Environment

Wrightwood residents challenge century-long quarry proposal

A community group is asking San Bernardino County to revisit a 2019 decision that granted vested mining rights on 420 acres in Lone Pine Canyon.

Image credit: Rennett Stowe / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0; archival October 2008 photograph of Wrightwood, not the proposed quarry site

Wrightwood residents are mounting a legal and public campaign against a proposed open-pit calcium-carbonate quarry about four miles from the mountain community, the Los Angeles Times reported September 27. The planned operation would span about 420 acres in Lone Pine Canyon and could continue until at least 2175.

What it means locally

The San Bernardino County Planning Commission voted 3–2 in 2019 to recognize vested mining rights at the site, a decision that can exempt the project from a comprehensive environmental review. Residents organized the Lone Pine Canyon Protection Alliance after learning about the proposal this year and filed a court petition seeking reconsideration. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has raised concerns about potential effects on a wildlife corridor and species including desert bighorn sheep, golden eagles and bumblebees. The quarry still needs approval of a reclamation plan, and no new Planning Commission hearing date has been set. County officials declined to comment on the pending litigation; a mining-company executive told the Times that he plans to discuss the project publicly in October. The accompanying photograph shows Wrightwood in October 2008 and is not an image of the proposed quarry site.

Full report and further details: Read original report →