AZUSA >> After years of legal delays, mining work at the Azusa Rock Quarry has begun again and is progressing quickly, Vulcan Materials Company officials said Wednesday.
The site has been active since September, when the state appeals court backed a decision by the Los Angeles Superior Court that allowed the company to move forward with the mining process.
Most visible to the public is the work being done on the Mayan steps, 30- to 50-foot high conventional benches that will be converted to 1- to 2-foot “microbenches” and restored with native vegetation by August 2015 as part of the agreement between the city of Azusa and Vulcan.
“As we come down (the hillside) we’re completing the microbenches,” said Azusa Rock Project Manager Mike Radford. “They’re hydroseeding as they come down every 25 feet,” which is the process by which native vegetation is planted along the hillside, he said.
The work, which turns the hillside bright green — visible from afar, is being done by Nature’s Image, a habitat restoration company that specializes in slope restoration, said Jeff Cameron, Vulcan manager of permitting and compliance, and is already about 20 percent completed.
The goal of the microbenches is to make the hillside look completely natural with no evidence of previous mining visible, Radford said.
“There’s a lot of construction and a lot of activity but we’re moving forward as best we can and as fast as we can,” Cameron said.
No blasting has been done in 2014 yet, Radford said, as the company, in partnership with contractor Ames Construction, has been making efforts to bring in heavy-duty vehicles that will do most of the mining and minimize the number of blasts, which are limited to 100 per year.
“What’s taking place today is actually reclamation,” Cameron said. “People say, ‘hey there’s mining,’ but we’re not mining. What we’re doing is reclaiming the slope and removing that material, the majority goes to fill up the Reliance 2 landfill (on the corner of Foothill and Irwindale).”
The company also is making progress to complete a pathway through the mining property for the public to access the Fish Canyon Trailhead, he said. That trail, which will be open to the public seven days a week, must be completely open by Aug. 20 of this year as part of the development agreement, Cameron said.
The trail to the Fish Canyon Falls around the western edge of the property is a moderate 9-mile hike with a 2,280-foot elevation gain, the city of Duarte’s website states, while the trail through the mining property is an easier 3.2-mile hike.
Vulcan’s plan eventually will shift its mining operations from 80 acres on the eastern end of the 270-acre property to 80 acres on its western end, under a permit to mine 190 acres of its land. The plan also includes tax revenues for Azusa, which Vulcan officials said have totaled more than $2.5 million paid to the city so far. The site also undergoes regular inspections from Air Quality Management District officials, most recently held Tuesday, officials said.
The group also attended Tuesday’s Azusa City Council meeting to give an update on work at the site and answer questions.
