manager, said after the two‐hour meeting that he was "very disappointed" with the vote and his company would appeal the denials to supervisors.E Cemex Rezoning Request Approved The Xenia Township, Ohio, zoning commission ap‐ proved a rezoning request by Cemex to designate 289.7 acres of land to M‐3 Mineral Extraction status, reported the Xenia Daily Gazette. "The Zoning Commission recog‐ nized that Cemex has taken great care to ensure the safety, health and well‐being of our neighbors in the Xenia Township community," said Sara Engdahl, direc‐ tor of communications for Cemex. "The commission also recognized Cemex's ongoing efforts to minimize the footprint and potential impacts of our proposed quarry operations." Cemex's plans have been met with a considerable amount of opposition from Greene County residents who claim that the proposed mining operation would impact water quality and reduce prop‐ erty values. "We are grateful to have the Zoning Commission's recommendation to move forward with our application and look forward to working with the Board of Trustees on the next steps of the approval process," said Engdahl. E 38 ROCKproducts • OCTOBER 2011 New Hope Quarry Approval Appealed Three appeals have been filed against the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) deci‐ sion to allow New Hope Crushed Stone Co. to expand its quarry in Solebury, Pa. The local township, Solebury School and Primrose Creek Watershed Association filed separate challenges with the state's Environmental Hearing Board after the DEP in late July agreed to allow the quarry to expand excavation from 120 ft. to 170 ft., according to a report on phillyburbs.com. "It is next to impossible to understand why the DEP decided to allow the quarry to expand, after it already determined that the quarry had damaged this beautiful waterway," said Kevin Morrissey, president of the Primrose Creek Watershed Association, which teamed up on its appeal with PennFuture, a state environmental advocacy or‐ ganization. Solebury School, with 230 students, said it has experienced sinkholes on its 90‐acre campus be‐ cause the quarry uses 2.5 million gallons of water a day from the watershed as part of its mining operations. E www.rockproducts.com