LA Weekly

The deal to mine gravel in Soledad Canyon was inked yesterday by the 9th Circuit, despite objections from the county, the city (Santa Clarita) and the state of California. Only the federal government liked the deal, and pushed it through. Tom Dresslar, speaking for State Attorney General Bill Lockyer, told the LA Daily News that:

"The Bush administration intervened in this action; it took the position the federal government's contract with Cemex trumped California laws to protect the environment," he said. "That's a dangerous precedent. We hope the Bush administration or the federal government refrains in the future from taking a position that California's environmental protection laws take a back seat to its contracts with private parties."

Cemex, Inc., a mining company out of Mexico, plans to mine in the upper reaches of the still-wild Santa Clara River, where the water runs year round and the unarmored stickleback fish enjoys its last refuge. The mining project explicity intends to pump significant ground and river water; it's likely the river will go dry.

An endangered species suit is pending.

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