Pit & Quarry, February 2014

PERMIT T ING zation that had never before approved a quarry permit Getting the coastal commission to approve a permit is very much a mission impossible However over time we managed to convince them that it is a valuable project with a long term sequenced plan that will allow production for 70 or more years and will deliver more than 52 million tons of aggregate to the region DeAtley says He stresses that getting a permit in California is very difficult Many companies just simply give up An operation should have plenty of money and reserves upon applying for a permit as its going to take a long time Luckily for us we did a good enough job throughout the process that no one showed up at the final hearing to oppose us he says Strategic partnerships To best approach the permitting process DeAtley worked closely with Benchmark Resources a consulting firm whose mission is managing the uncertainties inherent to permitting and compliance Benchmark Project Manager Kevin Torell joined the process in 2007 and offered critical assistance in preparing the environmental impact report and the final mining and reclamation plan Our biggest challenge was navigating through the layers of oversight among the county planning commission and the coastal commission whose specific local requirements intensified what could and couldnt be disturbed by mining Torell says We wanted to avoid any appeals to the coastal commission as this could add to time and costs or could even kill the project It was critical to keep the coastal commission in the loop the whole time so that they would not have a negative reaction to the plans once they finally The Pilarcitos Quarry must develop a grading vegetation and watermanagement plan reached their desks he stresses Its important for operations to work with a consultant especially during the planning commission stages Torell adds Another strategic partnership was joining forces with one of the regions leading players in the environmental community This person is an archivist with the county of all the various local coastal project plans She helped us find the past precedents that might pave the way for our approvals Plus she understood the value of local aggregate availability and realized that we were ready and willing to make any necessary adjustments to satisfy environmental needs DeAtley says Environmental mitigation initiatives One of the major mitigating factors that allowed acceptance of the final plan is the creation of a conservation easement of approximately 192 acres We will be mitigating at a rate of three to one For every acre we mine we have to give back three acres to nature We will be Solved Puzzled by downtime We have the missing piece Keep your business moving with the timetested brands of Emerson Products engineered with patented advanced sealing technologies that help solve whats puzzling you Be sure and visit us at Con Agg Expo Booth 83708 PowerTransmissionSolutions com Browning Emerson Emerson Consider It Solved Emerson Industrial Automation and Sealmaster are trademarks of Emerson Electric Co or one of its affiliated companies 2013 Emerson Power Transmission Corp All Rights Reserved MCAD11020E Form 9474E Printed in USA EmersonAggregateIndustry @ AggSolutions 24 PIT QUARRY February 2014 www pitandquarry com