FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) — Fresno County supervisors voted 3-2 Thursday to allow Cemex to mine hard rock and dig deeper at its Rockfield quarry along the San Joaquin River.
Board Chairman Garry Bredefeld and Supervisors Nathan Magsig and Buddy Mendes voted yes. Supervisors Brian Pacheco and Luis Chavez voted no.
The proposal was previously submitted to the Fresno County Planning Commission in October, where it failed to gain approval after a 3-3 vote with three commissioners absent. Cemex appealed the same day. Thursday’s decision now overturns the Planning Commission’s decision.
Cemex was looking to continue and expand its existing quarry site on Friant Road near Willow Avenue. The two-phase project would eventually allow the Mexico-based company to drill and excavate deeper along the San Joaquin River. Cemex had initially requested reaching depths of up to 600 feet over a period of 100 years.
Supervisors instead approved a smaller version recommended by county staff. It caps the pit at 300 feet and limits mining to 63 years. The pit must also remain at least 300 feet from the river and 150 feet from Friant Road.
Cemex says the project would benefit the community by creating jobs and generating revenue, while environmental advocates argue it would have negative impacts on wildlife and the surrounding region.
Cemex and its predecessor companies have mined rock, sand and gravel at the site since at least 1913, according to county records. Its current permits expire in July 2027.
The new plan allows Cemex to dig beneath the river gravel to the hard rock below. County documents indicate the blasting would take place once or twice a week, weekdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Cemex attorney Patrick Mitchell told supervisors that blasting could begin within the next few years.
About 60 people spoke in favor of the project, including many Cemex workers, union members and contractors.
“I am a third generation miner at the Rockfield site. I am proud to say that I work on the same land where my grandfather and father retired,” said Ricky Phillips, member of the Operating Engineers Local 3. “We are able to make a good living and raise a family because of the wages and materials the Rockfield facility provides.”
Burt Gilpin, a hydrogeologist who lives on the river, told his supervisors that he once ran another plant on the San Joaquin River.
“If you remove that plant or you don’t extend its permit, you’re taking the lowest-cost aggregate supplier out of the market and you’re going to replace them with someone outside of the market, whether it’s existing operations or new plants,” Gilpin said. “And these plants will have much greater impacts than this.”
Neighbors and environmental groups have spoken out against the project, citing blasting near the river and its possible effects on water, wildlife and salmon.
“There is no acceptable compromise that includes blasting hard rock right next to the river,” said Brian McNally, who lives across the river.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife also asked supervisors to deny the project. Julie Vance, the agency’s central region manager, said the salmon were spawning right next to the mine site and the state had just built a $44 million conservation hatchery less than two miles upstream.
Vance also said the state issued a notice of violation to Cemex in August because the company’s plant site spans about 14 acres of state land. Mitchell said the problem started before the state purchased the property and Cemex was working on a land swap.
Pacheco said the length of the permit was his biggest concern.
“My problem today is hard rock mining and the length of time. I think 100 years is outrageous. 75 years might have been a good thing in the past. But for me, even 60 years is too long,” Pacheco said.
Bredefeld said he takes the jobs at stake seriously.
“If it was your job that was likely to be erased, you might feel very differently about it. These are real jobs. These are real people. These are real families,” Bredefeld said.
Bredefeld also proposed keeping quarry opening hours at 6 p.m., as is currently the case, and adding a voluntary road payment proposed by Cemex. A noise measurement in the project’s environmental study would have allowed digging until 7 p.m. A final list of conditions was not immediately available.
As part of the approval, Cemex must agree to pay the county’s legal costs if anyone pursues the decision. In letters to the county, attorneys for San Joaquin River Parkway and Conservation Trust argued that the project’s environmental assessment violated state law.
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