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Decision Postponed on Mining Plan for Jesse Morrow Mountain

By KSEE News
February 10, 2012 Updated Feb 10, 2012 at 12:17 AM PDT

It was a heated debate inside the chambers where the Fresno County Planning Commission held a public hearing. Many for and against the mining plan for Jesse Morrow Mountain made their final plea. Nearly 200 people showed up, but only about 80 were heard, due to the small venue and time constraints.

Mexican cement company Cemex USA is applying for a permit to mine aggregate on the mountain. The proposed project includes a cement plant. Those against the plan fear it'll do more harm than good.

“There are a lot of things that are involved in it that they can't mitigate. Air quality is one major thing. There's traffic which exceeds the traffic allowed for the area. There's damage to the environment there, as far as the Indians are concerned and their historic sites,” said Eugene Otto.

Company representatives say they have been working hard to address the concerns. They presented a revised plan. Cemex director of communication, Sara Engdahl, said, a lot of those concerns had to do with the ridge line of the mountain and preserving that and we took measures to make sure we could do that. We reduced the time the mine would be operated from 100 years to 50 and we reduced the amount of aggregate that would be mined directly from Jesse Morrow.”

But those against the project were quick to reject it. Otto said, “They really haven't changed, they've come up with an alternative which is supposed to be a reduced alternative, but it has even more impacts in some ways because they're going 200 feet down below surface level.”

A final vote on the proposal was postponed. Dozens of people are still scheduled to speak. Cemex representatives have a chance for a rebuttal. Engdahl said, “A lot of claims that were made this evening weren't based on fact and so at the next session, we'll be able to address those concerns directly.”

The Fresno County Planning Commission hasn't set a new hearing date. Letters will be sent out with the new time and location. Planning commission officials are expected to vote on the proposal during the next public hearing. It's expected to take place in March.

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