Politics & Government
New Website About Lehigh Cement Plant Data Made Available By Los Altos and Los Altos Hills
Fact-finding committee of City Council members place documents online for public to view.
Two newly created fact-finding committees of Los Altos and Los Altos Hills city councils have jointly created a website for residents who want to look at documents and data involving the Lehigh cement quarry operations.
The South Bay Quarry Library went up late Thursday to make information available to the public when obtained or as it is submitted to its "librarian," said Gary Waldeck, Los Altos Hills Town Council member and a member of the ad-hoc committee working with the Los Altos City Council's committee.
The intent, he said, is to collect and place all of it on one site to be kept current.
Find out what's happening in Los Altoswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Residents in both cities approached the Los Altos and Los Altos Hills councils late last year with concerns about the health issues stemming from the Lehigh Southwest Permanente Cement Plant operations.
, scores of residents from Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Cupertino and parts of San Jose demonstrated at a public hearing held by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to determine the level of pre-existing land rights the company had, called "vested rights." Hundreds packed the board chambers, including Lehigh company employees who brought family members. Spillover crowds all closely watched closely the vote, which was unanimous in upholding the company's vested rights.
Find out what's happening in Los Altoswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
In an "Open Letter on Lehigh Quarry," the ad-hoc committee comprised of Los Altos Hills Town Councilman Gary Waldeck, Los Altos Mayor Ron Packard and Councilman Dave Casas outlined the actions it intended to take.
Lehigh, known for decades as Permanente Cement, operates both mining and manufacturing of cement in the unincorporated foothills of Cupertino and is adjacent to Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. It is part of the Lehigh Heidelberg Cement Group.
"The two ad-hoc committees have agreed to work together in a transparent, objective and unbiased effort to determine, to the best of their ability, whether the emissions from the quarry are (or are not) in compliance with imposed emissions requirements and whether the responsible enforcement agencies have performed their jobs," said the letter, signed by Town Councilman Gary Waldeck of Los Altos Hills, Los Altos Mayor Ron Packard and Councilman Dave Casas.
The committee said it needed to do fact-finding because of contending assertions by residents vocally concerned about operations of the plant, and by the cement company, which insists it is in compliance.
Council members in both cities have heard assertions by citizens groups "that the quarry is operating in violation of EPA directives, that the county has not taken appropriate enforcement action on notices of violations," the open letter said, "that the quarry does not have a vested right to permit continued operations, and that the quarry is the source of a variety of Toxic Air Contaminants (TACs) that affect the health of South Bay residents."
The letter continued, "On the other hand, Lehigh Quarry officials insist that it is a responsible corporate citizen of the community, is in full compliance with all emission requirements and provides substantial benefits to the community at large."
The two communities intend to have the data reviewed independently and to take steps to install air monitoring equipment within city and town boundaries. Those actions were approved in council meetings that took place earlier this year.
Although there is an air monitoring station in Cupertino, the two cities consider its relevance for the communities "questionable due to the varying wind dispersal patterns that occur," the committee wrote.
"Qualified, independent analytical expertise is also being sought to assist in this effort."
The cities also want to work with the Regional Water Quality Control Board to change the sampling point of the water that passes through the environment as it flows to the Bay (downstream from the existing test location).
If the ad hoc committees determine that Lehigh is in compliance, the review will be concluded, the letter said.
"If the committees determine otherwise, then they will, at a minimum, insist that the county and the responsible government agencies take immediate action to resolve any deficiencies."
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.